A Selah Moment

Bamberger Ranch Preserve Photo: courtesy Rusty Yates

Patty Harrell, Master Naturalist, Highland Lakes Chapter

Recently, Hays County Master Naturalist Kim Dein sent me some pictures after a workday on the Bamberger Ranch. I knew I wanted to use them in a newsletter, but I wasn’t quite sure how I would use them. Then it hit me…I needed a Selah Moment.

For those of you who don’t know, the full name of the ranch is the Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve. Selah is a word from the Psalms, and it means to pause and reflect. So that is exactly what I did while looking at these pictures, and then, a few things came to mind.

My first thought was just how nice it was to see folks from three Texas Master Naturalist chapters working together.

In one shot, Charley Dein (Hays County Master Naturalist) and Mary Barr-Gilbert (Lindheimer Master Naturalist) are taking a close look at one of the creeks. In the next picture, Becky Larkin (Highland Lakes Master Naturalist) is pruning a shrub. Finally, in the third photo, Becky Larkin and Charley Dein are looking back over the creek they just crossed.

My Selah Moment revealed to me how very lucky we all are to be part of a larger program whose mission is to provide for the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas.

I also remembered that these pictures were taken the day after the ranch had experienced about 3.5 inches of rain in an hour. Thus, there was water in the creek beds for the first time in a long time. It is no small wonder that everyone took a moment or two, or maybe even three, to see what they could see. These pictures showed they were experiencing their own special Selah Moments.

Of course pictures of people and water are not the only reason to have a Selah Moment. You can pause and reflect just about any time or any place on the ranch to take in all the sights, sounds, and smells that can come together to become a special memory.

While Selah Moments may not be rare, if you just take the time to experience them, these moments are indeed precious.

Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve

Provided by Dixie Camp

A Brief History

In 1969, when J. David Bamberger was looking for ranchland, he repeatedly told real estate agents he was looking for the worst piece of overgrazed land they could find. His intention was to restore a damaged property to its original habitat. After purchasing what would become the 5,500-acre Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, he began a restoration effort with the selective removal of Ashe juniper (a.k.a. cedar) and the planting of native grasses. As a result, springs returned to the ranch. These springs provide water for ranch use, and the excess ultimately provides some of the surface water for the City of Austin. On the Bamberger Ranch are the headwaters of Miller Creek, which flows into the Pedernales River, then the Colorado River, and finally the Gulf of Mexico.

Mr. Bamberger’s interest in conservation was instilled in him by his mother Hes and the book she gave him, Louis Bromfield’s Pleasant Valley (published in 1945). He founded the non-profit Bamberger Ranch Preserve in 2002 in order to keep the ranch in its restored state into perpetuity. The endowment fund is still growing with a goal of becoming self-sustaining.

Jane Goodall visited the ranch at the invitation of the late Margaret Bamberger, and the two became friends. Thus, one of the trails is named after Jane Goodall.

For more details, see https://bambergerranch.org/our-story.

Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve

Maltese Star-Thistle

Getting a Leg Up