Agreement enhances military readiness as well
A permanent conservation easement announced this past week for the 654-acre Cibolo Preserve will protect the natural habitat for years and also contribute to military readiness, according to officials.
The easement will be overseen by the Compatible Lands Foundation, a nonprofit that supports military readiness through environmental preservation.
The Preserve is about four miles northwest of Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis. The foundation conserves “working lands and open space near military installations,” according to its website.
Preserve trustees Jan. 15 said the easement ensures one of Kendall County’s most “ecologically significant landscapes” will be safeguarded for generations to come.
“This conservation easement is a powerful statement of our long-term commitment to protecting this land and the life it sustains,” said Candace Andrews, Preserve board president.
The easement is possible under a federal statute that authorized the Department of Defense Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration program.
Under the agreement, enforcement rights are held by the Foundation through the Secretary of the Air Force.
In addition, the easement promotes “military mission readiness” for Joint Base San Antonio as part of the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape, officials said.
Key provisions include strict limits on development and water-quality protections.
“By securing these protections in perpetuity, we are ensuring that the Preserve continues to serve as a sanctuary for wildlife, a safeguard for water resources and a place of environmental stewardship for our community,” Andrews said.
The Cibolo Preserve supports, according to a release, “a unique plant and animal environment and supplies groundwater recharge to the Trinity Aquifer zone through fractures and caverns in its limestone creek bed.”
Maintaining the foliage and growth on the Cibolo Preserve is essential for the research conducted on the 654 acres that remains off-limits to the public. Courtesy photo
Access is restricted to research partners and volunteers involved in projects on water quality, plant and animal habitat, and environmental concerns.
Research partnerships include the University of Texas at San Antonio College of Sciences, Cibolo Center for Conservation, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the San Antonio River Authority, officials said.
The nonprofit Preserve, founded in 2008 by H.W. “Bill” Lende, is dedicated to the preservation of natural environments typical of the Edwards Plateau.
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