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The city of San Antonio recently voted to transfer three thousand acres of land to the Government Canyon State Natural Area because they didn’t have the funds to manage the land themselves.

Richard Heilbrun (High-ul-brun) is a wildlife biologist at Parks and Wildlife. He says the new land is important because it provides habitat for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler.

This is golden-cheeked warbler paradise. You’ve got these slopes, you’ve got good diversity. You’ve got old shredding bark juniper like that one right there. I just have to believe that they’re all over the place.

The land is full of a wide variety of trees, which are necessary for the warbler’s survival. But the land is also important to the Edwards Aquifer.

You can see just on the side of this road just holes in the ground, holes in the soil, and it goes directly into the aquifer. And this is why this is such a wonderful place because it has both habitat and aquifer recharge.

But as you look out over the land, you see newly built houses dotting the nearby hills. The land right outside the natural area is being developed because people want to live where there’s a nice view. But new homes only mean less habitat for the warbler and other species.

Fortunately, Parks and Wildlife will continue efforts to preserve the fragile habitat. And in five to ten years, the new land will have trails for public hiking and mountain biking, for all Texans to enjoy.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan… For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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