The Wild Basin Records

In 1974 Janet Poage led a team of passionate environmentalists in negotiating a developments rights agreement between the City of Austin, Travis County, and Westview Development to create the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve.

The Master Plan for Westview's 1,300-acre Davenport Ranch residential development was redrawn in order to set aside over 100 acres of the developer's land to protect the sensitive Hill Country environment, which included habitat for the endangered Black-Capped Vireo and Golden-Cheeked Warbler.

In the deal, Westview donated the land to Wild Basin and, in return, the City gave the developer the right to relocate 100 residential units originally planned on the preserve land to its adjacent property. This transaction was one of the first transfers of development rights in the Austin area and created one of the more important environmental laboratories on the Edwards Plateau.

Today Wild Basin, a natural resource laboratory of St. Edward's University, engages in numerous educational endeavors, maintains 2.5 miles of hiking trails, and is open to the public year-round.