ABOUT US
OUR VISION
Trees branching generations, inspiring a deep love of nature, Arboretum San Antonio welcomes all to connect
with our cultural heritage and collectively build an environmentally restorative future.
OUR MISSION
Arboretum San Antonio provides immersive nature-based experiences that are rooted in San Antonio’s vibrant culture and indigenous legacies. We offer welcoming places for retreat to support the well-being of people and the natural world, provide accessible programming that empowers and delights individuals and communities, and research critical connections between trees and the changing climate of South Texas.
OUR VALUES
Nature | Heritage
Discovery | Community
After a full year of listening to our community, we unveiled our master plan in May 2025. The plan includes a four-phased approach to building and programming on-site. Phase Zero began in June 2025 and is focused on a coordinated philanthropic and capital campaign. We anticipate being publicly accessible in some capacity in 2028.
Our Journey
After a comprehensive year-long planning process from May 2024 through May 2025 that engaged 18,000-plus San Antonio residents in direct input, Arboretum San Antonio, in partnership with Sasaki, unveiled its master plan – marking a historic milestone for San Antonio's green future and the creation of San Antonio and South Texas’s first arboretum.
In 2021, our Founder, Henry Cisneros, wrote an Op-Ed in the San Antonio Report making the case for an Arboretum on the South Side of San Antonio. As Henry describes it, “An arboretum is a special category of park featuring the trees that grow in a region. Trees are spaced along paths or encircle open meadows in ways that invite admiration, study, and repose”. One year later, we assembled a highly engaged board of directors and an informed group of subject-matter expert advisors to guide our vision for a world-class Arboretum for San Antonio. We chose Sasaki as our master planning firm in 2024.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ADVISORS
Mark Bird, COSA Arborist
Dr. Kelly Lyons, Prof Trinity University
Dr. Rodolfo Barillas, Prof TAMU-SA
Tom Carter, SVP Pape-Dawson
Mike Frisbie, SVP RABA-Kistner
Alex Gonzalez, RLA, MPStudio
Peter Pierson, Sr Natural Resource Mgt Specialist, SARA
Carla De La Chapa, Sr Mgr Climate & Sustainability, CPS Energy
Karen Guz, Vice President, Water Conservation, SAWS
Julia Murphy, Deputy Director, COSA Sustainability Office
Francine Romero, UTSA Professor & CPS Energy Trustee
STAFF
