YMCA Roberts Ranch

Roberts Ranch was donated to the YMCA by Bob Roberts of Comfort, TX in the 1990's. Since then it has served as a place where families and children can gather to explore the outdoors in a beautiful Hill Country setting. The pristine habitat, native plants, and wildlife make the ranch the perfect laboratory for learning about and exploring nature. The property has served hundreds of children through outdoor education program sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife and hosts conservation and stewardship workshops, hiking, tours, and environmental education field trips for youth and adults.

The Roberts Ranch has always been a working cattle ranch as well. In 2019, cattle were removed from the ranch in order to let the land rest and to undertake various restoration projects that include brush clearing, cross-fence repair, and riparian restoration. Cattle will be reintroduced in 2022.

A Tributary creek of the Guadalupe River runs through the Roberts Ranch. A riparian area is a narrow strip of land that lies adjacent to creeks and rivers and acts as a buffer between the water course and the nearby land. The thick native vegetation of a riparian area can dissipate the energy of the water as it rises, which prevents erosion, traps sediment, and builds soil. These areas are distinctly different from surrounding lands because of unique soil and vegetation characteristics that are strongly influenced by the presence of water. The riparian area at the Roberts Ranch had been frequented by the cattle as a water source and was degraded and eroding from overgrazing and trampling. In the fall of 2019 the Hill Country Alliance began collaborating with Roberts Ranch on riparian restoration efforts. See the video below for a first-hand look at the techniques they used and the results they have seen in just one year.

The Soil for Water initiative is noting the changes that are seen on the riparian transect as it is restored and rested. It is our hope that as the native forage species in the area return they will move up and out of the riparian area providing high quality forage for cattle where the bottomland soils meet the upland soils. As the riparian area on the ranch improves, they will eventually let cattle graze it again but only for short durations to preserve the integrity of the banks and plant species.

The Soil for Water team performs monitoring each fall when the warm grass species have fully formed heads and are easy to identify. The team often finds themselves wanting to spend a little extra time monitoring transects in riparian areas due to the coolness of the environment. Here they examine the plethora of different species taking advantage of moist soils in the area that are rich in soil organic matter. It is the high soil organic matter that allows water to be captured and held in the soil for longer periods of time, allowing plants to thrive even when drought conditions are present.

The Roberts Ranch also has many upland pastures that have been partially cleared of Cedar (Juniperus sp.) in appropriate areas. This work was done with the NRCS cost sharing program EQIP. By clearing out some of the Cedar in the upland pastures, photosynthesis can occur at the soil surface and more grasses may grow. Often times, where Cedar has been removed, a nice bed of organic matter is present on the soil's surface, which allows the native grass seeds that have been lying dormant in the soil due to the lack of light, to germinate and grow. The Soil for Water team monitors an upland transect for changes in overall soil coverage and plant species after a year of rest and will continue to assess the impact of the cattle on this transect when they return.