Conservation History Association of Texas
Texas Legacy Project
Oral History Interview
Nature Conservancy in Texas

Interviewee: Jane Schweppe
Date: May 10, 2022
Site: Austin, Texas
Reels: 3456-3459
Executive Producer: Lydia Saldana
Producer: Jeff Weigel
Field Producer / Chief Interviewer: Lee Smith
Videographer: Curtis Craven
Writer / Editor: Ron Kabele
Transcriber: David Todd / Trint
Item: Schweppe_Jane_NCItem25_AustinTX_Reel20220510_Reel3456-3459_Audio.mp3

[Bracketed numbers refer to the interview recording’s time code.]

Lee Smith [00:00:16] Where did you grow up?

Jane Schweppe [00:00:18] I grew up in Houston, born and raised, seventh generation Texan. So pretty proud of that.

Lee Smith [00:00:25] And what was your early childhood like in terms of, you know, the outdoors? You know, were you an inside girl or an outside girl?

Jane Schweppe [00:00:35] No, no, no, no. Outside all the way. We did sports. You know, it was a different time then. There was no phones or anything like that. So we spent quite a bit of time outside. And on weekends, my family had a ranch that we’d go to as well. So.

Lee Smith [00:00:59] Think back and tell me your earliest kind of remembrance of, as a kid, you know, making a connection with the outdoors.

Jane Schweppe [00:01:12] It was probably at my grandmother’s place in Montgomery, Texas, where she had some acreage and we’d go there, especially after church on Sundays. And so, you know, we’d pick up a bucket of KFC and drive there. And it was just an hour from Houston.

Jane Schweppe [00:01:31] So, you know, you’d go to church, take off your tights. And then, mom and dad were like, “Go.” You know, and we’d get there and saddle a horse, go jump a log, do things like that. Find things. You know, here’s a stick and a rope. Go figure it out. So, yeah. Canoes, fishing poles, all sorts of things. Kites.

Lee Smith [00:01:58] Simple things.

Jane Schweppe [00:01:58] Simple things. Yes.

Lee Smith [00:02:03] So was there a family member or a mentor that kind of shepherded you to the outdoors?

Jane Schweppe [00:02:14] At first, I think both my parents were mentors. My mother, firstly, she was the one that kind of got down and dirty and with her hands and picking up things and non-poisonous jellyfish and figuring what things, you know, how they worked.

Jane Schweppe [00:02:36] Dad was working quite a bit. He was a doctor, so he was gone. But and then Dad taught us how to hunt, but how to hunt respectfully. And so if you did shoot something, you had to clean it. And there was an autopsy performed. And you had to look inside the stomach and could, you know, identifying the liver and the lungs. And so and then you had to eat it. Nothing was wasted.

Jane Schweppe [00:03:07] So I’d say both of them, in their own way, were instrumental in that. So, yeah.

Lee Smith [00:03:17] Was there anything in terms of popular culture or a movie, a film, a magazine, or a book, was there any kind of external thing that maybe piqued your interest?

Speaker 2 [00:03:35] Always “Out of Africa”. Always “Out of Africa”. We traveled there quite a bit as a family, and mom and dad went and did conservation work there.

Lee Smith [00:03:48] In Africa?

Jane Schweppe [00:03:48] They actually did I don’t know if you would call it conservation, but it was for LSU’s Ornithology Museum. And so they would, they had ornithologists with them and they would shoot the songbirds, which in turn would be stuffed with sawdust and they would ship them back to LSU and put them in their museum. So dad had a little titbird that he had as a memento from one of those trips that was in his office.

Lee Smith [00:04:23] And you went on those?

Jane Schweppe [00:04:24] Not that one, we went on safari just for birds. Franklin’s sandgrouse, and then just to look at stuff.

Lee Smith [00:04:34] And how old were you?

Jane Schweppe [00:04:36] 21.

Lee Smith [00:04:38] And what kind of impact would that have?

Jane Schweppe [00:04:41] Oh, huge. Huge.

Lee Smith [00:04:43] In what way?

Jane Schweppe [00:04:45] In the sense that, well, you’re traveling to Africa for one. I mean, you’re, you know, across. And if you believe that we’re all from there and, you know, you swab us all and you go to the cradle of mankind, and it’s just it’s so overwhelming and emotional and beautiful.

Jane Schweppe [00:05:03] And there’s something about vistas. When you look at something far away, you can process things better versus like landscapes, things like that. I find I think better when I’m doing that, versus up close. So I think that’s where I first learned to appreciate that.

Lee Smith [00:05:28] So how did you first become involved in conservation?

Jane Schweppe [00:05:32] Well, Dad, let’s see. We got a different ranch from the one that I was talking about before in South Texas because Dad wanted to quail hunt and run cattle. So my mom was still alive and they bought this ranch, which we still have, and they put a conservation easement on it.

Jane Schweppe [00:05:55] And at that time, Dad was on the board, the state board, of the Nature Conservancy. And so, all of this conservation easement stuff was pretty new then. You know, this was probably in the ’80s. And so, it just made sense that if you were going to have a bunch of acreage, that that’s what you did, even though it was in the middle of nowhere and it’s, you know, didn’t have a river going through it. But. So yeah, and and that’s that’s when we first did a conservation easement there.

Lee Smith [00:06:31] Tell me about your dad and his involvement.

Jane Schweppe [00:06:34] He. Just a leader. He didn’t persuade us to be interested in it by any means. He just, it was kind of follow by example.

Jane Schweppe [00:06:46] And so, after Mom died, he I think he was the (and Jeff can check this fact, fact check this) I think he was board state president. And we had met James King and Jeff Weigel and all the TNC folks and Dad just got us interested in it. And I think, you know, it’s like there are these places you can go and and the people were really nice and they were doing a good job.

Lee Smith [00:07:27] Why do you think your dad was attracted to conservation work?

Jane Schweppe [00:07:32] Because it’s the right thing to do. I mean, he was an Eagle Scout. You know, he’s I have his sash that is just incredible. He was just one of those guys that did the right thing. Made space for for people that don’t have ranches that they can go to – parkland. Yeah. Just a very thoughtful, kind man.

Lee Smith [00:08:03] Okay, so tell me about the park named after your sister.

Jane Schweppe [00:08:06] It’s called the Katharine Randall Schweppe Park. And it’s near the medical center in Houston.

Jane Schweppe [00:08:12] And I lost a sister in ’78. I believe it was 1978. And Mom and Dad were so distressed and and had no idea how to deal with it. And so, Mom was friends with Rick Pratt, who lived at the time at the Lighthouse in Port Aransas that’s owned by Charlie Butt.

Jane Schweppe [00:08:45] And so she walked in the Houston Arboretum with Rick Pratt, and was like, “What do we do? I find so much solace in nature. How can we, you know, do something with this?”.

Jane Schweppe [00:08:59] And I think he suggested, “Well, do a park.” And then Dad chimed in and said, “Well, there’s no parks. I mean, there’s Hermann Park, which is near the Medical Center, but there’s nothing south of that where most of the employees live in kind of low-income apartments, things like that.”

Jane Schweppe [00:09:16] And so we acquired a parcel of land that was, I think, about 15 acres. And through grants and there were different phases, there is now a park there. And it’s got Hill Country, it’s got Port Aransas, it’s, it’s got all the things that we love about Texas.

Lee Smith [00:09:42] So tell me about how the Davis Mountains Preserve came about.

Jane Schweppe [00:09:47] You know, that’s a good question. I can’t remember exactly how it did, but we had met James King and we, I think we flew out there to Fort Davis, if you can fly into Fort Davis. I think you can. And we met James King. He picked us up in an old, back then at the airport at Fort Davis, they only had like ex drug cars. And so all the panels were out and it was an old Lincoln.

Jane Schweppe [00:10:18] And so we’re going down the road in this jalopy passing McDonald Observatory, and he’s like, “Now this place is really cool.” And we were like, “Okay.”.

Jane Schweppe [00:10:27] And so then we had a great trip there. I don’t even know if we climbed Mount Livermore then. I think we drove around quite a bit in an old they had an old Range Rover that they kept out there. Someone donated it.

Jane Schweppe [00:10:42] So we drove around and looked at stuff and and then came back and, and Dad said or Anne and I were talking like, “We could do this. Let’s just split it.” Or, you know, we split it somehow. The cost of I believe it was 11,000 acres originally that was bought from Don McIvor, I believe.

Jane Schweppe [00:11:10] And Anne and I drove to San Antonio back when that’s where the state office was, and James King was down there and we said, “Let’s do it. Check.”

Lee Smith [00:11:23] What motivated that?

Jane Schweppe [00:11:26] I think it was in honor of our mom, who taught us, you know, just to go out there and figure it out and look at things and take your time and cross the creek and and what kind of flower is that? And birds and hummingbirds and bugs and things like that.

Jane Schweppe [00:11:53] So we did it to honor Mom because she had given us so much knowledge, as well as my Dad too, and especially more Dad later in life after he retired, so that we spent quite a lot of time with him.

Lee Smith [00:12:13] What is unique about this?

Jane Schweppe [00:12:15] About the Davis Mountain Preserve? Well, it’s, they’re sky islands, which is a term that is, it’s the Davis Mountains. And they, oh, I wrote this down, and now I can’t remember. It’s its own ecosystem up there. And so there’s there’s a lot of biodiversity and endemic species that aren’t anywhere else. There’s a three-banded snail. There’s the pink horny toad, there’s an owl that’s only up there. It’s beautiful, it’s stunning, and it’s a great place for studies to see what, how, nature forms to where it is.

Lee Smith [00:13:11] But even apart from specific animals or plants, there’s a uniqueness in especially a girl from Houston or a guy from Houston.

Jane Schweppe [00:13:23] Right.

Lee Smith [00:13:24] You come out, you’re used to flat, humid and and a sky.

Jane Schweppe [00:13:29] You know, in Texas.

Lee Smith [00:13:31] Yeah. So tell me about the uniqueness of just the experience.

Jane Schweppe [00:13:36] Well, the first time I climbed we drove because it’s it’s pretty far up there to go from the base to the top. It can take all day, if not more than that. And so we would go from Bridge Gap, you know, drive this bumpy, bumpy ride, go there and and walk from there, which was probably about a two-hour walk.

Jane Schweppe [00:14:02] The first time I was rained on and snowed on. Actually, I think I’ve been rain and snowed on almost every time I’ve been up. So it’s just, it’s it’s nutty. It’s weird. You can see Mexico on a clear day. It’s scary.

Jane Schweppe [00:14:18] You know, You just feel like you’re in one of those gothic cathedrals, as I mentioned before, that, you know, we’d go to church and then go out to nature. So it was like it was this huge gothic cathedral and you never knew what you were going to see. And it was different every time. And it was kind of scary. And, you know, it’s at altitude that you’re breathing and you just feel really alive.

Lee Smith [00:14:41] Has it gotten old?

Jane Schweppe [00:14:43] No, never. Each time is different. Just like the weather. Each time is different. The people are different. It’s either hot or it’s cold or there’s bugs or, you know. It’s, it’s lovely.

Lee Smith [00:14:58] Is there any special thing that you like to do when you’re there?

Jane Schweppe [00:15:03] Hike and then look at the stars.

Lee Smith [00:15:07] What is it? I mean, can you remember the first time you just stopped, had to stop, and stare at the sky.

Jane Schweppe [00:15:21] At the Davis Mountains?

Lee Smith [00:15:23] Yeah. Out there in that West Texas.

Jane Schweppe [00:15:25] Yeah.

Lee Smith [00:15:26] It’s different.

Jane Schweppe [00:15:27] It’s different. Anne and I went out and spent the night at the cabin, and I think we were there for two nights, and it was just us and a big cooler. And we’d just go out at night and look at the sky.

Jane Schweppe [00:15:41] And it was important too that the skies were dark because McDonnell Observatory is right there. And that was another reason too because of protecting black skies with the telescopes there.

Jane Schweppe [00:15:55] And we got to stay at the, I can’t even remember the house that’s there. It might be the Bash House. And we got to look at the telescopes and eat in the cafeteria with all the scientists. And I mean, it was just a dream. It was nutty.

Lee Smith [00:16:14] When you’re out under that sky, or up on top of that mountain. Baldy? Isn’t that what they call it? Baldy Point?

Jane Schweppe [00:16:24] Well, there’s Laura’s Rock. There’s Livermore.

Lee Smith [00:16:27] Yeah. In terms of your sense of yourself of being a human.

Jane Schweppe [00:16:37] Right?

Lee Smith [00:16:40] What’s that like?

Jane Schweppe [00:16:41] Very small. Overwhelmed with the beauty of it all. And it’s almost like a communion that you become one with it.

Jane Schweppe [00:16:52] James King did. And I’m pretty sure it was his idea. There’s a beautiful rock on Mount Livermore, and he named it “Laura’s Rock” after my Mom. And it kind of looks like a big mammoth tooth, you know, like the fossils. It’s a big molar with lines in it. It’s beautiful.

Jane Schweppe [00:17:16] So, you know, that’s kind of probably about a quarter way up. And so to stop there and think, you know, that’s Laura’s Rock. And there’s a picture near there of her and it’s from the ’70s and she’s on the beach and her hair is messy and it looks great.

Lee Smith [00:17:36] Is the spirit of your mom up there?

Jane Schweppe [00:17:38] Oh, yeah. But she’s everywhere. She’s everywhere. She’s mostly at the beach, but she’s out there.

Lee Smith [00:17:46] Is there a similarity to the beach? In in terms of the space, in terms of the the sense you get of being a small human in a big universe?

Jane Schweppe [00:17:59] Yeah, I think it’s perspective. And it’s awe and wonderment. And going back to what I said before, the little things don’t bug me anymore. It’s the big things that you want to think about, you know, of of how you want to live in this world and how how you want to live your life, I think, versus what am I going to eat for lunch? Or who said what? You know.

Lee Smith [00:18:30] Perspective.

Jane Schweppe [00:18:31] Perspective. And I think distance gives you perspective, and solitude gives you perspective as well. So. And nature, you know, the sounds and the birds and the fires and the creeks and all of it. So yeah.

Lee Smith [00:18:51] There’s, it’s it’s quieter out there than, I mean here, we can hear 183 going over here. We’ve got the airport over there. And so there’s, there’s all this man-made sound. But out there there’s not a lot of man-made sound. But it and it might be quiet, but it’s not silent.

Jane Schweppe [00:19:12] No, it’s it’s it’s it’s locusts and birds and and creek water and water running over rocks and things like that. I mean, it’s very Zen.

Lee Smith [00:19:26] And it it allows you almost to focus in on the I mean, because it’s quiet. But then there’s there’s this note of nature.

Jane Schweppe [00:19:34] Right. Right.

Lee Smith [00:19:36] And so and those notes change throughout the day.

Jane Schweppe [00:19:42] They change throughout the day and the air changes throughout the day. Yeah, it’s it’s, it’s beautiful. The same though too, with me like at the beach, you know where.

Jane Schweppe [00:20:00] I think we can change subjects. That didn’t work very well.

Lee Smith [00:20:03] Well, but it’s it’s kind of similar. You have the rolling surf that’s always right there, but it changes.

Jane Schweppe [00:20:10] Yeah.

Lee Smith [00:20:11] With each wave.

Jane Schweppe [00:20:12] Yeah.

Lee Smith [00:20:13] And there’ll be a solitary note of a of a laughing goal.

Jane Schweppe [00:20:16] Right, Right.

Jane Schweppe [00:20:19] And we slept with the windows open so we could hear, I think, they’re screened, but we didn’t care. You know, you just burn incense or something. But yeah. And that I like listening to the night noises as well.

Lee Smith [00:20:39] So do you have a favorite place at the preserve, or is there a sequence of places that you like to go to? Or…

Jane Schweppe [00:20:49] I just like making the hike, and I think it depends too. I mean, I’ve never done it alone, but each hike is different because of who you’re with and what it brings out in them.

Jane Schweppe [00:21:01] And I mean, I remember Edith McAlister hiking up in her espadrilles, you know, and she was probably 85 years old. White pants and espadrilles hiking up the mountain. It’s like, “Right on!” You know? We’re all in this together. It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be a a hike diva or, you know, a professional. So, yeah, she made it to the top.

Lee Smith [00:21:25] Why is it important for others to be out there, for the public to be able to experience this place?

Jane Schweppe [00:21:34] Oh, because it’s nature. We all need it. I think it it it fills the well. It fills my well. And whenever it’s empty, I’m like, “Okay, I’m, I’ll see you later. I’m out of here.”

Lee Smith [00:21:53] I’ve asked you that one.

Lee Smith [00:21:58] To me, that area of Texas is very tactile. The ground feels different, the air feels different. I almost think if you if you blindfolded somebody and put them out there and they’ve been there before, they would almost know they were where they were.

Jane Schweppe [00:22:21] Because of the smells, too. Yeah, it’s the pines, the air. And it’s at elevation too. So there’s a little bit, you know, and we didn’t go to West Texas very much as children. Mom and Dad went to Marfa, actually, and Fort Davis. So it was kind of a new concept to us to go to the Davis Mountains. But it felt right and it was the right thing to do and the timing was perfect. And yeah, it worked out. It was great.

Lee Smith [00:23:02] It’s also a dangerous environment.

Jane Schweppe [00:23:06] Yes.

Lee Smith [00:23:07] It can be. And unforgiving.

Jane Schweppe [00:23:09] Yes.

Lee Smith [00:23:10] How does that give you a perspective?

Jane Schweppe [00:23:14] Oooh. I remember driving with James King in Madera Canyon where nothing, you know, there was no guardrail, there was nothing and being petrified. But also, you know, and and I’m not like a thrill seeker or anything, but it was thrilling and scary and, you know, kind of like South Texas. Everything has a thorn and and there’s snakes and, you know, it’s. Yeah, you could, you could, you definitely respect nature for what it does.

Lee Smith [00:23:49] What perspective does that give you as a human?

Jane Schweppe [00:23:54] Oh, it’s humbling, which I like, you know, when you think you know at all. And then you go out there and you’re like, “No, I don’t.” There’s something greater than me for sure. And that’s very comforting and humbling as well.

Lee Smith [00:24:16] We kind of covered how does it relate to the McDonald Observatory.

Jane Schweppe [00:24:20] Yeah. But we’ve done things with, like, Boy Scouts, with UT professors. There’s, so there’s a lot of education going on at the Davis Mountain Preserve. The Boy Scouts actually come out and camp. Some people, we went one time. There were a bunch of, I’m going to bastardize the word. But the people that study bugs. Entomologists?

Lee Smith [00:24:52] Entomologists?

Jane Schweppe [00:24:53] Entomologists. Is that correct?

Lee Smith [00:24:55] Yeah. Entomologist.

Jane Schweppe [00:24:57] So we went with these a bunch of entomologists from UT and did the hike. And that was a trip, too, because, you know, one guy’s standing looking at ants and another one’s looking at butterflies. And and so educational and interesting and the science of nature, I think the science of nature, along with the the un-science of it.

Jane Schweppe [00:25:25] So you don’t look at it as a science. Does that makes sense? I mean, there’s, you know, “Oh, this has a certain name, Latin, blah, blah, blah.” And then I’m like, “But that’s just a beautiful butterfly, too, you know?”

Jane Schweppe [00:25:37] So it was fun to have those conversations with them, the scientists, the educators. And it made a huge lab of study, a place of study. And that’s why we built the McIvor Education Center, that’s what it’s called, where people could meet. And, you know, there was equipment to do slide shows or movies or things like that for educational purposes. And there’s a kitchen and. Yeah.

Lee Smith [00:26:19] Well, that’s one of the, you know, a place that’s so remote. If you’re going to be doing some research, you need a place to stay on-site.

Jane Schweppe [00:26:25] Yeah, because it’s a long drive into Fort Davis, especially at night with the dark skies. I mean, it’s beautiful, but the roads are windy and, you know, there’s javelina and pronghorn. And so, you know.

Jane Schweppe [00:26:45] Going back to your comment about it, it’s kind of rough out there. Yeah. It’s kind of like the idea of torture, torture, bliss. You know, you’re like, ha ha. “Oh, there she is. You know, I’m sweaty. No. But look, you know.”

Jane Schweppe [00:27:01] So that concept rings true to me of of a time well had. But you’ve got to work for it. It’s not just sitting back in a lawn chair. That can be fun too.

Lee Smith [00:27:16] It’s also a place of all things great and small.

Jane Schweppe [00:27:20] Yes.

Lee Smith [00:27:22] But yet they merge together.

Jane Schweppe [00:27:24] Yes.

Lee Smith [00:27:25] I mean, you’re I can go from the hills of Mexico to the ant.

Jane Schweppe [00:27:31] Yes.

Lee Smith [00:27:32] What’s the benefit of that?

Jane Schweppe [00:27:33] Perspective, I think, and curiosity and you know, the big wow. So yeah, it’s it’s the best lesson you’ll ever learn.

Lee Smith [00:27:56] How do you think your Mom would feel about what’s happened there?

Jane Schweppe [00:28:03] Oh, she’d be embarrassed. I’m sure she would. But, but glad as well.

Jane Schweppe [00:28:12] She also was the one that kind of enabled us to make the purchase just from inheritance stuff. And so, it was kind of a way of of saying, “Thank you” for the gifts she’d given us, and we’re putting it to good use. So again, kind of like Dad, you know, just you do the right thing. You do the right thing and you do it for other people, too, not just yourself.

Lee Smith [00:28:50] So what advice would you give to a young person that’s fired up about conservation?

Jane Schweppe [00:28:57] Go volunteer. If you don’t have money, go volunteer. Help and get interested. And you know, there’s, we are blessed in Austin to have so many parks and in Texas, thanks to TNC, of course, and Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Jane Schweppe [00:29:17] My thing always, it’s not necessarily about money. It’s it’s your passion for it. And if you can spread the word and let people know. Or as you know, I say, “Drink the Kool-Aid.” You know, it’s it’s a good thing (Martha Stewart).

Jane Schweppe [00:29:34] I mean, you know, it’s it’s. There’s so many things that don’t unite us these days. And I find that nature unites us all and that that’s important as a lesson to pass on to the youth of the world today, that, you know, “Throw that tablet away.” You know, you’re not going to lose friendships over that, I don’t think.

Lee Smith [00:30:09] What is your outlook about the future of conservation work?

Jane Schweppe [00:30:15] I think people are starting to pay attention. And fortunately, we got in on it before people were paying attention. So especially the Nature Conservancy and City of Austin of of grabbing, of purchasing places that could be preserved.

Jane Schweppe [00:30:37] And I think when the younger folks, generations, appreciate these parks, like the greenbelt or the preserve at Barton Creek. That’s for everyone, I mean. And it wouldn’t be there without those folks that were paying attention and saying, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. We’ve got to preserve this. This is really important. Water is important. Oysters are important. Three-banded snails are important.”

Jane Schweppe [00:31:17] So yeah, pay attention.

Lee Smith [00:31:22] Jeff, anything you.

Jeff Weigel [00:31:25] I’m going to award you a double gold medal for saying the three-banded snail is important.

Jane Schweppe [00:31:31] It is important. Yeah, it is important.

Jeff Weigel [00:31:34] It’s an endemic snail in the Davis Mountains.

Jane Schweppe [00:31:37] And there’s a spotted owl, too. Yeah. And then the pink salamander too, I think. Or it’s a no. It’s a horny toad, I think.

Jeff Weigel [00:31:45] Yeah, the mountain short-horned lizard.

Jane Schweppe [00:31:49] That’s what it is. Yeah, because we.

Jeff Weigel [00:31:51] It’s found only in the sky islands of the Southwest.

Jane Schweppe [00:31:53] Right. And in fact, when we were walking with Edith McAlister in her espadrilles in white, there was one right there on the path. And I was like, “Oh, my God, this is amazing, you know.”

Jeff Weigel [00:32:06] Did you find little baby ones?

Jane Schweppe [00:32:07] I didn’t see the baby ones. But it was beautiful. And I remember, you know, with Edith and, you know, you’ll never forget that stuff.