Texas

In the fall of 2007, The Trust for Public Land completed a series of conservation acquisitions for the Houston Parks Board, establishing a new park with a linear hike-and-bike trail along Brays Bayou in the East End.

With the projected growth of the San Antonio-Austin corridor, TPL is poised to engage within the urban framework of central Texas cities to assure park and playground opportunities in underserved and park-poor communities.

In Texas, the nation's "Third Coast" stretches 367 miles from Louisiana to Mexico and includes the state's rarest environments. Along the coast are ancient hardwood forests; coastal prairies, barrier islands, bays and wetlands; and bayous that reach deep into the heart of Houston, the nation's 4th-largest city, and a key port to and producer of much of the nation's domestic energy.

TPL helped conserve a former ranch Northwest of San Antonio, Texas, that lies directly over the Edwards Aquifer by working with a partnership of private groups and government agencies to buy the land from the Resolution Trust Corporation, and help the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department establish the Government Canyon State Natural Area.

TPL places an emphasis in north Texas on our urban programs in Dallas and our evolving work and program within the watershed of the Trinity River.

Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle, the nation's second largest canyon after the Grand Canyon, was mostly protected as a state park when The Trust for Public Land helped protect a large swath of privately owned land on the rim that had been slated for development.

Purgatory Creek flows into the San Marcos River just south of the rapidly-growing central Texas City of San Marcos. The creek is part of an extensive series of watersheds and rivers located in the southern portion of Hays County, and it lies directly over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.

Established in 1968, the San Bernard Refuge is located in the "central flyway," one of four major migratory routes over the continental U.S.. And with it's location an hour from Houston, it's also a haven for urban residents and visitors, providing numerous opportunities for public recreation.

Using funds from a local bond measure, we protected more than 1,000 acres of rolling hills with limestone outcroppings northeast of San Antonio on the Wind Gate Ranch.