{"id":154009,"date":"2026-02-06T18:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/154009\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:31:10","slug":"local-conservation-group-expands-with-new-wildlife-preserve-near-boerne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/154009\/","title":{"rendered":"Local conservation group expands with new wildlife preserve near Boerne"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Cibolo Center for Conservation<\/a>, or The Cibolo, traces its roots to the late 1980s, when Carolyn Chipman Evans and her husband, Brent, sought to create a place for Boerne residents to learn about and connect with nature along Cibolo Creek.<\/p>\n

Now, the nonprofit has become a \u201cmodel of conservation education,\u201d owning two educational campuses complete with walking trails, weekly classes, special events and more, according to their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the group owns and manages several private wildlife sanctuaries scattered across Kendall County, one of the newest being the 32-acre Sisterdale Sanctuary that was acquired in late 2023.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe sanctuary’s western edge is defined by riparian creek beds lined with cypress and shrubbery. (Andrew Creelman\/Community Impact)What the experts say<\/p>\n

Kel Hoffman, the land conservation director for The Cibolo, told Community Impact that protecting land is crucial for both preserving it<\/a> from development and educational purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtecting the Sisterdale Sanctuary secures a critical piece of the Guadalupe watershed as growth accelerates across Kendall County,\u201d Hoffman said.<\/p>\n

The property features several unique areas that represent the flora and fauna<\/a> found throughout the Hill Country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis place allows you to see this really wide breadth of ecosystems in such a short amount of time,\u201d Hoffman said.<\/p>\n

An area of upland forest can be found along the eastern side of the property, featuring live oak, Texas persimmon, prickly pear cactus and more. The western side is dominated by a riparian ecosystem, whereas the east branch of Sister Creek is lined with cypress and surrounded by Hill Country savannah.<\/p>\n

A 25-foot-tall limestone escarpment<\/a> divides these two distinct areas of the sanctuary and is home to a small bat colony, Hoffman said.<\/p>\n

\"NestNest boxes are scattered throughout Sisterdale Sanctuary to help with bird migration studies and community science projects. (Andrew Creelman\/Community Impact)What\u2019s being done <\/p>\n

Along with the scenery, the sanctuary is home to several private research projects and volunteer opportunities<\/a> for Boerne residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a robust community science program around the creeks here at the sanctuary,\u201d Hoffman said.<\/p>\n

Currently, Hoffman and other researchers are working on several priorities:<\/p>\n

Native grassland restorationRiparian vegetation recoveryInvasive species managementLong-term ecological monitoring with emphasis on birds, pollinators, grasses and water qualityHoffman said more dedicated volunteers are needed to form a friends group<\/a> that will be heavily involved with many of the planned projects at the sanctuary.\"TheThe 25-foot escarpment at the sanctuary is home to a small colony of Mexican free-tailed bats. (Andrew Creelman\/Community Impact)The future<\/p>\n

In the future, Hoffman said the sanctuary’s long-term goal is to become a publicly accessible, community-focused area for residents across the Hill Country to utilize and learn from.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis landscape offers a rare opportunity to study and demonstrate how proactive land stewardship can sustain water quality and habitat before development pressures intensify,\u201d Hoffman said.<\/p>\n

To learn more about The Cibolo and to see upcoming volunteer opportunities, visit their website below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cibolo Center for Conservation, or The Cibolo, traces its roots to the late 1980s, when Carolyn Chipman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[63662,63670,63666,63668,63661,63663,63669,63671,82,84,63665,83,63667,46857,63672,45494,63660,63664],"class_list":{"0":"post-154009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-boerne-nonprofit","9":"tag-creeks","10":"tag-hiking-trails","11":"tag-kendall-county-wildlife-preserve","12":"tag-nature-education-boerne","13":"tag-nature-in-boerne","14":"tag-nonprofits-in-boerne","15":"tag-river-clean-up","16":"tag-san-antonio","17":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","18":"tag-san-antonio-nature-preserves","19":"tag-san-antonio-news","20":"tag-summer-camps-in-boerne","21":"tag-texas-parks","22":"tag-volunteering-in-boerne","23":"tag-waterways","24":"tag-wildlife-in-texas","25":"tag-wildlife-sanctuary-boerne"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}