This holiday season, we encourage you and your family to give generously to Hill Country Conservancy to keep the HCC mission moving effectively forward. Here is a quick look at just a few of our 2011 highlights…

2011 – HCC co-hosted the Barton Creek Trail Corps with the American Youthworks Environmental Corps and the Austin Parks Foundation. The five person crew worked five days a week for the entirety of 2011 on the Barton Creek Greenbelt on trail repair projects as well as ecological restoration of 300 acres throughout the Barton Creek Greenbelt.

2011 – Hill Country Conservancy added regular nature hikes at the Nalle Bunny Run Preserve to their calendar, allowing families an educational opportunity to see a variety of bird species in their natural habitat!

In 2011, thanks to generous funding from the Still Water Foundation, HCC engaged in strategic conservation planning to determine where to focus its work in the future.  This strategic approach to conservation will ensure that HCC’s work has a lasting and meaningful impact on precious resources such as drinking water, wildlife, scenic views, and working farms and ranches.

In 2011, through land, outreach, and volunteer events, HCC engaged approximately 4,800 people in its mission to conserve the precious lands and waters of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer!

We celebrated the 4th Anniversary of the EPIC program with a well attended happy hour at House + Earth, which brought in more new members than any other EPIC happy hour to date!

HCC participated in the 26 Miles for 26 Charities Livestrong Austin Marathon hosting a water stop for 20,000 runners. The HCC marathon team victoriously finished the race AND raised over $7,000 for local conservation efforts.

HCC hosted an Earth Day Concert at the ACL Live Studio at the Moody Theatre featuring Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers raising $25,000. In addition to spearheading the Give 5% to Mother Earth Campaign with 6 local environmental organizations and almost 100 local businesses raising nearly $25,000.

Hill Country Conservancy partnered with the Austin Parks Foundation and American Youthworks Environmental Corps to put over 300 volunteers to work on the Barton Creek Greenbelt for National Trails Day.

HCC purchased conservation easements on both the Brockenbrough Ranch in North Eastern Travis County, and the third phase of the Storm Ranch in Hays County, totaling an additional 638 acres of land preserved in Central Texas in 2011.

Hill Country Conservancy partnered with the Austin Parks Foundation and American Youthworks Environmental Corps to put over 350 volunteers to work on the Barton Creek Greenbelt for National Public Lands Day.

HCC hosted Hill Country Nights, the largest party for conservation in Central Texas! 700 friends joined HCC at the Texas Disposal Systems Exotic Game Ranch and raised over $170,000 for land and water conservation.

Hill Country Conservancy staff worked with many key partners to help ensure the passage of Travis County Bond Proposition 2, which secured $82 million for parks, trails and open space.

WE NEED YOU! HCC must raise $35,000 for Land Management expenses in 2012 and we need your help to start off 2012 with a bang!

What is in store for 2012…

Next year, Hill Country Conservancy hopes to purchase a conservation easement on the first phase of a historic 1,200-acre ranch in Driftwood, TX with two miles of highway frontage on FM 150. In addition to protecting water and air quality, conserving this ranch will also preserve scenic vistas and critically important wildlife habitat.

We need your support to continue conserving land and water in the Texas Hill Country.

2011- The Year of the Drought.

Farmers, ranchers, landowners, and citizens all across Texas have felt the impacts of the drought this year.

“And according to the federal government’s National Climatic Data Center, there was apparently only one other year during the last 461 years when Texas had a drought so severe.”

“In the past 12 months, Texas has seen 11.1 inches of rainfall on average, according to Nielsen-Gammon, and it broke a heat record for the country that was previously set during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Texas AgriLife Extension Service estimates the cost of the drought to be about $5.2 billion, and that estimate “already out of date because it was compiled two months ago” doesn’t include the impact to several kinds of crops and the forestry industry.”

Tom Etheredge

Executive Vice President, Forestar Group, Inc.

Tom Etheredge possesses 29 years experience in the real estate industry, and has been with Forestar and subsidiaries of its predecessor parent company (Temple Inland) since 1992.  At Forestar, he currently holds the title of Executive Vice President, Real Estate and oversees the company’s multifamily operations, which includes acquisitions, development, construction and asset management.  He also serves on Forestar’s Investment Committee.

While at Forestar he previously served in various senior management capacities in the Community (single family) Development Group, including overseeing the operations of the company’s $500 million real estate portfolio, consisting of 100 development projects and over 200,000 acres of undeveloped land to support recreational sales, timber, entitlement, and mitigation banking.  In 2010, Etheredge led in the formation of the company’s multifamily operations.

Etheredge is a native of Austin, Texas and graduated from St. Edward’s University with a degree in Economics.

Kareem Hajjar

Attorney at Law; Hajjar, Sutherland, Peters, & Washmon, LLP

Kareem T. Hajjar is a member of the firm’s transactional group and whose work thus far includes representation of clients in complex real estate transactions, drafting purchase and sale agreements for raw land and income-producing properties, negotiating and drafting commercial lease agreements and escrow agreements, drafting restrictive covenants, condominium associations and other development documents, drafting commercial loan packages, the planning and formation of business entities, including corporations, special purpose entities, partnerships and limited liability companies, and the planning and drafting of securities offerings for real estate developments, oil and gas ventures, and bar and restaurant concepts.

Mr. Hajjar’s bar and restaurant law practice includes the representation of over 140 bars and restaurants located throughout Texas and includes the formation of corporate entities, real estate acquisition and leasing, zoning and other land use and municipal issues, trademark acquisitions, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission permit acquisition, employment agreements, mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations.

Paul Holubec

Central and South Texas Region Chairman, Plains Capital Bank

Paul J. Holubec is Central and South Texas region chairman of PlainsCapital Bank. Holubec joined PlainsCapital Bank in 2002.  His primary focus as president is to continue building on the bank’s momentum as a top-rated commercial bank with more than $600 million in local assets.  Holubec graduated from the University of Texas with a B.B.A. in Finance.  Prior to joining PlainsCapital Bank, he was senior vice president at Wells Fargo.  Holubec is an active member of the Austin community, currently serves on the Caritas Advisory Board of Directors.  He is also a member of the Young President Organization.

Laura Lane

Clinical Audiologist, Audiology & Hearing Aids, Austin Regional Clinic

Laura Lane, M.A., FAAA, received her Master of Arts in Audiology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998.  She is licensed by the State Board of Examiners for Speech/Language Pathology and Audiology to practice, fit and dispense hearing aid instruments. She is also Board Certified in Audiology.

Paul Stone

President, DMX

Stone is affiliated with Capstar Partners, a private investment company that participates in the funding of early stage technology companies and traditional investments with a focus on media and real estate. THP Capstar, an affiliate of Capstar Partners, successfully acquired DMX in 2005 for $75 million. Stone currently is the President of DMX, Inc.

Stone also serves as President of Stone Management Company (SMC), a financial consulting services and investment company specializing in media and other high margin growth industries. By partnering with seasoned operating veterans in each industry and capitalizing on relationships with equity fund operators developed through years in the finance industry, SMC is developing a portfolio of profitable companies with high growth potential.

Will Wheeler

Managing Partner,
Bury + Partners

Will Wheeler is an accomplished executive with 26 years consulting experience providing senior management oversight in the formulation and implementation of land development strategies. He has acted as Principal-in-Charge on a wide variety of project types within both public and private sectors, each providing direct benefit to the surrounding economies.

His expertise includes master planned communities, regional office parks, retail centers, multi-family developments, distribution centers and regional infrastructure expansion. Additionally, Mr. Wheeler has worked extensively in supporting many prominent developers through site acquisition, entitlement, and pre-development process.