Scott Shannon Ranch
In Texas, we owe a lot to private landowners like Scott Shannon who voluntarily protect their land's water and wildlife... thanks to [Scott] and the assistance of the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program, these 367 acres will remain a wondrous example of the glory of the Texas Hill Country for many generations to come.
Hill Country Conservancy is pleased to announce the donation of a conservation easement from Scott Shannon of Scott Shannon Ranch in Blanco County. This easement protects an area of land roughly the size of Austin's Zilker Park within the Middle Trinity Aquifer recharge zone and Pedernales River watersheds.
Scott Shannon Ranch in Blanco County is 367 acres of beautiful Hill Country land along the heavily-trafficked US Highway 290 corridor between Johnson City and Fredericksburg. The ranch hosts 1.4 miles of Towhead Creek, which drains into Flat Creek, .75 miles above where it joins with the Pedernales River.
Vital protection at Scott Shannon Ranch
Scott Shannon Ranch also contains prime farmland soil, which is becoming increasingly rare within the Edwards Plateau. The conservation easement on this property will preserve the many plants and animals dependent on the habitat and food sources found on the ranch. Scott Shannon Ranch also hosts several Species of Greatest Conservation Need (species identified to be particularly vulnerable or threatened and in need of protection). It is also within the southern migration route for the rapidly-declining Monarch butterfly, providing Monarchs and other pollinators with abundant milkweed and other nectar plants.
Landowner Scott Shannon is committed to conducting activities aimed at enhancing soil and native plants for the benefit of water and wildlife on the ranch. "My hope is that the second phase of our work will begin at some point soon and I'll be giving this property to Hill Country Conservancy when I pass on," said Shannon. "That's my real dream for the property: to build a center on the property and use Scott Shannon Ranch as a headquarters to host Hill Country Conservancy star parties and educational programs."
Comments 1
Thank God for people like Scott Shannon, the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program and your organization. I hope you continue to gain more easements like this to preserve the Hill Country before developers make it unrecognizable and destroy it’s important benefits to wildlife and people.