1200 More Acres Along the Llano River Protected Forever
Calcite Ranch in Mason County is Texas Land Conservancy's most recent conservation success. This large and rugged ranch is in a remote part of the county and sits along 1.4 miles of the Llano River. It’s rich in wildlife habitat, springs, caves, scenic vistas, and prehistoric cultural resources.
The Road to Conservation
The landowners, Don and Ann Connell first met with Texas Land Conservancy in 2015 to protect their ranch with a conservation easement but funding limitations put those plans on hold. In 2020, the Hill Country Headwaters Conservation Initiative (HCHCI), a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS aka the federal government) funded Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) awarded the Calcite Ranch the funds necessary to purchase the conservation easement.
Finally, after two and half years of rigorous applications and drawn-out reviews, and 7 ½ years after first meeting with Don and Ann, the conservation easement was completed in September of this year.
TLC and the landowners are grateful to everyone involved in the HCHCI partnership to make this conservation easement possible.
History of the Property
Don and Ann's story on the land goes back much further than 2015. They purchased the land in the 1990s, a rugged tract in the Llano uplift taken over by mountain cedar AKA Ashe juniper. A diamond in the rough, if you will.
Over the decades the landowners tirelessly reset the landscape to an oak savannah through the judicious use of chainsaws and fire. Grasses recolonized, and in one case, a spring was formed, emerging right in the center of an otherwise dry stream bed. They even discovered a few caves. Don and Ann also had the foresight to leave a small canyon untouched as a control point, how the land used to look before conducting their management.
For the uninitiated, the Llano Uplift is a dome of ancient rock in the center of Texas Hill Country. It is responsible for sandy soils, granite outcrops such as the beloved Enchanted Rock, and altogether different habitats and landscape than the surrounding Hill Country made up of younger cretaceous limestone. In fact, the ranch's name comes from the calcite crystals originating from the older limestones found on the property.
The land also supported research conducted within the family. Don and Ann's son, David, wrote his thesis based on research done on the land. Don himself conducted years of bird banding. Don's techniques of capturing birds with mist nets throughout different habitats produced an amazing number of bird species that would have otherwise gone unnoticed or undocumented. Don banded 113 different species on the property and has observations of 194 species in total. 74 of which have been documented to be nesting on the property. The list of species includes rarities like zone-tailed hawk, black-capped vireo, lark bunting, and bald eagle.
The Environment
A great diversity of birds would not be possible without diverse habitats. The savannahs and brush throughout the rolling topography, oak and juniper woodland canyons, and Llano River riparian and bottomland areas support all manner of plants and wildlife. Other rare or significant species known on the property are Guadalupe bass, Western hog-nosed skunk, Texas almond, and Texas peachbush.
In addition to supporting the plants and wildlife, the scenic beauty of the property, particularly along the public waters of the Llano River, is also protected forever. Dramatic bluffs, perennial pools for water birds, sculpted stone riverbeds, and majestic pecan trees are all captivating to their observers.
Connecting Conservation
The Llano River is one of TLC's priority watersheds, recognized for its pristine nature, its risk and threat of development, and its opportunity for conservation. TLC also protects the 1,000-acre Griffith Ranch just a couple of miles as the crow flies, from Calcite Ranch. Together, they are the beginnings of another great network of conservation properties protected forever by Texas Land Conservancy.
