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Conservation Insider
Hello {{Constituent First Name}},
The Summer is in full swing! When the heat soars and the rains seem distant, we immediately take to our favorite swimming holes. This year my wife Katie and I celebrated her birthday by touring several Hill Country swimming holes. Some highlights include: enjoying the waterfalls at Krause Springs (Spicewood), paddling the Upper Guadalupe just past Guadalupe River State Park, and tubing the horseshoe below Canyon Lake Dam. The significant role that water plays in our county and in the Hill Country can't be overstated.
Over the next few months I encourage you to explore the rivers, lakes, and springs that define our county. Share your love for these natural systems with as many people as you can. Exploring these systems can refuel your tank for this work and it will connect folks of every age with the systems that make the Hill Country like no other place in Texas.
I believe that over the next few years, Comal Conservation will lean in on the effort to preserve and protect these incredible aquatic natural systems and we will need your help!
Our work to preserve land, water, and wildlife has never been more necessary and we need your support now more than ever. You can make a difference by volunteering your time, donating to the cause, speaking up in support of conservation efforts, and exploring the incredible natural areas that make living in Comal County so wonderful.
See you on the river!
Ryan K Spencer Executive Director
Become a Conservation Champion!
The Hill Country needs you... If you believe like I do, that we need to protect these incredible resources now, then please consider becoming a Comal Conservation Champion! Simply make a recurring donation in support of our efforts to preserve land, water, and wildlife here in Comal County.
If you join our Comal Conservation Champions by making a pledge of at least 25 dollars a month you will receive a Comal Conservation Bandanna, featuring all of our critters, Four unique Comal Comal Conservation Stickers, and your very own Comal Conservation Tote to take it all home in.
Comal Conservation needs you now more than ever. Please consider making a tax deductible gift today!
Comal Conservation Hosts: Dr. Andrew Sansom! Tuesday July 9th 2024 (6:00pm - 7:30pm) @ The McKenna Events Center
Join us for a conversation with Andy Sansom! Andy has spent a lifetime protecting the natural and cultural resources of our state. During this presentation Andy will focus the conversation on how family land fragmentation is effecting conservation efforts across the state.
Comal Conservation Celebrates the Hiring of a New Administrative Coordinator!
Shayna Ferullo grew up in New Braunfels where she garnered a special interest in rivers and all things water related. She decided to turn that passion into a career and went on to Colorado State to study ecological engineering. While there, she was able to gain experience in river restoration consulting, fish passage research, and was a leader for the school’s Trout Unlimited chapter. She then went on to Alaska working in research, as well as on a contract as a fish biologist for USFWS. After returning to her roots in New Braunfels, she still continues some of the activities she picked up along the way. When she is not working to research or protect rivers, she can be found playing in them with her family and Irish Setter named Banjo through fly fishing, kayaking, spearfishing for invasive species, or using river water to paint with.
Board Spotlight - Heather Harrison, Vice President
This month, we spoke with Heather Harrison, Comal Conservation's Vice President, who is also a member of the Executive Committee. Heather was born and raised in New Braunfels, so naturally she loves the rivers that make Comal County so unique. Her involvement for work driving Comal Conservation's mission is evident and we couldn't be happier to have her working with us!How long have you lived in Comal County and what brought you here?
I grew up in both Guadalupe and Comal Counties. I have lived in Comal County for 35 of my 44 years. My ancestors were in the first wave of founders of the town of New Braunfels, arriving in 1845 & 1846. My great-great-great-grandmother moved from New Braunfels to Spring Branch as a teenager and later married a man from Hondo, so she moved there to start her family. My daddy grew up in San Antonio after my grandfather’s service in the Navy and his job as a civil servant at Kelly AFB. In his retirement, my grandparents bought land on Lake Dunlap, which is where I grew up, enjoying the rich waters of the Guadalupe River!
What do you love most about the Hill Country?
I love our rolling hills and stunning vistas, our diverse and unique wildlife, but I am especially partial to our rivers and lakes. I suppose I could be called a “river rat,” and I spend as much time as I can on both the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers. Because of my love of rivers and geology, I studied hydrogeology, hydrology and fluvial geomorphology at Texas A&M University. In my free time, I have always served in some capacity to protect our rivers and water sources, as well as with entities that promote river recreation such as the City of New Braunfels River Advisory Committee and the Water Oriented Recreation District (WORD) of Comal County. I am co-race director for a children & family canoe race at Cypress Bend Park every first Saturday of November called Kanu Rennen (canoe race in German!), and I previously taught canoeing at Texas State University for several years. What I love about those activities is sharing my love of Texas rivers with others and seeing how one’s appreciation of rivers leads to the desire to protect them. I have participated in many canoe races over the past 12 years, and my biggest passion is racing in the Texas Water Safari! I just completed my 9th Safari in June 2024 and have attempted to bring awareness for the need for water conservation and fundraising for Comal Conservation through that activity.
Why are you passionate about Comal Conservation?
I think that we are overdue as a community on conservation measures, so I am extremely grateful to the founders and the Friends of Comal Conservation for building an organization to address a critical issue in our beautiful county. The generational impact and legacy that we are working toward in land, water and wildlife conservation is so much bigger than what I think any of us can truly fathom.
What are your hopes for the organization during your tenure?I hope that over the next few years, Comal Conservation can make significant headway in aiding our elected officials to adopt development standards that conserve water and in helping landowners place their properties in conservation easements....we're so grateful for Heather's Leadership!
Looking for a way to help protect Comal County's rivers and springs?
Preserving Comal County's natural beauty and rural character is a job for the whole community. Won't you join the effort? CCCA is looking for volunteers to help advance the conservation work in Comal County by helping CCCA in one of the following areas:
Event Planning
Website Maintenance
Grant Writing
Interested candidates should submit their contact information and interests below!
"A Win for Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone in Comal Coun!"
by Frank Dietz, for the H-Z June, 2024
A Big Deal in Comal County Protecting Edwards Aquifer Water In early May an announcement became public that the 1,186-acre Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County had become a Conservation Easement. A lengthy photo essay in the May 5 edition of the San Antonio Express-News is filled with details. In a conversation with Roland Ruiz, the General Manager of the Edwards Aquifer Authority, he explained this important step into the Comal recharge zone for the Edwards Aquifer. All previous acquisitions in Bexar County’s recharge zones and on extensive properties out near Uvalde were contracted for protection in perpetuity with a 1/8 cent sales tax voted by Bexar citizens for aquifer health. When that source changed and alternative funding was established, the Edwards Aquifer Conservancy was free to reach beyond the zones of recharge flowing into Bexar and to find and work with private partners when deemed prudent. With a legacy acreage under which flows the Edwards Aquifer toward the Springs of Comal, San Marcos Springs in Hays County and Barton Springs in Travis County the Dischinger-Brehmer acreage proves a prime opportunity to protect and preserve verdant ranchland and recharge karsts with flowing springs. The parcel, located just west of New Braunfels and south of Canyon Lake has neighboring lands with multiplying rooftops and commercial enterprises. The family heirs of the legacy parcel indicate that it was a land grant in 1860 to their twice great grandfather, Julius Gottfried.
Comal River Receives Designation as National Recreation Trail
"The City of New Braunfels has received word from the U.S. Department of the Interior that the Comal River has been named a National Water Trail. The Comal River Water Trail was one of only four new recreation trails that received the national designation by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. These additions, including the Comal River Water Trail, add 33.5 miles to the National Trails System, a network of more than 1,300 recreation trails spanning every U.S. state, the District of Colombia, and Puerto Rico."
New Braunfels Moves Forward With a New 130 Acre Park
"New Braunfels city council members unanimously approved the $8 million purchase of two properties that span about 131 acres that will become the biggest park in town, according to a news release.
City staff will work on closing the sale on the property and in the next few months New Braunfels will begin to plan for the parks including preliminary engineering and gathering public input."
Texas By Nature Publishes - The Return on Conservation™ Report
"This report is designed to equip both conservation and industry leaders. Business executives can leverage the data to make strategic funding decisions in alignment with their sustainability goals, ultimately boosting investment in local conservation efforts. Similarly, conservation groups can utilize the data to articulate the value of their work more effectively, facilitating clearer communication of the full impact of their projects and initiatives."
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Comal County Conservation Alliance PO Box 2804 Canyon Lake, TX 78133
