A Message from Executive Director, Susan J. Kibbe

Good morning Members,

As 2019 comes to a close and as we look to beginning a new decade in 2020, I reflect on what we’ve been able to accomplish this past decade and a half… and how a small grassroots organization, founded in Brooks County, has been able to make a difference in a big way: the incredible partnerships that we’ve established with federal, state, and local law enforcement that’s given us a seat at the table on border security issues, including the ROSA report that DPS puts together for us on a monthly basis; helping stop the Trans Texas Corridor (the taking of a great expanse of virgin land); limiting of liability exposure on our property from trespassers, law enforcement, and firefighters; working with other agricultural groups to improve awareness of cattle fever ticks and increasing funding for control and research for eventual eradication; helping create the Brush Country Groundwater Conservation District, a locally controlled, tri-county effort to protect and conserve its groundwater; bringing Chagas disease to the forefront as a credible health issue for ourselves and the canine world in the State of Texas; and partnering with Texas Soil & Water Conservation Board to help eradicate Carrizo Cane for water conservation and border security efforts.

These issues and more would not have been possible without the incredible board of directors, advisors, staff, and volunteers that have made it possible; and lastly and just as importantly, the amazing core members who have been with us since day one, and all of you that have joined over the years and understand the impact that we’ve made and can continue to make in this next decade as we move forward to new challenges and old ones that haven’t been resolved yet.

As we take on protecting the Legacy of the Land and the generational challenges that we face as my generation ages and as Texas grows and becomes much more populated, we’ll have to work very hard as we pass the baton, looking at innovative ways to stay relevant and make a difference as we help the next generation transition into an unknown future. We in rural Texas will need to work together for the Legacy of the Land, finding creative ways to prosper and conserve the land we’ve been so blessed to manage and own, for at least a little while.

I look forward to working toward that end. I ask that you continue to have faith in us and work with us to accomplish even more successes than we’ve achieved this past decade.

Thank you so very much for your continued support! 

Until 2020,

---

Susan J. Kibbe
Office (361) 348-3020
Susan@STPRA.org

---