Woodcreek Officials Make Donation To Improve Natural Area Exhibit

Officials from the city of Woodcreek made a contribution at a December county government session for the construction of a new exhibit at the Jacob’s Well Natural Area to feature locally discovered artifacts.

Woodcreek Mayor Pro Tem Nancye Britner presented a check for $6,226 to the Hays County Commissioners Court on Dec. 16 for the improvement of the visitor’s center at Jacob’s Well, said City Manager John Sone. Officials drew the endowment from the city’s hotel occupancy tax, a fund partly sustained by ecotourism, he said.

Decisions on how the money will be applied to the new artifact display have yet to be made, said Hays County Development Services Director James Garza. Hays County planners will work in cooperation with Woodcreek officials.

 “We don’t really have more details than that at this time,” Garza said. “As we move forward, we’ll be coordinating with the City of Woodcreek to make certain the design and implementation is something we can all be proud of.”

According to Woodcreek documents, the city has a long history of support for Jacob’s Well. In 2008 Woodcreek partnered with the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association to secure a $100,000 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority for the restoration of the natural area.

Woodcreek officials adopted a Water Quality Protection Ordinance in 2006 for the preservation of the Jacob’s Well spring and Cypress Creek watershed, according to the document.

City officials transferred ownership of the Jacob’s Well Natural Area to Hays County in 2010. Woodcreek is “a major stakeholder in the Cypress Creek Watershed Protection Plan” and staffs two Master Naturalists, according to the document.

Sone, who recently completed the Texas Master Naturalist program and has received certification as a Master Naturalist, said Jacob’s Well is important to Woodcreek because of its natural beauty and the tourism it attracts. Sone has encountered visitors from every continent except Antarctica.

“Jacob’s Well, which is in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of (Woodcreek), feeds Cypress Creek, which is not only a city boundary but another city treasure, which ultimately passes through Wimberley to the Blanco River,” Sone said. “The kind of tourism that a clean and flowing Cypress Creek attracts to Woodcreek is considerable. It has importance to businesses in and outside of the city and is something that we promote and wish to maintain as pristine as it is today.”

Sone said artifacts on display at the current Jacob’s Well visitor center are featured on “old folding tables.” He hopes the new display will provide more context and effectively educate visitors.

“We believe that there will be a lot more tourist appeal if there are more organized display cases and an accompanying interpretive type of narrative,” Sone said.

Sone volunteers at Jacob’s Well, serving as an “interpretive guide” and leading tours in the natural area, he said.

“I became an apprentice in August and was coached along and conducted my first tour in November,” Sone said. “It has been a humbling learning experience. It’s right up there with pursuing graduate research in public administration at Texas State University.”

Sone said he wants all people to appreciate the value and beauty of natural wonders. He hopes to accomplish this goal in part by volunteering at Jacob’s Well.

“We sometimes hear of a nature deficit in today’s generations,” Sone said. “It seems particularly urgent that we help to communicate that near major urban centers, there are absolute treasures that must be appreciated but also must be cared for. Jacob’s Well is a perfect example of that.”

Jon Wilcox is a reporter for the University Star where this article originally published. It is reprinted here through a news partnership between the University Star and San Marcos Corridor News | @CorridorNews | @Corridor_Sports

Photo by Earth Pics | @ThatsEarth

By: Jon Wilcox