Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape
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Texas
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Established 2022
About
The Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape, based in the Texas Hill Country, encompasses ranch lands, spring-fed rivers, and one of the fastest growing regions in the country. Within this region, Joint Base San Antonio’s Camp Bullis provides training opportunities for 266 mission partners, supporting DoD enlisted and officer medical training, military intelligence, special forces, pre-deployment, national, and international training requirements. With rapid population growth emanating from San Antonio and the I-35 corridor, the Texas Hill Country and Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape are facing a mounting number of challenges affecting the long-term resilience of the region’s natural resources. New development contributes to the loss of agricultural lands and increased ambient light pollution, impacting night-time military training. Growing demands on existing water supply have led to the loss of spring flow and aquifer drawdowns, impacting water supplies for Camp Bullis, rural landowners, towns, and cities. These and other challenges have attracted a myriad of partners to come together to create a collective vision for how to invest in protecting the natural resources that define the region as it grows. Since forming the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape in 2022, more than 50 partner organizations have committed to collaborate towards shared goals.
Map
Total Funding by Partner
| Partner | FY2022 |
|---|---|
| DoD | $2.00M |
| State | $1.58M |
| Private | $0.17M |
| Local | $2.91M |
Total Acres Protected and Enrolled
| Acres Protected (Since Designation) | 1127.00 |
|---|---|
| Acres Enrolled (During FY22) | 61959.00 |
Partnership Highlights
Supporting Water Quality and Quantity Through Land Stewardship
The Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape is defined by its unique surface and groundwater resources. Spring-fed creeks and rivers carve the rolling hills and connect inextricably with the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers. The Guadalupe, Medina, and San Antonio Rivers cross the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape, providing critical flows that support the economic and ecological vitality of the region’s rural ranchlands and growing urban areas, all the way to the bays and estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico. This part of the Texas Hill Country is home to numerous endemic species, a rich agricultural heritage, and outdoor recreation areas sought by many. Together, Sentinel Landscape partners are working to improve watershed health and promote landscape resilience through water quality and quantity protection initiatives. Partners will work with a broad diversity of stakeholders, including neighboring communities, private land stewards, as well as the development community to champion and increase investment in water conservation and land stewardship. By supporting land stewardship within aquifer recharge and contributing zones, sentinel landscape partners hope to enhance agricultural productivity as well as groundwater recharge to the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers, to protect habitat of numerous endemic species, and to reduce the risk of drought conditions, flooding, and wildfire.
Addressing Climatic Risks Through Innovative Partnerships
Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape partners, including Hill Country Alliance and Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, are already advancing stewardship programs for rural landowners. These hands-on projects are designed to engage willing landowners and improve soil health through stewardship practices that increase soil moisture levels and plant production, and mitigate flooding and erosion. In the more urban and suburban portions of the region, the San Antonio River Authority is managing projects that will demonstrate effective strategies to manage water resources of the Edwards Aquifer. One such project is assessing how four different permeable pavement designs affect the water quality and quantity of stormwater runoff compared to impermeable pavement surfaces over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. Through these and other efforts, the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape is reaching beyond traditional natural resource, agricultural, and development fields to promote improved land management and building practices that can mitigate impacts of prolonged drought, flash floods, and destructive wildfires. One of the defining features of the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape is its broad diversity of partners, spanning local, state, and federal agencies, nonprofits, academic institutions, and private landowners. The key partners listed below begin to capture the breadth of knowledge, commitment to working across boundaries, and passion that is being marshalled to tackle the full complexity of the conservation challenges—and opportunities—the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape faces.
Our Partners
Federal Partners
- Camp Stanley
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
- U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering Center
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- U.S. Army Regional Environmental and Energy Office
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- U.S. Department of Defense - Joint Base San Antonio
- U.S. Department of Interior, Geologic Survey
- U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
- U.S. DOI – National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program
State Partners
- Texas A&M Forest Service
- Texas A&M University – Natural Resources Institute
- Texas Department of Agriculture
- Texas Division of Emergency Management
- Texas Military Department
- Texas Military Preparedness Commission
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
- Texas State Soil & Water Conservation Board
- Texas State University – Meadows Center for Water & the Environment
- University of Oklahoma - SC CASC
- University of Texas – San Antonio
Local and Regional Partners
- Alamo Area Council of Governments
- Bandera County River Authority & Groundwater District
- City of San Antonio
- Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District
- Edwards Aquifer Authority
- Kendall County Soil & Water Conservation District
- Oaks & Prairies Joint Venture
- San Antonio River Authority
- Trinity Glen Rose Groundwater Conservation District
Private Partners
- Alamo Resource Conservation & Development Area, Inc.
- Bat Conservation International
- Bexar Audubon Society
- Cibolo Center for Conservation
- Cibolo Conservancy
- Comal County Conservation Alliance
- Comal County Friends of the Night Skies
- Compatible Lands Foundation
- Edwards Aquifer Conservancy
- Great Springs Project
- Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance
- Green Spaces Alliance
- Guadalupe-Blanco River Trust
- Headwaters at the Comal
- Hill Country Alliance
- Hill Country Conservancy
- International Dark Sky Association Texas Chapter
- Kendall County Friends of the Night Skies
- National Cave and Karst Research Institute
- San Antonio Board of Realtors
- San Antonio Chamber of Commerce
- San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Texas Agricultural Land Trust
- Texas Chapter - Society for Ecological Restoration
- Texas Wildlife Association
- The Nature Conservancy
- Trust for Public Land
In The News
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Federal recognition to advance conservation and military readiness around Camp Bullis
Read More -
New Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape Established | Office of the Local Defense Community Cooperation
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Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape | The Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts
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NRI Awarded $8.5 million for Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape in Regional Conservation Partnership Program | Texas A&M
Read More
Resources
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2023 Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape Profile
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JBSA Regional Compatible Use Plan
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State of the Hill Country: 8 Key Conservation and Growth Metrics for a Region at a Crossroads
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Texas Land Trends
Meet the Coordinator
Daniel Oppenheimer
daniel@hillcountryalliance.org
Daniel Oppenheimer is the Land Program Director of the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) and Coordinator of the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape in Central Texas. Since 2017, Daniel has worked with thousands of private landowners, dozens of agency and non-profit partners, and communities across the Texas Hill Country to support private land stewardship and regional collaboration. Prior to joining HCA, Daniel coordinated the Dolores River Restoration Partnership in southwestern Colorado and eastern Utah. He is a fifth-generation Texan.
“We are excited about the recent Sentinel Landscape designation because it recognizes our partnership’s interest to work together in meeting multiple missions, to include that of promoting the military’s readiness mission. Farmers and ranchers make good neighbors to a military installation, helping safeguard the best training environments for our men and women in uniform.”