Austin City Council voted to acquire nearly 7 acres of land sitting right next to the Bright Leaf Preserve tract, adding fresh protected ground to the sprawling Balcones Canyonlands Preserve network. The move covers two separate parcels, one just under 4 acres and the other just under 3, both butting up against the existing preserve boundary in Council District 10.
According to a City of Austin
post, the council's vote targets two specific tracts: Tract 1 at 3.9924 acres and Tract 2 at 2.8968 acres, both described as adjacent to the existing Balcones Canyonland Preserve. Maps shared alongside the vote place the parcels near Old Bull Creek Road, Berryhill Way and Oakwood Cove, tucked against land already under preserve protection.
The acquisition builds on a preserve that's already carried a complicated history of private philanthropy becoming public conservation land. Bright Leaf Preserve traces back to Georgia B. Lucas, who amassed 216 acres of undeveloped land west of downtown Austin, according to the Austin Community Foundation. In 2021, the foundation transferred ownership and management of the preserve to Austin Water, and with that transfer, Bright Leaf became part of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, the foundation notes.
A Patchwork Preserve Grows by a Few More Acres
The exact size of Bright Leaf Preserve isn't entirely settled across the public record. One City of Austin document describes it as a 216-acre preserve located near Mount Bonnell, while a separate City of Austin recommendation document puts the figure at approximately 215.148 acres. Either way, the two newly voted tracts would sit just outside that existing footprint, expanding the protected buffer around it.
Bright Leaf's acreage is a small sliver of a much larger system. The Austin Community Foundation describes the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve as a system of more than 32,000 acres operating as a multi-agency conservation effort, though Travis County's own description puts the figure at more than 33,000 acres spread across more than 140 individual tracts. The preserve operates under a regional permit issued under the Endangered Species Act, according to Austin Water's own description of the system.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Local Land Deals
This isn't the first time Austin has moved to lock down acreage for conservation in recent years. Back in June 2021, Austin City Council voted 10-0 to approve purchasing a conservation easement on the nearly 4,100-acre Barton Creek Habitat Preserve, a deal authorized for up to $2.8 million from longtime owners The Nature Conservancy, as reported by Community Impact. That deal was designed to tighten the preserve's impervious cover limit while protecting its wildlife habitat and water quality in perpetuity, the outlet reported.
More recently, Austin Parks and Recreation acquired 50 acres of parkland along Onion Creek in May 2026, a separate expansion of the city's green space inventory. Together, these moves point to a city government that keeps chipping away at private holdings near its conservation lands, snapping up small and large parcels alike as opportunities arise.
For now, what's confirmed is the vote itself and the two parcels it covers. The city's post names the tracts, their acreage, and their location next to the existing preserve, but doesn't detail a purchase price or timeline for finalizing the deal.
