Jim Baker, Class 41, is a retired special education teacher who enjoys RV camping in Texas State Parks. He got inspired to become a MN while touring Honey Creek with Ranger Craig Hensley and two MN volunteers. One of his favorite volunteer locales is Government Canyon State Natural Area, a 12,000-acre wilderness in north San Antonio that protects the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.
“I’ve done a lot of different things there,” he says. “I’ve taken students on interpretive hikes, helped with their Cowbird trapping, and conducted deer counts at night with a spotlight. I’ve also spent time clearing and maintaining trails. When you do this, there are ‘cutters’ and ‘draggers.’ I was a dragger and I learned something interesting. Cleared brush is not hauled away but moved to piles back in the undergrowth for decomposition.
“One of my most interesting assignments was to be part of their Golden Cheeked Warbler Survey. They gave us a GPS locator and asked us to go to different coordinates. We would listen for three minutes to see if we could hear any Warblers. If so, we tried to pinpoint their location as closely as possible. Warblers are timid. In the four days I participated, I heard about 20 but only saw one.”
Jim has also had some experiences that weren’t pleasant at the time, but now cause him to chuckle.
“On one day of the Warbler survey, my partner was a fellow Master Naturalist, Jessica Bergner. As we were bushwhacking a trail, headed for a coordinate, she lost her brand-new glasses. On top of that, my GPS broke and I couldn’t operate hers. We were lost in the middle of nowhere. When we finally determined a way back, it didn’t seem like our original path, but I found her glasses on the ground. She was overjoyed!
“On another day of that survey I was paired with a young female volunteer. We came to a range gate hidden by thick grass. When I stepped onto it, my foot sank about six inches and I fell into a bed of cactus. I was pierced with so many spines that they nailed my shirt to my side! My young companion helped, but she was squeamish about removing thorns from a sweaty older man. That was a painful experience I never want to repeat!”
Jim sums up why he volunteers in this way, “I am grateful for opportunities to do some good, and also to pay back our state parks for the enjoyment they have given me while camping over the years.”
Jim continues to volunteer at multiple locales; he also oversees our VMS system for training classes, keeping us all on track. Thank you, Jim!
(Written by Krin Van Tatenhove, Class #45)
