Texas Family Donates Cave to Protect Four Million Bats
In 1990, Richard Phillip Eckert and Virginia Eckert Garrett donated a cave in Mason County, Texas, to The Nature Conservancy to honor their father and grandfather. The Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve now shelters about four million female Mexican free-tailed bats annually from May to September. The family required the surrounding land remain open for public education and enjoyment.
TOI World··Mason County



