expireTexas Newsletter, Summer 2005

Photo by: Sean Scott

A Campaign to Preserve a Texas Treasure

Blue Hole, one of Texas's most famous natural swimming holes and the symbolic center of the small Hill Country community of Wimberley, is the center of a grassroots preservation effort.

Since the early 1920s, Blue Hole has been privately owned but open to public for a fee. About 30 years ago the property was sold to an Austin partnership, which continued to operate the swimming hole and the campsites for public use for a fee. In 2002, the partnership opened the property up to potential intense residential development. Faced with this imminent threat, the Village of Wimberley and its visionary leadership decided in early 2003 to take on the seemingly impossible task of raising enough funds to purchase the property, with the intention to establish a regional park as well as preserve Blue Hole, thereby allowing it to stay available to the public.

Photo by: Sean Scott

In the fall of 2003, a local conservation buyer, Mr. Peter Way, stepped in to assist the Village by buying the property and entering into an option agreement, allowing the Village time to raise the money to purchase the property from Mr. Way at cost. "My family has been a part of Wimberley since 1945, said Mr. Way. "When Mayor Klepfer and Wimberley Council-woman Marilee Wood approached me to help preserve Blue Hole for future generations, I immediately said we'll do it.

At the same time, the Village also asked TPL to partner with them to raise the funds necessary to achieve this goal, and in the spring of 2004, TPL started a $6 million capital campaign to permanently protect Blue Hole and to establish a larger 126-acre regional park. In the meantime, Blue Hole, which had been open for swimming for a fee for over 80 years, was closed to the public.

The campaign to save historic Blue Hole reached a critical milestone in May 2005, when the Village of Wimberley purchased the 126-acre property from Mr. Way.

Photo by: Sean Scott

"Purchasing the property is only the beginning, said Wimberley Mayor Steve Klepfer. "We have a lot of money yet to raise to ensure Blue Hole will be preserved and opened to the public. The Village was able to acquire the property through funding provided by Texas Parks and Wildlife, Hays County, the Lower Colorado River Authority, the Trust for Public Land, and the Wimberley Soccer Association, as well as contributions from individual donors.

Now the Village has the even harder task of developing the property as a recreational park so that it can be open to the public. The need is urgent. Until funds are raised and the parkland development is underway, Blue Hole will remain closed. While the Village of Wimberley and TPL have raised the funds necessary to acquire the property, another $2.5 million is needed for the first phase of park developments. The future Blue Hole Regional Park will include the swimming hole as its centerpiece as well as picnic areas, hike and bike trails, soccer fields, primitive camping, and bird watching sites. The site must also be improved with restroom facilities, better access and parking areas, a park center building, and stream and land restoration.

Updates

TPL protects 58 acres for future Arlington Nature Preserve In May, the Trust for Public Land acquired the 58-acre Bowman Springs property in a rapidly developing area in southwest Arlington. TPL bought this property for the City of Arlington, which aims to establish a new a nature preserve on the site. The property had been slated for residential development before TPL was able to reach an agreement with the landowner. TPL held the property for one month, allowing the City of Arlington time to secure acquisition funds through a May bond election.

The property is unique, with rolling wooded terrain providing habitat for many species of wildlife that have been forced out of neighboring residential and commercial development. Because of its unusually high vistas, many longtime residents know the Bowman Springs site as "Kennedale Mountain.

TPL Kicks-Off the Saving Our Coastal Heritage Project to Protect the Armand Bayou

In June, TPL selected the City of Pasadena to participate in a demonstration watershed planning program to protect Armand Bayou. Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, through the Texas Coastal Management Program, with additional support from the Galveston Bay Estuary Program and local foundations, this program is the first of TPL's Saving Our Coastal Heritage Project for the Galveston Bay community. TPL's Saving Our Coastal Heritage Project is an initiative that will enable Galveston Bay communities to plan and implement strategies to conserve natural areas and protect valuable streams and bays at a local level. The project includes the formation of a local steering committee to work with professionals to ultimately develop a strategic greenprint that illustrates the community strategy for land conservation.

A Celebration of the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge

TPL held a reception on May 20 to celebrate the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge and to acknowledge the leadership of the individuals, families, and organizations that have contributed to the success of the refuge. The honorees were Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Geoff Haskett of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the McKeever Family, the Mouton-Johnston Family, the Penn Family, and the Friends of Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. Kevin Cooper, Regional Director for Kay Bailey Hutchison, accepted the honor on behalf of the Senator. The reception was held at the Flying X Ranch located within the refuge.

This past April, TPL added over 433 acres to the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, located 30 miles northwest of Austin. The Refuge is a crucial nesting habitat for two endangered songbirds--the Black-capped Vireo and the Golden-cheeked Warbler.

Both species have been endangered for years primarily because of the loss of their central Texas habitat to residential and commercial development. This parcel is a particularly important addition because it connects almost 9,000 acres of protected land in the Balcones Refuge. The acquisition completed the addition of a 1,029-acre parcel owned by the Penn family. The land was purchased with funds from the Federal Land and Water Conservations Fund secured by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Correction

In the Spring 2005 issue of our newsletter, and update on he acquisition of land for the Government canyon State Natural Area failed to acknowledge two of TPL's major partners the City of San antonio and the San Antonio Water System. TPL regrets the omission.

Support the Campaign to Save Blue Hole

A Living Legacy: Help Protect Blue Hole Forever

We would like to invite you and your family to participate in a historic opportunity to name a special and unique feature of the Blue Hole Regional Park. Your significant gift will not only help protect the Blue Hole, but also provide an everlasting tribute to your family or a friend.

Park Naming Opportunity

For $2 million you can name one of Texas's most well-known regional parks. The name will appear on the park entrance, park map, city map, and on a permanent centralized donor recognition wall in the park.

Help Protect Blue Hole Forever

In addition, a series of unlimited legacy opportunities for gifts of $1,000 to $50,000 are offered to individuals, families, businesses, and foundations. These generous gifts will be acknowledged on a centralized permanent donor wall in the Blue Hole Regional Park for the following giving levels:

Towering Cypress $50,000 Live Oak $25,000 Limestone Bluff $20,000 Texas Blue Oak $10,000 Texas Cedar Elm $5,000 Chatterbox Orchid $2,500 Texas Barberry $1,000

Blue Hole Swimming Hole

For $1 million, you can name the treasured Blue Hole swimming hole, one of Texas's top ten swimming holes. The name will appear on the marker at the swimming hole, and on the centralized donor recognition wall in the park.

Soccer Complex

For $600,000, you can name the soccer complex that will be developed in the Blue Hole Regional Park. The name will appear on the marker at the complex entrance as well as on the centralized donor recognition wall in the park.

Traditional Building Center

For $300,000, you can name the traditional building center in the Blue Hole Regional Park. The name will appear on the building center as well as on the centralized donor recognition wall in the park.

Soccer Fields

For $150,000, you can name a soccer field that will be developed in the Blue Hole Regional Park. The name will appear on the marker at the field as well as on the centralized donor recognition wall in the park.

Nature Trails

For $100,000, you can name a nature trail in the Blue Hole Regional Park. The name will appear on the markers at the trailheads, on trail signs, and on the donor recognition wall in the park.

Picnic Areas

For $75,000 you can name a picnic area at the Blue Hole Regional Park. The name will appear on the markers at the picnic areas and on the donor recognition wall in the park.

Primitive Camping Areas

For $60,000 you can name one of two primitive camping areas at the Blue Hole Regional Park. The name will appear on the marker at the camping area and on the centralized donor recognition wall in the park.

Saving Blue Hole One Square Foot at a Time

In celebration of the tremendous grassroots spirit of the campaign, you can participate in our effort to save Blue Hole one square foot at a time. You can save a square foot in honor of a family member or a friend, on behalf of your business or as a group. For gifts of $250 or more, you will receive a "Deed of Preservation to display in your home or office as a way to help spread the word. Your donation of $250 will save 100 square feet, $375 will save 150 square feet, $500 will save 200 square feet, and on up.

Photo: Sean Scott

A Day on the Land --Blue Hole, Wimberley By Richard "Cactus Pryor, the "Father of Texas Broadcasting," Austin, Texas

I was born in the hill country of Texas. Barton Springs in Austin was our second home. Each day my father would take the whole passel of Pryor kids to that wonderful natural swimming hole in the summer and frequently in the winter. It was family tradition that each child should swim across the pool on their third birthday. I was born in a frigid January.

Throughout our lives Barton's played a major role. A rescue from Texas heat...a gathering place of people from all walks of life...a testing of your athletic skills...and a grouping of the world's most beautiful bathing beauties as observed as a teenager and octogenarian, too.

I discovered Onion Creek early in life and other swimming holes offering, also, a fishing place.

And then, later in life, I found Blue Hole in Wimberley...a life long serendipity. As my Austin swelled in population so Barton Springs became a more typical swimming place. Our old swimming place, like Austin real estate, was filling up.

Blue Hole became my family's Shangri-La. That wonderful stream of water passing beneath the protecting trees was like a rebirth to me. This is nature at her best. And we prayed that it would for ever be pristine and available to lovers of nature. That Central Texas gem flowing through the hill country belongs to children to whom the freedom and pleasure of earlier days has mostly vanished. It is a remembering place for their parents to come back to their childhood; a place where birds and squirrels and fish can dwell in pure nature.

I hope that this piece of hill country will always be available to those who love this gem and can experience nature as it once was.

Photo: Sean Scott

Partners in the Campaign to Save Blue Hole

Protecting Blue Hole is a regional, and indeed a statewide, effort. But the $6 million campaign faced a considerable challenge in a state that offers increasingly limited funding for parks--especially for small communities like Wimberley. But with TPL's guidance Wimberley leaders have been able to secure major funding support from three partners--Texas Parks and Wildlife, Hays County, and the Lower Colorado River Authority--in addition to funds provided by TPL and other donors.

In 2003, the Village of Wimberley submitted a $1 million grant request to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. TPW staff was so impressed with the potential of Wimberley's vision, they encouraged TPL to work with the Village to resubmit the grant request for up to $2 million.

The TPWD regional parks grant program is funded by the state sporting goods tax revenue and from the state-appropriated Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The grant program requires applicants to identify and secure 100 percent in matching funds--another big challenge. Campaign leaders called upon the government of Hays County, where Wimberley is located, to meet its matching funds goal. In 2001 Hays County had partnered with TPL to successfully pass a $3.5 million bond measure for parks acquisition and improvements. Initially, the Village of Wimberley requested $500,000 from the county. As with Texas Parks and Wildlife, Hays County recognized the potential of Blue Hole and the commissioners' court unanimously granted the Village $700,000 for the Blue Hole project.

TPL and the Village leadership then approached the Lower Colorado River Authority, a quasi-government entity that manages much of the surface water and water utilities in the Central Texas region. LCRA provides funding to support local parks acquisition and development projects. TPL's ongoing relationship with LCRA, and the vision of the Village leadership, resulted in $200,000 in grant funding from this agency.

Campaign leaders followed through to raise an additional $100,000 from in-kind and smaller donations. With the value of the property as additional collateral and a major contribution from TPL to close the gap, the Blue Hole campaign identified $1.9 million in matching funds for the Texas Parks and Wildlife grant.

In just over a year, the Blue Hole capital campaign has been able to secure almost $3.5 million. TPL's contribution of nearly $150,000 was pulled from the Trust's Texas Capital Revolving Fund, which was made possible by the Houston Endowment and the Meadows Foundation.

With almost $2.5 million left to raise, the need for individual and corporate support is more important than ever. The campaign partners--Texas Parks and Wildlife, Hays County, the Lower Colorado River Authority, and TPL--know the potential of the Blue Hole Regional Park. The Campaign to Save Blue Hole will meet its ambitious goal as individuals and businesses, one by one, understand the park's potential as well.

Posted 9/2005