Five years ago, two enemy armies – business bigwigs and environmental ragtags – emerged from a grueling six-month mediation armed with a historic peace treaty that called for an end to a decades-old battle over Barton Springs and the Edwards Aquifer. That war is still raging, but the peace treaty’s “magic bullet” – the creation of a visionary land trust – has, it turns out, quietly stood the test of time. The Hill Country Conservancy will celebrate its fifth anniversary on Oct. 13, the way most Hill Country folks do – with a big musical hoedown. “This is our first big, public coming-out party,” said HCC Executive Director George Cofer.
In its five years, the HCC has collaborated with the city of Austin and other partners to acquire nearly 8,000 Hill Country acres, valued at about $56 million. The land trust has also ventured into the world of science, teaming up with UT and the 3M Corporation, among others, to determine whether an 85-acre quarry site northwest of Manchaca is actually a natural recharge conduit to the aquifer. If so, the area could serve a vital purpose in recapturing clean, precious rainwater, Cofer said. Last week, HCC learned it would get $1.7 million in grant money from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, to go toward a conservation easement on 5,685 acres of the historic Storm Ranch in Hays Co. Planning is also under way for the development of a 50-mile regional trail system from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center through Travis and Hays counties to the Onion Creek Natural Area.
HCC’s incoming president, Perry Lorenz, wants to build on the conservancy’s harmonious spirit. One Lorenz goal in particular is to put a public face on the relatively low-keyed conservancy, to recruit new supporters and board members and, of course, more funding to snap up Hill Country property before somebody else does. As the original peacekeepers instructed five years ago, the HCC board of directors functions as an assortment of strange bedfellows; while the 16-member board is weighted toward development interests, Lorenz notes that its votes aren’t as predictable as one would expect. If anything, Cofer offered, the board makeup fosters “good, frank discussions.”
Lorenz, for his part, swings both ways; he is both a Downtown developer and a longtime financial supporter and ally of the Save Our Springs Alliance, the most vocal, active and litigious of the local enviro groups. Lorenz subscribes to a different school of thought when coaxing developers to do the right thing. This usually involves a backroom arm-twisting routine that starts off gently and proceeds from there. “We are not going to keep all development off of the aquifer,” he said, “but what we can do is keep pushing them even harder to make it a better development.”
HCC celebrates its fifth anniversary with a Lyrics & Legacy event Oct. 13 at Stubb’s, 801 Red River, 6-10pm. Musical guests include Jerry Jeff Walker and son Django Walker, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore and son Colin Gilmore. Contact Fred Ellis, 328-2481 for more info. You can buy tickets online at www.hillcountryconservancy.org
This article appears in October 8 • 2004.
