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An Unparalleled Legacy

 

Davis Mountains winter scene

Go Deeper

Learn more the Legacy Club and explore the conservation work we're doing in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.

Download Texas Conservation Milestones print version (914kb).

Stories

Laura Huffman Texas Conservation Milestones Home
The Frio Ranch Protecting the Edwards Aquifer
Oysters Restoring a Gulf Coast Treasure
APC thumb Saving the Attwater's Prairie Chicken from Extinction
Richard Garriott Richard Garriott: Conservationist, Space Traveler
Barnett Shale Balancing Energy and Conservation
Pronghorn Yoakum Dunes Preserve
Lennox Woods Preserve A New Trail Showcases an Old-Growth Forest
Caddo Lake Preserve Conservation from Caddo Lake to the Lower Brazos River
Pearl campus A New Home for Conservation in Texas
Richard Bartlett Dick Bartlett: An Unparalleled Legacy
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Richard Bartlett

Dick Bartlett literally wrote the book on conservation in Texas. First published in 1995, Saving the Best of Texas is a deeply personal exploration of the past, present and future of conservation in the Lone Star State. Written after logging nearly 100,000 miles to visit the most beautiful and imperiled places in the state, the book is a must-read for anyone with even a passing care for the plants, animals and natural features of Texas.

Dick Bartlett VideoA lifelong outdoorsman, Dick joined The Nature Conservancy in 1987 and became a member of the Legacy Club soon after. He joined the Conservancy’s Texas Board of Trustees in 1989 and served as its chairman from 1994 to 1996. In more than 20 years of membership, he has proven himself to be among the most ardent supporters of the Conservancy’s work, receiving the coveted Oak Leaf Award in 1997. He was named to the original national President’s Conservation Council under former Conservancy President John Sawhill, and he is currently a member of the Conservancy’s Governors Emeriti.

In October, Dick and his wife, Joanne, established the Thinking Like a Mountain Fund, pledging $5 million through their estate plans to benefit international conservation. They hope the fund, named after the famous Aldo Leopold essay, will stimulate international giving for conservation within the Chihuahuan Desert borderlands, a region both he and Joanne have long loved. He was inspired to create the fund upon learning he was to become a great-grandfather. Pondering the futures of his great-grandchildren’s great-grandchildren, he considered what kind of natural world would be left to them. “I wondered what they would have if we didn’t take action,” he says. 

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Nature picture credits (left to right, top to bottom): Photo courtesy of Dick Bartlett (Dick Bartlett); Debbie Brient/TNC (Davis Mountains); Photo © Austin Business Journal (Laura Huffman); Photo © Rebecca Flack/TNC (Frio River); Photo © Danny White/TNC (Oysters); Photo © Clay Carrington/TNC (Attwater's prairie chicken); Photo © Will van Overbeek (Richard Garriott); Photo © David A. Williams (prairie grass); Photo © Janet Haas (pronghorn); Photo © TNC (Lennox Woods Preserve); Photo © Lynn Mc Bride/TNC (Caddo Lake); Photo © Insite Architects (Pearl Brewery Design); Photo courtesy Dick Bartlett (Dick Bartlett)