Cibolo Nature Center & Farm

The Cibolo Nature Center & Farm is visited by tens of thousands of people from all over Texas as a site for school field trips, educational and community programs, and quiet recreation. In 2007, the Cibolo Nature Center acquired the 60-acre Herff Farm, a historically and ecologically important adjacent property. The acquisition of the Farm furthered land protection to extend to both sides of the fragile waters of Cibolo Creek, as part of the Cibolo Conservation Corridor, which provides recharge for the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers. In this five-mile stretch of the Cibolo Creek, approximately one million gallons of water per day seep into the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers.

The Cibolo Nature Center’s Herff Farm is a model restoration conservation project encouraging private landowners, municipalities, and institutions how they can live sustainably on the land through water conservation, best practices in small-scale agriculture, low-impact development, renewable energy, and supporting native flora and fauna.

Project: 

Restoration of 20 acres of milkweed habitat at the Herff Farm for Monarch butterflies and other beneficial insects. This project furthers the educational and environmental conservation goals by demonstrating how to create and nurture Monarch butterfly habitat. A chief component is informing visitors on how Monarchs survive by providing ongoing education about the life-cycle of the butterfly, as well as planting milkweed and other nectaring plants. Contributing to the betterment of this important species through habitat restoration will improve the quality of life in Kendall County and all surrounding counties.

Restoration:

The end goal of this restoration includes removing brush and young woody vegetation, eradicating or suppressing exotic/invasive plant species through control burning and chemical herbicide treatments, eradicating fire ants to enhance and increase the survivability of Monarch butterflies, and creating a sustainable habitat by re-introducing native prairie plants with an emphasis on host and pollinator flowering plant species used by Monarchs and other butterflies.

Community Impact:

The Cibolo Nature Center is open to the public and receives thousands of visitors a year. As a Conservation Partner of Texan by Nature, Cibolo Nature Center is a part of a statewide network working to protect and enhance water quality, land and wildlife.  The nature center offers Adult Education programs that emphasize environmental consciousness, resource conservation, habitat stewardship, citizen science and sustainable living.  Presenters include natural resource professionals, citizen scientists, land managers, advocates for sustainable technology, university professors, Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists.