In the heart of the Texas Hill County sits the 7,000-acre Big Springs Ranch for Children. Home to at-risk and orphaned youth, the renowned “big springs” that birth the Frio River, endangered Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler, plus one of the largest underground caverns in the state, the ranch is truly a Texas treasure. Both working ranch and haven, Big Springs Ranch has invited A Rocha to help with the conservation and study of this amazing property. With assistance from The Nature Conservancy, A Rocha and Big Springs Ranch have developed a conservation management and education plan that will:
- Provide conservation-science education and hands-on projects for ranch youth and other school groups, churches, camps and individuals.
- Protect this unique property with its springs, habitats, and species.
- Conduct valuable aquifer level/spring flow monitoring and research.
- Demonstrate holistic conservation land and livestock management.
- Develop “creation-care” curriculum for the region’s Christian camps.
- Host and engage visitors and volunteers from around the world.
The Big Springs Ranch for Children was founded in 1997 as a sister campus to the nonprofit Hill Country Youth Ranch. Both campuses provide long-term therapeutic care and foster parenting for abused, neglected or abandoned children from all over Texas. A public charter school on the property provides education for residents of the ranch and students from the surrounding area. The ranch was a gift from the Perry family who purchased it in 1927.
For more information or to get involved please contact Carson Dickie.
