Texas Land Conservancy

Texas Land Conservancy (TLC) is dedicated to protecting the land, water, and wildlife of Texas from the negative effects of land fragmentation and poorly planned development, ensuring that economic viability and growth is balanced with what makes us Texan: our rural heritage, our open spaces, our farms and ranches, our scenic vistas, and our natural resources. Providing access to these natural areas across the state on both private land and public preserves facilitates TLC's vision of building a community of Texans who share a commitment to protecting our natural heritage.

In addition to raising funds to protect more land across North Texas, we also engage in education and outreach activities on behalf of the public. TLC's Oak Cliff Nature Preserve is 121 acres of green space located right in the middle of urban Dallas. We own two nature preserves in North Texas - Oak Cliff Nature Preserve in Dallas is open to the public daily, and with your help, we will have the resources available to open our 145-acre Malone Preserve in Johnson County as well.

Our Needs

This year, Texas Land Conservancy's goal for North Texas Giving Day is to raise awareness and fund the installation of a new parking area at our Malone Preserve in Johnson County. Our new parking area will provide safe access for our volunteers and guests, as we continue to work towards creating trails and preparing to open the nature preserve to the public in 2024.

Malone Preserve encompasses 145 acres just outside of Rio Vista and was gifted to TLC in 1995 by Vivian J. Malone. The preserve is not yet officially open for unsupervised exploration, while volunteers work to open up trails and restore native plant and wildlife habitat. Future recreational activities will include hiking, birding, nature photography, and more along the preserve's beautiful trails and sweeping views of the surrounding hills. The stunning mix of woodlands, pocket prairies, riparian bottomlands, and 1700 feet of frontage along the Nolan River offers peaceful scenery as well as valuable habitat for a variety of native wildlife and plant communities. 

As a nonprofit organization with limited staff, TLC depends on our community of dedicated volunteers in North Texas to help us maintain trails, battle invasive species, and host events that encourage people to get out on the land. We are grateful for our partnership with the Texas Master Naturalist, Rio Brazos Chapter, and we continue to work towards building a strong volunteer base to help manage the preserve and ensure it is safe and accessible to the public.

We have a vision for Malone Preserve to have prominent signage and a well-maintained gravel parking lot to let visitors know that they have arrived at the nature preserve. With improved trail maintenance, volunteers and guests alike will enjoy the preserve experience without having to wonder if they're on the mapped trail. Support from donors like you means our 145-acre Vivian J. Malone Preserve located in Johnson County can be opened to the public in 2024.

These ambitious goals are not possible without the care and support from the full TLC community. Together, we can make a difference.

- $25 - Purchase one hand tool. Our volunteers swing McLeods, shovels, and loppers.
- $40 - Become a member of TLC and support our work across the state.
- $100 - Help us open more preserves, like Malone Preserve in Johnson County, to the public.
- $250 - Support our staff in the annual monitoring of our conservation properties.
- $500 - Protect more acres of open space in North Texas - forever!