None The Nature Conservancy in Texas Press Releases Search All Press Releases Niki F. McDaniel Senior Media Relations Manager, nmcdaniel@tnc.org, 210-224-8774, ext. 217

Nature Conservancy launches Pedernales River Project

Conservation group opens Johnson City office to provide outreach to landowners

Johnson City, Texas —November 2, 2006 —With the launch of its Pedernales River Project, The Nature Conservancy has opened an office in Johnson City at 302 Main St.

One of Texas’ most ecologically important water systems, the Pedernales River traverses 100 miles of Hill Country before joining the Colorado River west of Austin. The Pedernales River Project is intended to provide assistance to landowners interested in conserving the river and its watershed.

“We plan to share best practices in land and water conservation management, assist with prescribed burning and offer support to area burning co-ops,” said Dan Snodgrass, The Nature Conservancy’s Edwards Plateau senior land steward, who will direct the project. “Our initial project focus will be to bring together stakeholders along the river – landowners, conservation agencies, local land trusts and others – and help facilitate their collaborative development of a conservation plan.”

The Conservancy also is working with the River Systems Institute at Texas State University-San Marcos for a scientific study to fill knowledge gaps about the river and its watershed.

For more information about the Pedernales River Project, call the Conservancy’s Johnson City office at (830) 868-4830. To learn more about The Nature Conservancy’s work in Texas, visit nature.org/texas.

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The Nature Conservancy is an international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its nearly 1 million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped protect more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. In the Lone Star State, The Nature Conservancy of Texas owns 35 nature preserves and conservation projects and assists private landowners to conserve their land through more than 70 voluntary land-preservation agreements. The Nature Conservancy of Texas protects 250,000 acres of wild lands and, with partners, has conserved close to a million acres for wildlife habitat across the state. Visit The Nature Conservancy of Texas on the Web at nature.org/texas.