Published: August 11, 2007 01:00 pm         

Bamberger Ranch a natural beauty

In 1969, when J. David Bamberger purchased “the sorriest piece of land in Blanco County,” lots of people laughed at the retired corporate executive’s goal of turning it into a showplace ranch.

When he built a special cave on his property with the goal of attracting bats, there was more laughter.

And mirth was also high at his dream of bringing natural streams and lakes to the land, which had no surface water or live creeks and was basically over-grazed rock with heavy cedar and very little grass.

No one is laughing today and Selah, the Bamberger Ranch Preserve, has streams, lakes and a marvelous diversity of native plants, wildlife and birds — including bald and golden eagles and golden-cheeked warblers and black-capped vireos.

It also has the world’s largest herd of scimitar-horned oryx, an animal extinct in its native Africa.

His Chiroptorium, a man-made cave, can house a million Mexican free-tailed bats and has attracted a thriving maternal colony of the beneficial little mammals. Built in 1998, the cave covers 3,000 square feet with two domes and required 20 tons of steel reinforcing rods and 300 cubic yards of special concrete.

The artificial cave sits in a wooded canyon, all but the entrance covered by soil and native vegetation. Success was five years in coming, with some 200,000 bats finally showing up in 2003. Bamberger hopes to eventually use bat guano as fertilizer on the ranch.

The ranch’s 5,500 acres have been transformed into the largest habitat restoration project on private land in Texas.

Co-founder and former CEO of Church’s Fried Chicken, Bamberger today is an internationally recognized conservationist whose thriving preserve has prevailed over all the skeptics.

He and his wife, Margaret, have received many awards and he has been featured in New Yorker and Audubon magazines, on CNN and network news and in a recent PBS documentary.

Lady Bird Johnson once wrote to say, “You have created a masterpiece at Selah...”

How did he do it? That will be revealed when Bamberger presents a slide show at 10 a.m., Monday, Aug. 20, in the Wimberley community center. He’ll be addressing the quarterly meeting of the Wimberley Birding Society and the session is open to visitors.

A new book on the Selah restoration project, “Water From Stone,” has been published by Texas A&M Press and will be on sale at the meeting.

Bamberger will autograph copies, which will sell for $27, with a portion of the proceeds helping support education and outreach programs at the ranch. To learn more about these programs, visit www.bambergerranch.org.

An October birding trip to Galveston, a fund-raising movie at the Corral Theater and new developments at the Patsy Glenn Refuge will also be topics at the bird club meeting.

In addition, Herb Smith will show a presentation on the club’s May trip to Glacier National Park in Montana. Expect birds, bears, bison and beautiful scenery.

For additional information, visit wimbirds.org or call 512 847-3730.

     

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