Board Members and Founders
David Williams: Co-Founder, Director and President
Gloria Brutscher: Co-Founder, Director and Secretary
Shane Cole: Co-Founder, Director
Conservation Advisory Team
Derek Sanford: Stewardship Program Coordinator | Armand Bayou Nature Center
Haille Leija: Director of Program Operations | Galveston Bay Foundation
Kristen Schlemmer: Legal Director and Waterkeeper | Bayou City Waterkeeper
Suzanne Simpson: Land Acquisition Manager | Galveston Bay Foundation
Virginia Pierson-Turner: Conservationist | Native Plant Society of Texas | Shoreacres Monarch Way Station
The Late Neil Moyer: One of the original advisors dating back to 2018, long before the birth of the Taylor Bayou Conservancy.
Who We Are:
Taylor Bayou Conservancy is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) Texas nonprofit corporation headquartered in Shoreacres, Texas. Its EIN is 61-2075108.
What We Do:
We search for and find Texas forests, wetlands and prairies that are deemed worthy of preservation. Then, we locate conservation minded funding organizations to help us secure the land. A conservation easement is placed on the land and the stewardship of the land is given to a nationally accredited Land Trust. The natural habitat is then preserved forever, without the possibility of future commercial development.
Where We Do It:
We started our conservation work along Taylor Bayou in the city of La Porte, Texas, hence our name Taylor Bayou Conservancy. At the present time, we are expanding our focus to other areas of the Galveston Bay watershed in Texas.
Why We Do This:
We do this because conservation work is important; and knowing that we are making a difference makes us happy. It’s that simple.
Our Beginning:
There is a 106-acre tract of land in La Porte, Texas that has gone through many years of attempted commercial development whereby the Palustrine Forested Wetlands would have been destroyed, the trees clearcut, the ground leveled, the animal habitat lost forever, and the wildlife wiped out. The last confrontation in 2022 was with a national major home developer, where we successfully stopped their building an approximately 250 home housing development and destroying the wooded wildlife sanctuary. After that, our group of conservationists decided to change the dynamic of being defensive and reactive to becoming proactive. We were going to try to purchase the property ourselves in order to preserve the beautiful woodlands, wetlands, and wildlife as a wildlife refuge. We formed our nonprofit conservation organization and went to work.
Toward the end of 2022 and through early 2023, we had many meetings and discussions with friends, neighbors, and other conservation organization staff members. One of our team advisors worked for the Galveston Bay Foundation. She took our story to their Land Acquisition Manager, who became very interested in our project. Having extensive previous land acquisition experience, Galveston Bay Foundation knew exactly what to do and how to do it. We were lucky, as within a month of their becoming interested in our project, they were offered a generous grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which was secured and used to purchase the property. Galveston Bay Foundation owns the land now that is called Taylor Bayou Forest. A “conservation easement” was attached to the property so the land can never be commercially developed. Texas Land Conservancy, a “Land Trust”, holds the conservation easement and the land will remain in its natural state in perpetuity.
We are proud to have rescued the property and its wetlands that sustain the dozens of species of animals, reptiles, amphibians and the 100 plus species of local and migratory birds for future generations.