Connemara Conservancy

July 2012 Land Committee Board Report

Committee Chair:
Mark Yarbrough
Last Meeting: 7/12/2012
Next Meeting: 8/7/2012 / Members Present:
John Dugdale, RJ Taylor, Sandra (Sandy) Greenway, Mark Yarbrough

Items for Board Discussion

·  Wilbarger Creek Mitigation Bank in Bastrop County

This potential easement is outside of our self-declared “service area”. The easement donor needs a decision from the Board in order to move ahead with this project.

·  There are 4-5 potential easements that fall outside our current “service area”. The board needs to provide direction to staff in dealing with these requests. Historically the board has dealt with each of these on a case-by-case basis. Direction to staff will help them manage their efforts. If these extraneous easements are not desired we should enforce a stricter policy. If they are desirable we should remove our self-imposed 33 county service area, continue to stress our focus areas in the four strategic quadrants and evaluate each easement based upon its merits. Distance and capacity issues for easements are built in to the stewardship calculation by way of additional travel time or use of consultants.

Easement Preparation - Current

·  Wilbarger Creek Mitigation Bank in Bastrop County (120 acres)– waiting on Board approval to proceed with this project

·  W. Mud Reserve Mitigation Bank in Smith County (75 acres) – waiting on Board approval to proceed with this project

·  Martin Ranch (121.3 acres) – Working final easement preparation and detail

·  DWF’s Pittman Ranch (790 acres) – Seeking proposal from Halff to complete baseline survey

·  Gainesville Mitigation Site (146.8 acres) – Waiting on Texas Parks and Wildlife to review easement document

·  Johnny Mack Powers’ Red Oak Umbrella Mitigation Bank (608 acres total) – waiting on client for go-ahead to write easement documents

Easements – New Potential

·  Sphere 3 Env.’s wetland mitigation banks in NE Texas region

·  TPWD Habitat Mitigation needs in NE Texas

·  Mulberry Tracts in Mulberry, Texas (570 acres)

·  Sandbrock Ranch Denton County


Outreach Activity

·  Participation at 7/13 NPAT Landowner Workshop – tour of Leo Ranch

·  Presentation at 7/19 Master Naturalists – Bonham Chapter

·  Booth at 7/27 Texas Agrilife Landowner Workshop

Upcoming

·  Working easement details

·  Continue working on detailed outreach plans for each of the four focus areas in the proposed Strategic Conservation Plan for years 2012-2015