The Heard Family recently worked with the Cibolo to acquire property off Old San Antonio Road in Boerne. If you drive down the road, you will see a green sign with the Cibolo logo and will know this precious watershed land is protected in perpetuity thanks to the Cibolo and the Heard Family.
Richard Heard remembers exploring every square inch of his family’s land in Boerne as a child. In speaking of him and his siblings, Vicky and Tres, he says, “We were army brats, and in the summers, we would be shipped to El Nido to swim, play and explore everywhere.” This time in life shaped the future of the Heard children and would shape a critical decision they made in 2021.
Their father was Faulkner Heard, Jr., the son of Victoria Louise Herff and Faulkner Heard, Sr. This was a family tradition and legacy to come out to the ranch and bask in the sun, explore the wideopen spaces and bathe in the water of the Cibolo Creek. “This land was my playground,” Richard says. Last year a parcel of Heard family land along Old San Antonio Road had a for sale sign out front.
A real estate developer approached the family with a very generous offer with interest in building multi-story apartments. With a desire to maintain the long-time care for their mother, Jean, and uphold a promise they made to their father, Richard, upon his death, Vicky and Tres had a hard decision. There was a gut-wrenching feeling this would not be the best use of their beloved family land.
Having always been impressed by how the Cibolo Center for Conservation managed its campuses and provided community access and connections, Richard connected with Carolyn Chipman Evans. Cibolo Board Member Jonathan Piper shared the vision for a lighter footprint and for the land to become an extension of the Cibolo, where wildlife could thrive, and children could explore and find peace amongst the trees.
Through a bargain sale, the Heard Family sold the land to the Cibolo, protecting it forever while enabling the Heard children to provide for the longterm care of their mother, receive a tax advantage and preserve a cherished piece of their past, making the purchase a win all around. We are grateful to the Heard Family for working with the Cibolo to conserve a critical part of the fragile property along the Cibolo Creek Conservation Corridor. This protects the Creek for future generations to enjoy while also protecting a vital water recharge zone.
For the Cibolo, conservation and community connection have always been interwoven. This serendipitous connection became an inspiration to a philanthropist with a mission to conserve the Hill Country landscape. Enter Jim Drought, trustee of the C.B. and Anita Branch Trust. Anita and Charles “Ben” Benson (C.B.) Branch met when working together at Dow Chemical in Zurich, Switzerland, where Ben was President and Chief Executive Officer. They married in 1976 and resided in Marbella, Spain, until Ben’s retirement in 1993, when Ben and Anita decided to return to the United States.
Of all the places in the United States they had to choose from, they selected the small town of Boerne to live in and purchased a ranch off Ranger Creek Road. Both Ben and Anita loved the Texas spirit and its sense of independence. Anita was a free spirit and loved the open spaces from her time camping in Mexico and Alaska. Ben was an innovative manager and a celebrated business leader who championed causes like environmental responsibility. They were a worldly couple who fell in love with the Texas Hill Country, as many of us do. Unfortunately, in 1997, Ben unexpectedly passed away, and Anita found refuge in the wideopen spaces at their ranch in Boerne.
While in Boerne, Anita discovered the Cibolo Nature Center and founder Carolyn Chipman Evans. Anita and Carolyn shared a mutual connection and passion for preserving land and the native landscape of the Hill Country. Anita was a generous and significant supporter of the Cibolo for many years and wanted little public recognition for it. Gifts were made through the C.B. and Anita Branch Trust, administered by Jim Drought, who lived close to Anita on a family ranch in Boerne. They became close friends, and Anita named Jim a foundation trustee in 2015.
Being in the Hill Country does something to you. Once you arrive, you feel connected to the place, the land, the trees, the big blue skies, and the people. This connection makes you want to be a part of keeping the Hill Country -- well, country. This is something that both Anita Branch and Jim Drought felt. When word was known about the impending sale and the threat of development of the Heard property, neighboring the Herff Farm, Jim Drought knew that he had to help.
Upholding Anita’s last will, Jim made a significant pledge to help the Cibolo Center for Conservation purchase the Heard property and put it into a conservation easement, saving critical watershed land from any future development. Jim says, “I have continued to follow Anita’s goal in preserving land and, in particular, land adjacent to the Cibolo Nature Center and her ranch.”
This is the power of conservation and community. When passion aligns with preservation, many people benefit. Thanks to the support of the Heard Family, Anita and C.B. Branch, Jim Drought, and the Cibolo’s staff and board, a piece of the Hill Country and the Cibolo Creek will be forever saved so that future generations will know the story of their past to help inform the change that is possible for the future when we all work together to make the world a little better place.
Stay tuned for the final article in next weekend’s edition. Visit www.cibolo. org, News, and Happenings, and contact Owen at [email protected] for more information.
LEIGH OWEN
VICE PRESIDENT OF DEVELOPMENT
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