The Sisterdale Sanctuary: Protect, Preserve Initiative

In recent years, The Cibolo Center for Conservation — a.k.a. The Cibolo — has worked to expand our conservation efforts and protect lands beyond the borders of the Cibolo Nature Center and Farm.

While we maintain our work as leaders in land conservation and stewardship, education, research and civic engagement in Boerne and Kendall County, the fifth-fastest growing county in the nation, it is critical that we continue to scale and replicate these outcomes to contend with ongoing threats to the fast-developing regions of the Texas Hill Country.

This past year, saving land was recognized by The Cibolo board of directors as the most impactful thing The Cibolo can do to address the increasing challenges to pure and plentiful drinking water, clean air, land fragmentation, access to nature and habitat loss.

As a result, The Cibolo created the Protect and Preserve Initiative and began strategically considering the future structure of the organization and seeking out the best course of action for what would be our most impactful conservation approach to date.

The Cibolo has been a leader in conservation work in our region for more than three decades, focusing primarily on lands in the Cibolo Conservation Corridor. These are lands adjacent and downstream of the Cibolo Nature Center and Farm, protecting the critical recharge areas of the Cibolo Creek.

In partnership with the Cibolo Preserve and other landowners, we now have over 850 acres of water resource land in the heart of Boerne protected forever. We now find ourselves in a position to protect other endangered lands by accepting gifts of land.

Generous and farsighted landowners have reached out to The Cibolo to help them find a way to ensure their lands will be protected and appreciated in the future.

The Cibolo is in a unique position to help landowners protect and preserve their land and legacy for the benefit of the community and future generations.

Through gifts and acquisitions, The Cibolo can protect sanctuary lands and act as a bridge for partnerships with other conservation organizations.

Most recently, at the request and encouragement of the Texas Nature Conservancy, The Cibolo engaged in the protection of 32 acres in Sisterdale, Texas.

Trey Rabke grew up on a family ranch in Sisterdale and has always loved the history, community and nature of the area. When he and his wife, Angela, saw the entryway into Sisterdale was up for sale, potentially for commercial development, they took action.

The Rabke family decided to donate 10 acres of land to The Cibolo and planned for their family’s foundation to fund a portion of the purchase of the adjacent 22 acres, with the intention of gifting The Cibolo the full 32 acres when complete.

The Cibolo was eager to help. Working with the Rabke family and other local property owners, The Cibolo was able to raise funds for the full 22 acres and became the purchasing agent of the property.

We completed the purchase of the Sisterdale property in December 2023, protecting it from imminent development.

Because of the forethought of the Jeanie Rabke Wyatt Family Foundation, neighboring landowners, and generous donors, in strategic partnership with the Cibolo Center for Conservation, we have forever protected the gateway to the historic town of Sisterdale with its bucolic valley, West Sister Creek, towering cypress trees and rugged limestone bluffs.

The Sisterdale Sanctuary will be a 32-acre preserve protecting the Guadalupe watershed, providing access to nature and a safe habitat for the many who call it home.

The Sanctuary is not yet open to visitors, but future planning is underway and as funds become available and a Friends group is formed there will be increased access over time.

If you are interested in the Protect and Preserve Initiative of The Cibolo Center for Conservation and would like to know more on how you can protect your land or would like to support the work of The Cibolo, please contact Carolyn Chipman Evans at [email protected].