Editing Georgetown, Texas (section)

===Endangered species===
Georgetown is home to five endangered species. Two are songbirds protected by the [[Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge|Balcones Canyonlands Preserve]] in [[Travis County, Texas|Travis]] and Williamson Counties.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Protected Species {{!}} Williamson County, TX |url=https://www.wilcotx.gov/318/Protected-Species |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.wilcotx.gov}}</ref> Invertebrate species found only in Williamson County live in the cave-like fissures on the west side of Georgetown. [[Karst topography]] is the name for the honeycomb-type limestone formations (including caves, sinkholes, and fissures) that are typical in the county's limestone geology west of I-35.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

In the 1990s, a small group of concerned landowners and developers formed the Northern Edwards Aquifer Resource Council. Their goal was to identify and preserve a sufficient number of caves with endangered species to ensure survival of the species. Ultimately they wanted to obtain a [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] 10-A permit (known as an [[Incidental Take Permit]]) for the entire county by such actions.<ref>{{cite news|title=Grant will help creepier residents. $2.35 million to save beetles, spiders and other endangered species |first=Jennifer |last=Barrios |page=A1 |date=September 30, 2004 |newspaper=[[Austin American-Statesman]]}}</ref> By gaining the permit, these species would be preserved through voluntary donations of land rather than by the county or state requiring setbacks and other involuntary means. The group documented their successful work in an [[environmental impact statement]] to the county in 2002, and a county-wide 10-A permit was obtained in October 2008.<ref>{{cite news|title=Plan to protect species gets OK; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service gives approval. |first=David |last=Doolittle |newspaper=Austin American-Statesman |date=October 23, 2008}}</ref>