EDITORIAL
Residents of Buda and Kyle – and other Hays County citizens as well – are 4,808 acres richer, thanks to three local families who have known the beauty of the land, and want to preserve it in perpetuity.
Last week, County Commissioner Jeff Barton represented the county in the closing on the 2,275-acre Dahlstrom Ranch conservation easement, setting aside this land which has huge aquifer recharge features.
Gay Dahlstrom, who had almost come to the point where she had to sell to developers to pay taxes on the ranch, was able to work out a deal with the Hill Country Conservancy and Hays County. Now we can all say thanks for helping to save our aquifer. In addition, a portion of the 2,000-plus acres will be open for hiking and studying of nature’s splendor, making it a gem in Buda’s crown.
On the Kyle side, the Johnson family, including siblings William “Bill” Johnson, Burdine Johnson and Lucy Johnson Hadac, announced last week that they would be working with the Nature Conservancy of Texas to set aside 2,193 acres fronting the Blanco River. With more than two miles of river frontage, the land deal will mean that there will be no real estate development of the property. Ever.
Finally, upriver neighbors of the Johnson family and their Halifax ranch, Peter and Mary Faye Way, are setting aside 340 acres as another conservancy easement.
The Johnson and Way properties are the first land set-asides along the Blanco River for the Nature Conservancy. We look forward to hearing about the closing on these properties.
All of these large tracts of land are important to us in one way or another. They preserve an old way of life, they preserve our water, and they help allay the possibility of massive developments.
To these families who have made these wonderful changes, we say thanks.
