Q U A R T E R L Y N E W S L E T T E R

issue #45 winter 2011

Protecting the Nature of Texas.TEXAS LAND CONSERVANCY

by Callie Thompson

In a great win for conservation, the Travis County Commissioners Court voted unanimously on November 16, 2011,

to approve $300,000 of matching funds to the Texas Land Conservancy. This funding is dedicated to the conservation of a 244-acre property just 20 miles from Austin.

The property, Doerfler Ranch, is of high conservation value and, with its proximity to Austin, is a vital component of protecting green spaces for future generations. “Austin’s rapid growth and development, as well as the historic drought, make conserving this green space especially important,” says Kate Vickery, TLC Development Director. “We are thrilled to be part of this unique project. This is an example of how public-private partnerships can protect our future.”

The Doerfler Ranch sits in the Wilbarger Watershed and houses 1.2 miles of Wilbarger Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River. The Colorado River provides water for thousands of Texas residents, and wildlife populations. The Wilbarger Creek watershed is rated as a “high conservation priority” according to

Conservation Victory!Travis County funds $300,000 to preserve 244 acre ranch

the Trust for Public Land’s “Travis County Greenprint for Growth.” The project, jointly funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Farm and Ranch Land Protection

Program, the landowner, and Travis County bond initiatives, will protect 244 acres in perpetuity.

The property’s location, across the road from 300-acre Brockenbrough Ranch, makes it even more special. The Brockenbrough Ranch is also

protected by a conservation easement, held by the Hill County Conservancy. Together this makes over 500 acres of conserved land in a sensitive area threatened by impending

development.

This kind of project is in keeping with a national trend of increased conservation despite the recession. The National Land Trust Census, released by the Land Trust Alliance this week, shows that voluntarily protected private land increased by 27%, an additional 10 million acres, between 2005 and 2010. Texas land trusts, including Texas Land Conservancy, have protected 55% more land in this same period.

As development in Travis County continues, the protection of green spaces and open lands like these is vital. Ninety-seven percent of land in Texas is privately owned, making

private lands conservation the only serious method for protecting land and water.

With this funding from the county, the future of Central Texas includes more wide open green space!

Wilbarger Creek flows through the property. Photo by Leigh Stuemke.

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T E X A S L A N D C O N S E R V A N C Y

The Texas Land Conservancy (formerly Natural Area Preservation Association) is an accredited non-profit land trust with a mission to conserve natural areas in Texas and to protect the physical and ecological integrity of their wildlife habitat, native plant communities, and scenic landscapes for the benefit of present and future generations. We strive:

To reduce the negative effects of land fragmentation and poorly planned development by protecting critical lands through ownership or permanent conservation easements.

To maintain a substantial and diverse inventory of protected lands that reflect the biological diversity and significance of Texas’ natural heritage.

To responsibly steward our conservation easements and land holdings through monitoring, land management, and enforcement of restrictions.

To restore and enhance native habitats.

To collaborate with other organizations and individuals as appropriate to conserve and protect additional areas not protected by TLC.

To educate the public about Texas’ natural areas and provide opportunities for the public to enjoy TLC’s protected properties.

board of directorsP. Michael Jung, President, DallasEarl Matthew, President-Elect, RockportJanell Morgan, Treasurer, DallasTravis Phillips, Secretary, AustinMickey Burleson, TempleEugenia Fritz, DallasWayne Graham, AustinMichael Grimes, AustinRuss Jewert, TerrellAdam Jochelson, DallasEileen McKee, DallasAnne Norvell, DallasRobert O’Kennon, Fort WorthSharon Reed, RichardsonAnne Rowe, DallasPat Spillman, Jr., Houston

staffMark Steinbach, Executive DirectorDaniel Dietz, Stewardship Director Leigh Stuemke, Stewardship DirectorKate Vickery, Development & Communications Dir.Callie Thompson, Outreach Coordinator

contactTexas Land ConservancyP.O. Box 162481 | Austin, TX 78716512.301.6363 (p) | 512.301.6364 (f)info@texaslandconservancy.orgwww.texaslandconservancy.org

This newsletter is produced quarterly and distributed to members at the $30 level or higher. Comments may be sent to Kate Vickery via kate@texaslandconservancy.org.

On November 3, 2011, the Lone Oak Ranch, a TLC conservation property, was inducted into the Family Land Heritage Program. The program, sponsored by the Texas Department of Agriculture, honors farms and ranches that have been in continuous agricultural ownership and operation by the same family for 100 years or more.

With the sun shining through the iconic House Chambers of the Texas Capitol building, Cheryl Spencer and her grandson Connor McKinney, accepted the ranch’s certificate on behalf of the entire Spencer family. As they shook hands with Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, they looked out on a sea of 118 other families who were being similarly honored for their commitment to land.

After the ceremony, Cheryl and Connor were joined by other members of the Spencer family, including Cheryl’s husband, Joe Kirkland; her sisters, Joy Spencer Jechow and Nancy Spencer Hyde; and three nieces, Cherish and Crystal Spencer, representing their dad Casey Spencer, who couldn’t be there, and Hannah Jechow. Each family member had traveled hundreds of miles to attend the

ceremony and they beamed with pride as they chatted above the Capitol rotunda.

“Cheryl and Connor were the only grandmother and grandson team accepting heritage awards today,” said Nancy, afterwards. “I told him that this was going to be his responsibility one day, and he nodded – he’s only 13, of course – but I think he’s beginning to understand.”

Nancy hopes that Connor isn’t the only one of his cousins beginning to understand the importance of the Lone Oak Ranch to the history of the Spencer family. She hopes that this generation will be willing to pick up the mantle and continue the work preserving the family’s historic and conservation legacy long after she’s gone. When Helen Spencer, mother of Nancy, Cheryl, Joy and their brother, Casey, passed away in January, 2002, she left in her will a conservation easement to the Texas Land Conservancy on a part of Lone Oak Ranch. The family has continued to conserve more of the ranch over time.

Nancy, who put together the application to qualify the ranch for the Heritage Program, jokes about how hard she works to get everyone

The Best of Our Traditions:100 Years of Conservation at Lone Oak Ranch By Kate Vickery

From Top Left, Clockwise: Cheryl Spencer, and grandson, Connor McKinney, with Agriculture Commissioner, Todd Staples. Lone Oak Ranch house. Lone Oak grass prairie land. Lone Oak at sunset.

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T E X A S L A N D C O N S E R V A N C Y

in her family to see how unique their history is. “How many people do you know that have land in their family for five generations?” she laughs. “Even George W. Bush had to buy that land of his.”

Nancy has long been the family historian. “I didn’t grow up on Lone Oak Ranch,” she explains, “but it belonged to my grandparents, John William Oliphint and Earle Pitts Oliphint. They acquired the first piece of land in 1910, which we measure our 100 years from. I was taken there after I was born in 1944. There was never a time that it wasn’t in my life even though I didn’t live there. It was the ‘over the river and through the woods’ place to visit for family holidays.”

One of the most unique parts of the ranch is an outstanding long grass prairie, seldom seen in Texas. When former Texas Land Conservancy executive director, David Bezanson, came to visit the ranch in 1999, he saw the long grass prairie, stopped short, and said, “Do you realize what this is?” There are so few patches of true long grass prairie land left in Texas that David was astonished by the quality and quantity of the area on the family ranch.

The prairie is in incredible condition today, thanks to the foresight and land management of John William Oliphint, known as Mr. Will or Pop by his grandchildren, Nancy, Cheryl, Casey and Joy. Mr. Will was different from the previous landowners, who had overgrazed most of the land and denuded the pasture from decades of cotton production. All of this abuse had left the land stripped bare of plants in many places and prone to erosion.

“I started trying to do something about those gullies long before there was a county agent or a Soil Conservation Service or any kind of government program,” he said in an interview in Texas Living in 1952. “All I knew was that if you left those gullies alone and kept the stock off, grass and weeds would grow. So that’s what I decided to do. Just vacate the gullied pastures for a year.” It took much

longer than he expected, but eventually native grasses returned and the land began to heal.

“These native grasses would be the salvation of our country if we would just let them do what nature meant them to do,” he said.

Eventually, Mr. Will’s sound land management made the ranch more productive and healthier for the generations that took over its operation. The tall grass prairie of today is a direct result of his good work. The Spencer children have all worked to ensure it remains for the next generations as well by applying for a federal Grassland Reserve Program grant

through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The NRCS purchased a conservation easement on the tall grass prairie, and it is now protected through the Grassland Reserve Program. The Spencer siblings are applying for an addition GRP grant in order to connect the two conserved areas together into one contiguous protected area.

The Spencer family has made a strong commitment to the future of their historic family home, which also contributes to the ecological health of Walker County.

Nancy articulated a fear shared by her siblings. “The forces of unthinking, poorly-

planned development are still relentless. There are far too many people who don’t have a connection to the land and who would look at this globally imperiled tall grass prairie and think something like, ‘Oh, what a nice, huge, flat piece of land; we can put a football stadium here and lots of parking lots and we can make mega bucks from this. But botanists and prairie ecologists and foresters have come here to study this prairie, and they marvel at how well it has recovered.”

By conserving the family ranch, one piece at a time, the Spencer family insures that

future generations will also have their “over the river and through the woods” place to go on family holidays. The public benefits too: drinking water filters through the conserved grassland and carbon is sequestered by the grassland and forests. Weary travelers who just passed through the intersection of I-45 and State Highway 30 get welcome scenic relief when they see the pastures, forests, and the historic Lone Oak Ranch house.

Like many of her family members, it took Nancy many years to really appreciate the family ranch for its beauty and history. As a child, she used to resent being dragged to Huntsville for two weeks of hay baling with her dad and grandfather. It took moving away for many years – she currently lives in Virginia, where she serves as the Vice President of the Northern Virginia Land Trust – and coming back with fresh eyes for her to really understand what a “magical

place” the ranch is. A stanza of T.S. Elliot’s poem, Little Gidding, which she recited from memory, perfectly sums up Nancy’s new sense of perspective.

We shall not cease from exploration but the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.“That’s my experience,” Nancy says. And

she hopes that every new generation has that same moment of awakening to the pleasures of a deeply historic and well-cared for piece of land.

For the full Lone Oak story, head to our website: texaslandconservancy.org.

A taste of the Texas finery at the Family Land Heritage Program ceremony

NONPROFIT ORGUS POSTAGE

PAIDAUSTIN, TX

PERMIT NO. 258

issue #45 winter 2011

Q U A R T E R L Y N E W S L E T T E R

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Need a great gift idea?Give your loved ones great gifts that support a great cause! We

have gear for sale, including hats, t-shirts and bumper stickers and all proceeds support conservation of the places you love in Texas.

Give the gift of TLC membership, which entitles them to our newsletter, member-only events, and a democratic vote in the governance of our organization!

Support conservation and give for a great cause! Just go to: www.texaslandconservancy.org and click on the Support TLC tab to shop online!

Fruits of a Work Day!Who says there’s no nature in Dallas? Photos all taken on October 22nd at the volunteer day at TLC’s Oak Cliff Nature Preserve, our 120-acre urban preserve.

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