WildGins Founder &
Biology Professor at the University of Texas at Austin
Nov 21, 2024
We all have so many blessings for which we are thankful— family, friends, and the fact we’re alive. I’m grateful for all these gifts. In addition, I’m really grateful for trees.
Showing Gratitude for our Trees
Trees are the silent givers of the world. They give us oxygen, and shade, clean up our pollution, cool our climate, create homes for cute critters, and keep our hillsides from turning into chronic mudslides. They give us all of this, plus delight our senses. And… they give us WildGins.
WildGins wouldn’t exist without an extraordinary set of trees. And these special Texas trees wouldn’t exist without the wild and unique lands they live on. We make gin that depends on redberry juniper and alligator juniper—trees that thrive in the unique universe that is called West Texas—so giving back to these lands feels essential.
Our ‘Give Back to the Land’ Campaign
To meet this need to give back to the wilds that give us WildGins, we started a Give Back to the Land campaign three years ago. In November 2021, we launched our “Give a Wild Buck” campaign which we run during the giving season (November through February) and continue to do every year.
It’s a simple premise. For every bottle of our gin that is purchased (at the liquor store or by bars and restaurants), we give $1 to The Nature Conservancy and earmark it for the West Texas Chapter. Last year’s gift was larger than the one before, and we want to see that gift grow every year.
The Nature Conservancy & West Texas’ Biodiversity
The Nature Conservancy does a fantastic job of buying up lands to keep them wild. And keeping lands wild allows Mother Nature to do what she does best—churning out biodiversity. And what she’s given us out in West Texas is truly astounding.
There is a single county in West Texas that is home to 4 species of junipers. That is four times more juniper species in this single Texas County than the entirety of the modern British Empire.
The reason that biodiversity abounds in certain places like the Davis Mountains in West Texas is that they are ‘sky islands’. Sky islands are isolated mountains with distinct climates from the lowlands that surround them. Their elevated environment is different than surrounding geography and they become a hot spot for biodiversity and unique species not found anywhere else.
The West Texas Chapter of the Nature Conservancy is fully committed to keeping our very special Texas sky island preserved for posterity. They know there are multiple species of plants and animals found in the Davis Mountains that are not found anywhere else. And they are doing their best to keep them alive, wild, and thriving.
Call to Action—Supporting WildGins and Conservation