Texas Hill Country Conservation Network

Sunrise over Bull Creek in Austin, Texas. Credit: Michelle Michel

Project Summary

The Texas Hill Country is at a crossroads. This iconic region, home to the headwaters of 12 of Texas’ rivers, sustains life from the rural backroads of the Texas hinterlands through the rapidly growing cities of the I-35 corridor to the bays and estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico. Sprawling development, climate change, and booming population growth threaten the complete depletion and degradation of these critical resources.

The Texas Hill Country Conservation Network (the Network) was created in 2017 as a direct response to these threats, with a mission to significantly scale up the impact of conservation-focused organizations working throughout the Hill Country.

Specific goals of the Network include:

• Permanently protecting 100,000 acres of open space
• Passing strategic county and city bonds totaling $400M for land conservation
• Developing a Hill Country-wide watershed conservation plan
• Securing investments in green infrastructure in all 18 Hill Country counties

The Network is a coalition of 58 non-government organizations, businesses, universities, and governmental organizations that work together to promote land conservation and stewardship, water quality protection, water conservation, and advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in regional conservation.

The Meadows Center is not only a collaborator but also a leader within the Network. Our Director of Operations, Carrie Thompson, serves on the Steering Committee, and our Director of Watershed Services, Jenna Walker, leads the Water Team.