About Us
The Hill Country Land Trust is a non-profit, non-government 501(c)(3) corporation organized by resident landowners concerned that increasingly intense development pressures throughout the Texas Hill Country area threaten to destroy its very nature.
Board of Directors
The Board of the Hill Country Land Trust is a diverse group of men and women dedicated to the conservation of land, wildlife habitat and watersheds in the Texas Hill Country. In addition to a collective wealth of experience as board members or members working with other nonprofit health, educational, and conservation groups, the members also represent a variety of professional and educational backgrounds. Most importantly, these men and women reside or own property in the Hill Country and share a commitment to helping other Hill Country landowners to conserve the precious resources of this geographic area. Three board members have donated conservation easements on their properties. Information about the Directors appears below.
Bill Lindemann — Gillespie County (President)
Currently serving as President of the Hill Country Land Trust. He was the founder of the Fredericksburg Nature Center and serves as President of the Friends of the Fredericksburg Nature Center. Mr. Lindemann, a retired geologist, twice served as President of the Native Plant Society of Texas. He has written a weekly birding column in the Kerrville Daily Times for fourteen years.
Bart English — Gillespie County (Past President)
Formerly a banker, Bart English is a rancher, farmer, and former President of the Hill Country Land Trust. A founding member of the Hill Country Land Trust, Mr. English is also former President of Hill Country Memorial Hospital and Stonewall Farm Mutual Insurance Company.
Elin Elisofon — Gillespie County (Vice-president)
An artist, Elin Elisofon has been dedicated to land conservation for some 25 years in Maine, and more recently, in Texas. Currently serving as a Hill Country Land Trust Vice President and Chairperson of the Easements Committee, Ms. Elisofon is also a member of the Easements & Acquisitions Committeee for the Vinalhaven Land Trust in Maine.
Paula Smith — Edwards County (Secretary)
An attorney, Paula Smith was the Unclaimed Property Administrator under former Treasurer Ann W. Richards. Presently a consultant in Boston, for the ACS Unclaimed Property Clearinghouse, she was an observer to the Uniform Law Commission, and was a founding board member of the Austin Ronald McDonald House. She is a life member of The Nature Conservancy, and with her family, active in a project to increase the population of the endangered Texas snowbell plant.
Kevin Pickard — Gillespie County (Treasurer)
Kevin Pickard is retired from a career in banking and finance. Now a resident of Fredericksburg, Mr. Pickard is a former president of The Wild Basin in Austin, Texas, and a former President of the Fredericksburg Rotary Club. He also volunteers as an oral historian for Nimitz State Historical Park and as a fireman for the Willow City Volunteer Fire Department.
Susan Armstrong — Travis County
Susan practices conservation law and wills/estates through her firm, Armstrong Law. She has also served as Executive Director of the Texas Land Trust Council and Connemara Conservancy Foundation. She taught "Tools for Open Space Preservation" at the University of Texas as adjunct professor as well as practiced environmental law at Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP. During law school, she served at the White House in the Council of Environmental Quality. She lives in Austin and is active in Leadership Austin and the Heritage Society of Austin.
Katherine Peake — Gillespie County
Katherine Peake is a Texas attorney with experience in private practice and as an Assistant District Attorney for the 216th Judicial District. Ms. Peake is a former Fredericksburg Municipal Judge. A former president of the Board of Trustees of the Fredericksburg ISD and the Hill Country Memorial Hospital, Ms. Peake has recently rejoined the Hill Country Land Trust board after an absence of two years. In her past tenure she served as the board secretary.
Carolyn Vogel — Travis County
Carolyn Vogel is a nationally and regionally recognized conservationist. Graduating from Texas A&M University with a degree in Parks and Recreation, Ms. Vogel enjoyed a 31 year career with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. She then established the Texas Land Trust Council and served as its founding Executive Director through 2007. In 2008 Ms. Vogel established Vogel Conservation Services, providing technical assistance to conservation organizations, landowners and governments. She also serves on the Connemara Conservancy's Advisory Board.
Corky Kuhlmann — Hays County
Corky Kuhlmann, a fourth generation German-Texan from Fredericksburg, is the Senior Project Manager in the land conservation program of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He possesses 40 years of working knowledge of land issues and projects around the state, including land sales, land and acquisitions, conservation easements, mitigation banking, mineral leasing, land surveys, moderating easement, and boundary disputes.
John Ahrns — Gillespie County
Mr. Ahrns is an environmental educator and retired naturalist. His work of thirty-five years to promote Hill Country conservation includes establishing and managing Westcave Preserve. John has also worked with the National Park Service and Travis County Parks.
John Huecksteadt — Gillespie County
Mr. Huecksteadt retired from an information technology career in software development and executive management. He has served, or is serving, in a leadership capacity on several conservation-related boards, including the Hill Country Master Naturalists, Native Plant Society of Texas, and Fredericksburg Nature Center.
Terese Hershey (Honorary Director)
Terese Hershey has an extensive history in conservation and environmental organizations, having been a founding member in Sam Houston Resource Conservation and Development Area, Citizens Who Care, Citizens Environmental Coalition, the Bayou Preservation Association and the Hill Country Land Trust. Statewide board memberships and committee assignments in the past have included the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission and the Texas Coastal Management Advisory Program for the General Land Office. Ms. Hershey was a founding board member of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Her national memberships and boards include the National Audubon Society and the National Recreation and Park Association. She is President of the Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation.