Transportation and
Natural Resources

BCCP Land Management Plan

The 2007 Land Management Plan for the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve (BCP) was approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on March 4, 2008 (letter of approval).

Revising the Plan:

A draft of the updated Plan was released for public review and comment on November 10, 2005. Public comments were accepted from November 10, 2005 through March 10, 2006 at a variety of public meetings and two public hearings. A revised draft Plan that incorporated all public comments received was released for review and approval on August 15th, 2007. This version of the Plan was approved on November 28th 2007 by the BCCP Coordinating Committee (Mayor Will Wynn representing the City and Commissioner Gerald Daugherty representing Travis County), and the Committee Secretary certified that the 2007 LMP document meets the terms and conditions of the BCCP permit with the exception of Tier II - Chapter 12, Public Access. The Public Access Chapter will be revised to include the City of Austin Trail Master planning process undertaken by the City. This process is scheduled to be completed by the end of November 2008.

The Land Management Plan describes how the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve will be managed and endangered species protected under the terms of the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan (BCCP), a regional 10(a) permit issued on May 2, 1996 to the City of Austin and Travis County.

Currently, the preserve contains approximately 28,000 acres of the 30,428 acres required under the permit. The preserve is located in western Travis County with preserve tracts owned and managed by the individual BCP managing partners including the City of Austin, Travis County, the Lower Colorado River Authority, etc. Preserve tracts include historic Park/Preserve land such as the Barton Creek Greenbelt and Wilderness Park, Emma Long Metropolitan Park, Wild Basin Preserve, Hamilton Pool Preserve, etc. as well as land specifically acquired as BCP land to meet the permit requirements.

The 2007 Land Management Plan document is a large document (the printed text fills three three inch binders) and contains sections on each preserve tract as well as sections on specific management practices.

Reviewing the Plan

Citizens may review a pdf version of the 2007 BCP Land Management Plan on the city of Austin's web site. Electronic (on disk) and hard copies are also available for viewing at the following locations:

John Henry Faulk Public Library, 800 Guadalupe St., Austin, 499-7300, during regular library hours.
Austin History Center, 9th and Guadalupe, Austin, 974-7480, during regular Center hours.

Last Modified:
Monday, September 28, 2009 3:42 PM