Politics & Policy
January 25, 2024
Jacob’s Well Was Dry for Seven Months—One Company Just Kept Pumping
Utility giant Aqua Texas pumped 66 million gallons beyond its legal limit in 2023.
Conservation
Sponsored
January 17, 2024
Protecting Lone Star Lands and Waters
Giving Back
November 13, 2023
Eight Texans Who Are Taking On Some of Our Biggest Challenges
Whether helping prevent military suicides or reversing a childcare desert, these Texans are finding creative solutions to big problems.
Energy
September 5, 2023
Hundreds of Abandoned Oil Wells Are Rotting Away in Texas Bays
Defunct companies have left behind energy facilities that leak toxins into fragile coastal ecosystems. And guess who has to clean them up?
Politics & Policy
August 28, 2023
Who’s Killing Jacob’s Well?
For the second year in a row, the iconic spring-fed swimming hole has stopped flowing, the consequence of drought and overpumping.
Politics & Policy
August 16, 2023
Dam It?
An oil executive wants to block the South Llano River for private recreational purposes. Hill Country residents are outraged.
News & Politics
August 7, 2023
Inside the Fight for a Hidden Hill Country Treasure
A Dallas billionaire says his new luxury resort in a near-pristine parcel west of Austin is a model of sustainability. The caretaker of the nature reserve next door isn’t buying it.
Best Thing in Texas
July 10, 2023
A Texas Oak Tree Was Believed to Be Extinct. Now It’s Making a Comeback.
Twelve years after the last known Quercus tardifolia disappeared, conservationists at the San Antonio Botanical Garden are bringing the species back.
Texas Country Reporter
May 19, 2023
Release the ‘Toads’! A San Antonio Zoo Program Aims to Restore the Texas Horned Lizard Population
Dr. Andy Glusenkamp of the zoo's Center for Conservation & Research leads volunteers in a hands-on experience to preserve the beloved state reptile.
Texas Country Reporter
March 18, 2023
Meet the Texas Tech Researcher Who Broke the Beavers Story
Garret Langlois explains how he first stumbled upon, then dove into the exciting discovery that beavers had returned to the Llano Estacado after thousands of years.
Libations
October 27, 2022
King Ranch Is Turning Its Invasive Mesquite Problem Into Bourbon
The legendary operation partnered with Old Forester in Kentucky to create a Texas-exclusive whiskey that benefits cattle and quail alike.
Texas Country Reporter
September 29, 2022
Guardian of the Whooping Cranes
One of our most important TCR stories involved a surprise encounter with an early advocate of whooping crane conservation efforts.
Texas Country Reporter
August 18, 2022
The Texas “Moth Man” Is Retired But Still Clicking
Stuart Marcus has spent years identifying and photographing hundreds of species of moths near the Trinity River, but he still has more to go.
Texas Country Reporter
July 22, 2022
Quinta Mazatlan Is a Mansion With a Mission
The 1930s estate in McAllen is home to a fifteen-acre wildlife sanctuary that invites visitors to foster conservation corridors in their own backyards.
Best Thing in Texas
June 28, 2022
The Little Turtles That Could: 45 Endangered Sea Turtles Hatch in Texas
“It really is one of the greatest wildlife-conservation successes of our time here in Texas.”
Hunting & Fishing
June 6, 2022
Microfishing Is Texas’s Tiny New Angling Trend
Inspired by an ancient Japanese tradition, it’s all about catching as many minuscule species as possible.
Texas Country Reporter
May 25, 2022
My Lifelong Dream Came True at South Padre’s Sea Turtle Inc.
Texas Country Reporter paid a visit to the world-class wildlife preservation center, where a rehabilitated Kemp’s ridley turtle made a return to the sea.
Texas Country Reporter
May 13, 2022
Viva la Guadalupe Bass! The Comeback Story of the Texas State Fish
Decades of conservation have helped save the native fish, now iconic to Central Texas anglers.
Travel & Outdoors
April 11, 2022
The Great Springs Project Aims to Build a 100-Mile Hike-and-Bike Trail From Austin to San Antonio
The nonprofit effort will cost hundreds of millions and preserve 50,000 acres over the fragile Edwards Aquifer. Can it be done?
Critters
January 27, 2022
The Spider Lady of East Texas Aims to Ease Your Black Widow Fears
Nacogdoches researcher Ashley Wahlberg, whose arachnid collection is nightmare fodder for many, says spiders help us more than they hurt us.
Critters
August 25, 2021
The Ugly Ducklings: Ten Lesser-Known Texas Endangered and At-Risk Species
These humble creatures don’t have the star power of ocelots and whooping cranes, but they’re just as crucial to their ecosystems.
Travel & Outdoors
August 16, 2021
Behind the Fight to Save the Gulf’s Spectacular Coral Reefs
Some of the healthiest coral communities in the world beckon off the Texas coast. Can unlikely allies save this undersea paradise?
Critters
August 12, 2021
How Texas Wildlife Crossings Are Saving Lives and Money
From South Texas’s simple ocelot culverts to San Antonio’s pioneering land bridge, these passageways can reduce car accidents and help animals thrive.
Best Thing in Texas
April 23, 2021
Whooping Cranes Are Nesting in Texas for the First Time in Over a Century
One of the rarest birds in North America is making a comeback.
Critters
August 19, 2020
A Texas Program Has Achieved Remarkable Success in Protecting Rare Sea Turtles. So Why Does the National Park Service Want to Defund It?
The world’s most endangered sea turtle has made an impressive comeback, attracting thousands of visitors to North Padre Island, but now advocates say it may be at risk again.
Hunting & Fishing
April 15, 2020
How a Battle Between Recreational and Commercial Fishermen Spawned a Conservation Movement
The Redfish Wars changed Texas fishing. A fight over flounder could be next.
Outdoors
September 21, 2018
Has Hunting Become a Rich Man’s Game?
The deer industry is booming. Participation in the sport is not.
Critters
May 6, 2015
Up to 4 Percent of Africa’s Rhinos Might Relocate to South Texas
With an endangered population that continues to be poached for its horns, every preventative measure—even odd ones—should be considered.
Critters
October 30, 2013
The Dallas Safari Club Is Trying To Preserve The Black Rhino By Killing A Black Rhino
The critically endangered black rhino needs resources and efforts from humans to avoid extinction—and what's a better way to preserve an endangered species than auctioning off the right to kill one?
Critters
April 8, 2013
This Two-Steppin’ Chicken Is Not What’s For Dinner
The colorful Attwater's Prairie Chicken, a bird that flourished in Texas a hundred years ago, is on the verge of extinction.
Energy
January 21, 2013
Texans Urged to Conserve Power as Temperatures Hit Triple Digits
Energy usage for the month of June broke records for two days in a row, as ERCOT and the Public Utilities Commission scramble to prevent rolling blackouts.
Green Guinea Pig
May 31, 2008
So Lawn, Farewell
Lawn of a new day.
Critters
August 31, 1997
Winging It
A bat man builds a super cave (holy conservation!).
Politics & Policy
July 31, 1996
Fishy
The Barton Springs salamander goes to court.
News & Politics
June 30, 1996
Eerie Canal
The Intracoastal Waterway is a marvel of engineering and a boon to industry. It’s also an ecological nightmare, which is why politicians, environmentalists, and business leaders are locked in a battle for the future of the Gulf Coast.
News & Politics
January 1, 1996
Water Grab
Why farmers and big-city folk are at war over water. Plus: Jane Nelson for comptroller?
Critters
May 31, 1993
Cat Fight
When mountain lions started turning up, the Sierra Club said, “Save them!” Ranchers said, “No way!”
Critters
September 30, 1992
Rhino Relapse
Deaths among rare rhinos leave scientists scratching their heads.
Hunting & Fishing
June 1, 1985
The Last Tarpon
My quest for this magnificent silver fish drew me to a lonely stretch of the Texas coast night and day, summer and fall, over and over again.
Hunting & Fishing
March 1, 1985
Bring ’Em Back Alive
In darkest South Texas roam two of the world’s most endangered species—the black rhino and the Great White Hunter.
News & Politics
July 31, 1982
The King of the Forest
He’s Arthur Temple, Jr., ruler of a million acres of East Texas and the last of the timber barons.