DEPARTMENT: Development Services
SUBJECT:
Briefing on the approval by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the Panther Springs Karst Fauna Area Preserve.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Panther Springs Park is a City of San Antonio owned public park which has karst features which are known to be occupied by protected karst invertebrate species within its borders. Over the past several months, city staff from the Development Services Department and the Parks and Recreation Department, as well as the SEP-HCP consultant, have been working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW) as well as area neighborhood stakeholders to establish the KFA preserve and the final management plan.
The potential Preserve will add another layer of protection to 90 acres of the existing 291 acre park. The creation of this 90 acre Panther Springs Preserve will generate Endangered Species Credits that will be used to protect this proposed preserve and assist in creating additional preserves.
DSD staff met the Parks Department and discussed the possibility of establishing the preserve. Additionally, both DSD and Parks staff met with representatives from the Wilderness Oaks Alliance (WOA) and Friends of Panther Springs Park (Friends) on April 10, 2018, and June 5, 2018. Also present at the June 5, 2018, meeting were representatives from USFW. Working in partnership with the WOA and the Friends, DSD agreed (and USFW concurred) to the following conditions with relation the establishment of the preserve:
1. Access to existing trails.
Access to or use of the existing trails by park visitors will not now, nor at any time in future, be prohibited as a result of establishment of the KFA Preserve associated with the Southern Edwards Plateau Habitat Conservation Plan in Panther Springs Park. This condition does not apply to maintenance, repair, and/or construction activities by the City, or its representatives, which may impact accessibility based on the nature of the work to be perform...
Click here for full text