Open V Ranch
Sky Lewey listens to the lessons of the land.
“Over the years, the land becomes your teacher. If you are listening and if you are paying attention, land is the best teacher you can have. It makes you who you are.”
Lewey has been paying attention to her family’s land in Uvalde County since she was a girl. Her parents purchased the land in 1968 to retire from bigger rougher drier South Texas ranching.
At a time when there was little appreciation for it, Lewey’s parents Marge and Elmo Jones, recognized the diversity of the plants and animals that thrive at the intersection of ecoregions and the soil richness that results from the confluence of waterways. Their strategy was to work with nature and let the natural processes of recovery take their course. Their daughter picked up the mantle and moved to protect the land forever through a conservation easement with the Texas Agricultural Land Trust (TALT).
The Open V Ranch sits on more than 200 acres along the Nueces River and Bird Springs Creek in Uvalde County and is part of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. The upper Nueces River basin is responsible for about 60% of the annual recharge to the Edwards Aquifer, and for the most part that recharge occurs in streambed and riparian areas like that found on the Open V. The Edwards Aquifer provides water for more than two million people in Texas, including the city of San Antonio.
Photos taken by Wyman Meinzer.
“The Open V is a small piece of the Upper Nueces landscape, but its contributions to water resources are significant,” said Lewey. “In my lifetime I have seen Bird Springs Creek transition from a heavily overgrazed water-shedding stream to spring-fed perennial sponge flanked by robust riparian vegetation. The protection and conservation of the upper Nueces Watershed is pivotal to ensuring the health of the Edwards Aquifer for generations of Texans to come.”
When Lewey’s parents purchased the land more than fifty years ago, it was one of the smallest parcels available on the Nueces. It is now one of the largest parcels, and land fragmentation is impacting river front property faster than in any other location in Texas.
The conservation easement that will preclude development forever was funded through the Texas Farm and Ranchland Conservation Program, administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation came to the table with some additional dollars when the land appraisal came in higher than expected. The Texas Land Trust Council also pitched in to make the transaction happen.
“Development pressures are mounting all around, especially along the rivers. We really needed the support of the conservation community to continue our legacy of stewardship on the Open V that shares benefits far beyond the fence line,” said Lewey. “Until the development of the Texas Farm and Ranchlands Conservation Program, an easement was unattainable for us. We are thankful for TALT and TPWD, the Hershey Foundation, and the Texas Land Trust Council for making it work. We could not have done it without their support.”
“Terry Hershey championed conservation easements while she served on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, and was instrumental in the development of conservation easements as a tool for land conservation in Texas,” said Andy Sansom, who founded the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, and serves on the board of the Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation. “Helping people and organizations to conserve private land is a bedrock and core principle of the Hershey Foundation, and we are really excited to participate in the easement on the Open V.”
Besides the riparian areas that are critical for the recharge of the Edward’s Aquifer, the Open V is home to myriad wildlife species, two national champion trees, and 23 registered archeological sites, with artifacts dating back more than 10,000 years. The Open V supports a conservation ranching operation and was honored with TPWD’s Lone Star Land Steward Award in 2014.
Lewey is grateful that the land she and her parents cherished will be protected for future generations of her family.
