The Building Texas Show's latest episode, New Texas State Park Near Boerne: Why It Isn't a Park | ABK, hosted by Justin McKenzie and published October 21, 2026, delivers an on-the-ground preview of the Albert & Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area (ABK), the 3,814-acre site straddling Bandera County and Kendall County along Highway 46 between Boerne and Bandera. New site superintendent Stephanie Kwiatkowski, who stepped into the role in June, explains why Texas Parks and Wildlife is targeting late fall 2026 to open the gates, and why the agency classified ABK as a state natural area rather than a state park.
The conversation is a return visit for the show, which previously hosted founding superintendent James Rice while the land was still in survey and planning. Kwiatkowski walks listeners through several specific threads:
- The legal and operational distinction between a state park and a state natural area under the Texas Admin Code, with comparisons to Government Canyon, Lost Maples, Inks Lake, and McKinney Falls.
- The 28 miles of multi-use trail open to hikers, mountain bikers, joggers, and strollers.
- Operational lessons from the July 2026 flooding event, which washed out landscaping, trails, and campsites before any public visitation.
Kwiatkowski frames the park-versus-natural-area question as a spectrum between recreation and conservation, and she is candid about the stakes of protecting the ABK viewshed. Standing in a UTV above the canyons during her first weeks on site, she described the moment this way:
"The site owns both sides of those canyons. And so that view, that viewshed, it is safeguarded for, um, forever."
She also credits the volunteer corps assembled by James Rice, a former biologist, calling the relationships "integral to our success as a site."
The episode digs into the ecological specifics that justify ABK's protective designation: bigtooth maples that rival those at Lost Maples State Natural Area, the riparian corridors along Red Bluff Creek and Pipe Creek, and the transition zones between ash juniper woodlands and creek bottoms. Kwiatkowski traces her own path from a childhood of camping in a pop-up trailer, through an environmental science degree with a minor in environmental sociology, GIS and consulting work, a formative seasonal job with the City of New Braunfels parks, the park operations trainee role at the Lost Pines Complex (Bastrop and Buescher State Parks), and an assistant superintendent stint at Pedernales Falls State Park before her June promotion. Construction crews, subcontractors, and a six-person site team are now preparing cabins, screened shelters, tent sites, backcountry camping, and hike-and-bike infrastructure for public access.
About The Building Texas Show
The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, spotlights the people, places, and projects shaping Texas communities, from Hill Country conservation to small-business entrepreneurship. New episodes publish weekly across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, with sponsorship support from Chisos Boots. The ABK episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard.
