Bebe Fenstermaker, of Maverick Ranch-Fromme Farm of Northwest Bexar County, speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Courthouse on June 24. Fenstermaker was advocating stricter control of development around the Camp Bullis area. Photo by Jerry Lara

A group of Hill Country residents warned last week that continued development near Camp Bullis will affect the future of the Interstate 10 corridor through Leon Springs to Boerne for the rest of this century.

“We think Camp Bullis is the line that is holding to keep us from looking like Stone Oak,” said Bebe Fenstermaker of the Maverick Ranch in Boerne and a leader of the Hill Country Alliance.

She was referring to the relatively unrestricted development along Stone Oak Parkway outside U.S. 281, which has led to densely packed housing, traffic nightmares and a loss of native habitat.

Environmental groups, the city of San Antonio, and the Army have indicated they fear the development will damage the habitat for the golden-cheeked warbler and other endangered species that nest in the Hill Country. This could threaten the ability of Camp Bullis to train an additional several thousand Army medics and other key personnel each year.

“We all need to step up, think long and deeply and conclude with us that Camp Bullis is a gem,” Fenstermaker told reporters on the steps of the Wood Federal Courthouse on June 24.

U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez on June 25 was asked to set aside a temporary restraining order he issued on June 20 and allow INTCO-Dominion Investments to continue clear-cutting trees near Camp Bullis to build a road. The matter was resolved when INTCO-Dominion and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reached an agreement to work together to assess endangered species habitat and affected species around Camp Bullis.

“Camp Bullis is irreplaceable in our lives, our water, and landscape and to the incomes of thousands of hard working citizens. The requests from the U.S. Army for Camp Bullis are reasonable and need to be implemented right now,” Fenstermaker said.

She called on the Joint Land Use Study now being conducted by the city of San Antonio and other neighbors of Camp Bullis to require those selling land within a buffer zone around the post to disclose the fact, and disclose to the buyer that the property may be affected by operations at the post.

She also called on officials to include in the study a requirement that notice be given of any new activity within the buffer zone for projects greater than two acres where half of the trees within the project area are to be cleared.

Fenstermaker said without a ruling from the judge blocking development, there will be no way officials can prevent additional development which could destroy the quality of life all along the Interstate 10 corridor.

“This development is heading up Interstate 10 in the most ruthless way I have ever seen land treated,” she said.

She says the development of the region so far has resulted in “raped hills, destroyed creek beds, missing native wildlife habitat, hill tops blown to smithereens, and bulldozed historic and cultural sites.”

“A lot of people think the bottom line means the last dollar they can wring out of a piece of land,” she said. “We have a good neighbor which is also a good land steward in Camp Bullis and we don’t know how lucky we are.”