Heart of Texas

Conservation honors heritage, easements product futureBy Lydia duPerier

The Texas Hill Country has always offered more than a landscape. For generations, it has shaped home, heritage, and the heartbeat of rural Texas culture. But today, unprecedented pressure threatens it. Explosive growth, new subdivisions, and extreme weather are transforming the region at a pace that alarms those who love it most.

In July 2025, devastating floods tore through Kerr County and the Guadalupe River corridor, claiming lives and leaving deep scars on the land. The disaster wasn’t just about washed out roads and damaged homes; it exposed the vulnerabilities that come when natural systems are pushed beyond their limits. Wade Kilpatrick, a board member of Heart of Texas Conservancy, saw firsthand the relentless power of the floods right outside his living room window.

“It’s stunning to me, what has been allowed to happen to these natural rivers that we have in the Hill Country. Stunning,” Kilpatrick said. “I believe they’re going to do a lot of engineering and research on how this water can be managed better.”

Kilpatrick’s 300-acre ranch sits on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Sisterdale, Texas. Sixty acres of his property are under a conservation easement with the newly renamed Heart of Texas Conservancy.

The July flood was no ordinary disaster. On the Fourth of July alone, more than 100 lives were lost along the Guadalupe River, and untold homes, businesses, and habitats were swept away. In the aftermath, a coalition of natural resource organizations issued a sobering statement:

“While extreme weather cannot be controlled, the scale of devastation is often the result of decisions made long before the rain falls,” the coalition wrote. “Many aspects of this tragedy were preventable—and it must serve as a turning point.”

For decades, experts have warned that the region’s floodplains and aquifers are vulnerable, particularly as development encroaches on sensitive corridors. The coalition argued better land management like keeping floodplains undeveloped, restoring recharge zones, and enforcing buffer zones could prevent loss of life.

“We know the land. We know the water. And we know that better land stewardship saves lives,” the statement read. “The increasing frequency of flash flooding following periods of severe drought is not a surprise. What’s needed now is collective will and courageous leadership.”

The group’s recommendations ranged from restricting variances that allow building in flood-prone areas to retrofitting infrastructure for natural water movement to watershed-wide planning and collaboration with developers. Their message was urgent but hopeful: “This is not a moment for division—it is a call to collaboration…We can prevent the next tragedy not just by responding better, but by planning better.”

While the flood revealed the costs of mismanagement, another event signaled a new direction. The Cibolo Conservancy Land Trust, long recognized for protecting ranches and creek corridors in Kendall County, has announced its rebranding as the Heart of Texas Conservancy.

The change was not cosmetic. It was a statement of expanded mission and renewed urgency. A news release explained: ”With the Texas Hill Country facing unprecedented development pressure, rapid population growth, and increasing threats to its water and natural resources, one of the region’s most trusted land trusts is stepping forward with a new name and renewed sense of purpose. Cibolo Conservancy Land Trust has officially become Heart of Texas Conservancy. This name reflects both its expanding reach and the deep emotional and ecological value of preserving Texas lands for future generations.”

Naming the Heart

For decades, the Conservancy worked under a name tied to a single creek, but its scope had long expanded beyond that watershed. Leaders sought something broader, something that could resonate with landowners across the Hill Country and beyond. Executive Director Ben Eldredge explained that the new name wasn’t born in a meeting room, but on his back porch at night while humming “Deep in the Heart of Texas.”

“We wanted to have a name that was regional and also allowed room for growth,” Eldredge said. “When it comes down to it, the heart of Texas is wherever people feel that their heart is. If you love the land, and that’s where you’ve invested your feelings for Texas, then that’s the heart of Texas.”

The rebrand came with a new logo—the outline of a fossil known as a Texas heart. The symbol links natural history with cultural heritage, making visible the truth that conserving land also means conserving identity.

“When you’re conserving land, you also are conserving heritage,” Eldredge said. “Some of these properties have incredible houses on them, but they also have Native American artifacts, and they most definitely have fossils.”

Conservation Easements Explained

The Conservancy’s work is anchored in a legal tool that many Texans find confusing: the conservation easement. Though technical in form, these agreements carry deeply human implications.

Few understand this better than Bob Webster, co-owner of Shades of Green nursery in San Antonio and past president of Heart of Texas Conservancy for more than 20 years. With two properties of his own under easement, he explained that there are many ways people describe what a conservation easement is.

“Some people call them personal zoning,” Webster said. “But it’s by far the best opportunity that people have to determine the future of their land.”

Unlike a land sale, a conservation easement doesn’t transfer ownership. Instead, it limits future development while maintaining private ownership of the land. Families can continue ranching, farming, hunting, or simply living on it. The key is that certain rights—such as subdividing into ranchettes— are permanently relinquished.

“The land owner decides how they want their land used and protected, and they don’t give up the land, but they give the easement to a land trust, along with an endowment,” Webster said. “And the land trust agrees that they will protect the property and enforce that easement in perpetuity.”

No two easements are alike. Each is tailored to a landowner’s goals—whether continuing cattle operations, protecting rare plants, or preserving riparian corridors.

“I often call it custom conservation. It’s entirely customized,” Eldredge said. “Every single conservation easement is different.”

Just as important, these agreements are voluntary and private. Many landowners worry about government intrusion or public access, but those concerns are misplaced. “There is no public access unless they want that public access,” Eldredge said. “It’s private property. It’s their [the land owner’s] right to choose.”

That independence extends to enforcement as well. Unlike zoning laws or government regulations, which political or policy changes can alter, conservation easements are upheld by the land trust itself. The trust bears the responsibility to visit the property, ensure terms are honored, and—if necessary—take legal action to protect the agreement.

“The government is not involved in the enforcement of the easement,” Eldredge said. “That is handled by the land trust, and our job is to monitor and legally enforce that legally.”

The Holistic View

The Hill Country’s challenges cannot be pinned on a single issue. Land, water, and air are bound together—and conservation easements aim to safeguard all three.

For rancher and retired oil executive Roger Hemminghaus, that mission became personal one afternoon on his 1,400-acre property in Leakey, Texas.

“I was looking out to the southwest, and I was just struck by the beauty,” Hemminghaus said. “And I said, ‘Hey, I don’t ever want this spot to be ranchettes, a development into ranch heads.’”

That moment of clarity pushed him to place Kent Creek Ranch under easement with the Heart of Texas Conservancy—doubling the organization’s protected acreage at the time. Today, he says the reward is simple but profound: the daily knowledge that the land will stay whole.

“When I wake up in the morning and I look out at a sunrise over the tops of the hills and see all the colors,” Hemminghaus said. “Those are my best moments.”

Although the Frio River doesn’t run through his ranch, Kent Creek—one of its headwater streams—does, and the easement ensures the waterway will remain protected forever.

Water, in fact, may be the Hill Country’s most pressing crisis. With little surface water beyond its rivers, the region depends almost entirely on underground aquifers to supply both communities and ranches. Leaders warn that those aquifers are being depleted at a pace that threatens everything tied to them.

“Our number one problem in all of Central Texas, in the heart of Texas, is water issues,” Kilpatrick said. “It’s well water and underground water that are really depleting the aquifers, which affects everything.”

Floods show the other side of the water equation. As development spreads, new pavement and rooftops prevent rainfall from soaking into the soil, causing it to rush downstream. But land stewardship, conservationists argue, can slow that process and restore balance.

“We can slow water down and sink it in by having good land stewardship,” Eldredge said. “We can facilitate the slowing and sinking of water into the landscape almost like a sponge—and the more that we can create these sponges, the better.”

Incentives and Economics

While passion for the land is what drives many landowners, economics matter too. Easements can dramatically reduce inheritance taxes, annual property taxes, and federal income taxes.

“When you put land under an easement, your land is double appraised,” Webster said.

First, it’s valued at its “highest and best use”—what a developer might pay if the land could be subdivided or built on. Then it’s appraised again with the easement restrictions in place, which usually lowers the value substantially. The difference between those two numbers can be claimed as a charitable contribution on federal income taxes, and landowners have 16 years to use the deduction.

“You significantly lower the value of the property when you put it under a conservation easement,” Webster said. “And that can make a big, big difference in inheritance taxes.”

For families who want to hold on to their land, those incentives can mean the difference between selling and staying.

For and From the Next Generation

For most landowners, the question isn’t whether they love their land, it’s how to pass it on to future generations. Conservation easements often resolve tensions that emerge across generations.

During his time at the Conservancy, Webster said the reasons easements were placed on properties were split 50-50.

“About half the people we helped did it to protect the land for their kids,” Webster said. “The other half did it to protect the land from their kids, knowing that as soon as they were gone, the kids would sell it to the first developer that came through.”

Eldredge added that the tool is just as much about protecting land from future neglect as it is about preserving family legacy.

“We often say that conservation easements are a great way to protect the land for your family and from your family,” Eldredge said.

Stewardship in Action

“The Hill Country has been degraded over the years with some really poor land stewardship. That was just because people were unconscious about what they were doing,” Eldredge said. “But now we understand that we can manage the land in a way that’s more harmonious with nature.”

Placing land under easement is not the end of the story. Stewardship remains an active responsibility. While all easements vary, Webster explained that some require grazing plans to prevent overuse.

“The easement specifies there can’t be any overgrazing,” Webster said. “The owner will submit a grazing plan to the land trust, and it will ensure that stewardship practices will be followed in the future.”

Driving through the Hill Country, the contrast between managed and unmanaged land is stark. Healthy pastures absorb rain and support a diverse range of wildlife. Degraded ones erode into the desert.

“Some ranches look like they’ve got this nice, healthy vegetative cover,” Eldredge said. “And with other ones, you’re seeing lots of cactus and lots of bare ground and rocks… But you can rehydrate this land through good land stewardship.”

A Legacy Garden in the City

Even as conservation easements often conjure images of sprawling ranches, Webster’s Shades of Green project shows how preservation can take root in the heart of a city.

For more than four decades, the nursery has been a haven for San Antonio gardeners. By the end of 2025, it will close retail operations and begin a new life as the Shades of Green Legacy Garden.

“We’ve been planting trees here for more than four decades,” Webster said. “To see those cypress now forming the backbone of a place for reflection and learning—that’s the dream.”

Unlike many garden projects, this one is already legally secured. The land was placed under a conservation easement in 2023 with Green Spaces Alliance, ensuring it will never be developed. The inclusion of the word Legacy in the name hints at that testament.

“Legacy,” Webster said. “Basically means leaving the world a better place.”

The design is intentionally meaningful yet straightforward. Labyrinths, reflexology walks, a children’s vegetable garden, water features, and native plantings will guide visitors through spaces that offer both quiet reflection and hands-on learning. To support its future, the Shades of Green Legacy Foundation has launched a $10 million capital campaign to fund classroom and event structures, as well as to establish a permanent endowment.

“This is about creating something that lasts,” Webster said. “We wanted to make sure it would be here forever, not just for us, but for generations of San Antonians to come.”

What began as a family nursery is now becoming a living gift to the community—a place where people and nature meet, protected in perpetuity.

Hope Amid Challenge

Despite floods, droughts, and relentless development, conservationists in the Hill Country are optimistic. Communities are voting to fund protection measures, and public support continues to grow.

When the idea of a conservation bond was first tested, Eldredge said that about 62% of the community supported it—even without any marketing efforts. When the bond went to a vote, it passed with 67% approval, instilling him with immense hope.

“But even those who did not vote for it are showing that they favor its intentions,” Eldredge said. “Which is to conserve the land, to protect it from the ravages of development, as well as to protect water resources in our region.”

Actual progress, however, requires the involvement of everyone. Landowners can protect their property for the future. Local governments can help shoulder costs for families who want to conserve land but lack the means. And the community can strengthen the effort by supporting the longterm stewardship that keeps easements alive.

At its heart, conservation is as personal as it is collective—a sunrise over the hills, the song of a painted bunting, or the chance to leave something lasting. For those ready to take the next step, the call is simple: “Please contact us at the Heart of Texas Conservancy,” Eldredge said. “We would love to help you develop a custom plan for your property.”

Every easement is more than a legal document. It is a promise that the heart of Texas will keep beating—for us, and for generations to come.