In October 2021, CCCA lost a founding Board member, Jensie Simms Madden, who not only was integral to the formation of CCCA but also helped guide the fledgling organization. Jensie strove to foster engagement with elected officials through the Government Affairs Committee, which she chaired. She also served the community on the Board of the Comal Trinity Groundwater Conservation District and as an active member of the League of Women Voters—Comal Area. Jensie was an educator at heart and a model citizen who took on responsibility to work with others toward a better community. She cared deeply about justice for people and for the environment. Jensie and her husband, Dan, shared an ethos of living lightly on the land. Together they built an energy- and water-conserving house in which environmental concerns were part of daily life.

On January 6, 2022, the Board of Directors voted to honor Jensie by naming the CCCA conservation award , The Jensie Madden Comal Conservation Award. Her qualities of great vision, inclusive leadership, skillful organization, respectful personal engagement, accountability to herself and others, and dedication to the preservation of natural resources in Comal County and beyond are what CCCA honors through this Award.

Learn more about Jensie Madden

Resolution for 2022 Presentation

Whereas the preservation of land, water and wildlife in Comal County is critical to maintaining the quality of life for citizens in a county experiencing rapid population growth; and

Whereas the preservation of land respects natural systems and helps to retain the diversity of life that existed before development; and

Whereas with great concern for the ecological health and beauty of Comal County and quality of life of its citizens, Jensie Madden helped to shape the vision of CCCA and was instrumental in fostering receptive dialog with elected officials; and

Whereas Jensie Madden displayed great vision, leadership, citizenship, and dedication to the cause of preserving of land, water, and wildlife in Comal County; and her life embodied the very best in conservation leadership,

Therefore, be it resolved that we, the undersigned Officers, do proudly present the inaugural Jensie Madden Comal Conservation Award to the late:

Jensie Simms Madden on the Fourteenth of May, 2022

Resolution for 2023 Award

Whereas the preservation of land, water, and wildlife in Comal County is critical to maintaining the quality of life for citizens in a county experiencing rapid population growth; and 

Whereas the preservation of land respects natural systems and helps to retain the diversity of life that existed before development; and  

Whereas with great concern for the ecological health and beauty of Comal County and the integrity of the priceless Honey Creek and Cave ecosystem, Joyce Moore and Cynthia Martinez placed their property, Honey Creek Spring Ranch, in a conservation easement; and 

Whereas Joyce Moore and Cynthia Martinez’s foresight and commitment to good stewardship will protect this legacy property in perpetuity, thereby contributing to the protection of Honey Creek Cave and the Edwards Aquifer, 

Therefore, be it resolved that we, the undersigned Officers, do proudly present the Jensie Madden Comal Conservation Award to 

Joyce Moore and Cynthia Martinez on the 23rd of May 2023

Photography Credits – Banner: Silas Ott