Land trust receives six donated easements

The Hill Country Land Trust announced that in 2007 it received six donated conservation easements permanently preserving land in Blanco, Burnet, Lampasas and Llano counties.

Gordon and Judy Chapin, owners of Gravel Hill Ranch, donated a conservation easement on their property in Lampasas County.

Gravel Hill Ranch, an active cattle-ranching operation, lies in the Donaldson Creek watershed where a group of farmers formed a chapter of the Farmer's Alliance in the late 1800s, which later helped spark development of the Populist Party.

Concerned with the loss of adequate wildlife habitat as neighboring properties were sold and divided, the Chapins said, "If we fail to protect the 'homes' of our native species, we will lose them as neighbors and also lose the many pleasures they give us."

In Llano County, Maggie Booth and her sister, Betsy Bouchard, and brother, Rusty Booth, placed conservation easements on their three contiguous ranches to conserve the legacy started by their grandfather in the 1920s.

Faced with fast-approaching urban development, the ranching family wanted to protect their properties, the Red-Tail, BSquared and T-P ranches, as open land, a value they placed higher than the value of developing home sites, they said.

The ranchers also concur over the important recharge zone of the Ellenberger aquifer. Said Maggie Booth: "I am trying to create a little oasis of wilderness for the animals and people who will need it in the future. They will need more than I have. My grandfather could not have imagined what is happening to the Hill Country today."

Rusty Booth said he speaks for many conservation-minded landowners who would like to leave their heirs the same opportunity they had as a child. "Here, we learned to appreciate nature and enjoy the great outdoors. It is a shame that civilization is stifling this great way of life, and I feel compelled to try to protect this great land."

Amy Keith owns a ranch in Blanco County near Cypress Mills, and also faces a westward charge of developers from Austin. By placing a conservation easement on her property, she preserves the land on which she grew up. "My folks gave the land to me and the best thing I can think of is to keep it the way they, my kids and the community know and enjoy it."

Kerrie Richert, owner of Oatmeal Creek Ranch in Burnet County, completed conservation on his ranch. Richert, a wildlife enthusiast and horticulturalist, said it is important to give plants and animals a place they can call home for the long term.

A conservation easement is not a transfer of ownership, a grant of free access, nor a restriction on any uses specifically reserved by the grantor of the easement.

Bart English, HCLT president, said, "When a landowner donates an easement, we see it as a commitment to work in partnership with them to conserve and preserve the agricultural values and natural character of their property.

"We work with landowners to articulate the conservation values they want preserved and help them create a legal document that insures their long-term wishes will be protected."

Hill Country Land Trust, a nonprofit [501 (c)(3)] corporation, was organized in 1998 by a volunteer group of conservationminded landowners concerned that increasingly intense development pressures throughout the Texas Hill Country area threaten to destroy its very nature. The land trust is one of 44 such organizations in Texas.

A conservation easement is a permanent deed restriction a property owner chooses to place on his or her land to protect such resources as productive agricultural land, water, wildlife habitat, historic sites and/or scenic views. It is the responsibility of the Hill Country Land Trust to annually monitor the activities on the property to ensure that the terms of the agreement are being upheld.

Conservation easements usually provide economic relief and tax benefits for current and future landowners.

Hill Country Land Trust also raises public awareness of preservation issues concerning the Hill Country region.

Based in Fredericksburg, HCLT serves a 19-county area from Edwards and Real counties in the west to Comal and Hays counties in the east, and from McCulloch and San Saba counties to the north to Bandera and Kerr counties to the south.

For more information about conservation easements, or other possible options to preserve property for future agricultural use, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, historical sites and/or scenic views, call (830) 997-0027.