Correspondence, lecture and meeting notes, interview transcripts, news clippings, legal reviews, scientific reports, government documents and advocacy group publications (1987-1997, bulk 1992-1996) document the activities and reflect the interests of Travis County landowner Robert Brandes in the formation of the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan, The Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, land management policies for the Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo under the Endangered Species Act, and other environmental issues. The collection includes annotated draft and final environmental impact statements for the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan and related initiatives, scientific and legal reviews of those drafts, and reports by the City of Austin, Travis County, state and federal agencies. Correspondence related to a Freedom of Information Act request by Robert Brandes concerns land management practices at the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve near Austin. Notes taken at meetings of the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan Executive Steering Committee document the progress of negotiations among environmentalists, landowners, developers, regulators and other interest groups during the mid-1990s. The collection includes items and correspondence relating to United States Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt (served 1993-2001), Austin Mayor Bruce Todd (served 1991-1997), San Antonio Mayor Nelson W. Wolff (served 1991-1995), the Nature Conservancy of Texas, the Sierra Club of Texas, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Lower Colorado River Authority. The collection also includes correspondence with, and advocacy publications by, property rights and land management groups such as the National Wilderness Institute, The Texas Wildlife Association, The Society for Range Management, the Texas Alliance for Property Rights and others.
