533 acres of pristine riverfront land in Hays County conserved for new preserve, park
https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Boy-Scout-nature-area-in-Hays-County-17192770.php
Just north of Canyon Lake, through sprawling hills, limestone bluffs and pristine springs, El Rancho Cima was a couple-thousand-acre spot just for Boy Scouts. Troops of junior wilderness rangers would climb through obstacle courses, build fires by themselves, learn to track paw prints in the dirt and camp by the meandering Blanco River.
Since the 1950s, the area has been untouched by development. But in 2018, the Houston chapter of the Boy Scouts put the entire 2,500 acres on the market — leaving the historic area up for grabs and potential housing.
In an effort to preserve El Rancho Cima’s past and conserve its ecosystem in perpetuity, Hays County officials and The Nature Conservancy of Texas partnered to buy roughly 533 acres of the property near the Blanco River waterfront.
A conservation easement granted to the conservancy by the county in early May for $13 million will protect a large portion of the river from potential pollution; preserve the habitat for endangered species, such as the golden-cheeked warbler; and eventually facilitate opening the property as a public park.
“Hays County and The Nature Conservancy have long recognized that the Blanco River is a key conservation priority, protecting as much as possible of the Blanco River to keep it pristine like it is now,” said Jeff Francell, associate director of land protection for The Nature Conservancy. “This one piece of property will protect more than a mile on both sides of the river and save it for the future.”
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