Live Oak Estuary
For more than twenty years, Hugh Dobson has been nurturing a beautiful tract of land he owns in Rockport. He lives in Corpus Christi, less than an hour away, so he visits often.
“I love the unique natural setting of the Gulf’s coastal plains – its local wildlife, what it offers every day,” said Dobson. “We have great meadow and water habitat for birding. We have a healthy group of sandhill cranes that return each year - you can just about set your watch to their arrivals and departures. It’s not a lot of acreage, but we feel better now about our ability to sustain this land with its trees, grasses, wildlife, and water features.”
He purchased the land in 1999 after his childhood friend George Strickhausen showed him the property and helped him envision keeping it an untouched, undeveloped wildscape. Dobson and his family love the place for its natural beauty, rural-like environment, and easy access.
“We immediately fell in love with all the mature beautiful oaks. There’s lots of wildlife and it has that remote feeling, yet it is just 35 miles from Corpus Christi.”
Many of the huge live oaks on the property are estimated to be well over 300 years old. There are wetlands on the property, along with remnants of the coastal prairie that once blanketed the region. The land sits on a peninsula that is influenced by both the Copano and Aransas bays.
Development pressure is intensifying due to ongoing sales of adjacent land earmarked for high-density development. In the near future, Dobson can expect approximately 30 new neighbors along the fence line, and the prospect of new RV parks and other developments next door could result in an additional 200 residents soon.
With that in mind, Dobson reached out to Chad Ellis at the Texas Agricultural Land Trust (TALT).
“TALT is helping us put 88 acres into a conservation easement,” said Dobson. “We were excited to have a smaller sized parcel get approved for a conservation easement. I imagine we are one of the smaller TALT holdings, but I think in the long run we will look back and know this was a good choice to make to forever protect this property.”
One issue of concern was whether an easement would prevent them from fulfilling a dream of providing future education and outreach opportunities that could possibly involve building new facilities. Through the preparation process with TALT staff, they learned that they could incorporate building envelopes into the easement, within fair guidelines, which will allow them to achieve those goals in the future.
Whatever happens down the road, one thing is ensured: 88 acres of pristine coastal habitat will be forever protected, providing habitat for the sandhill cranes that come like clockwork every year, along with a host of other wildlife species that call this place home.
“I’m feeling positive about taking this step because I’ve always wanted to contribute to protecting this property and continue gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of the life cycles of this land and its animals,” said Dobson. “A part of our strategy is finding a way to help boost awareness and knowledge and engagement to support these types of environments rather than exploit them. We are grateful for the support of TALT and other partners in taking these steps now so we are assured the place we love will be around for many generations to come.”