“Education, Restoration, Preservation”
The Mission
The Texas Master Naturalist Program’s mission is to develop a corps of well-informed volunteers to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities for the State of Texas.
The Texas Master Naturalist program is a partnership between the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Parks & Wildlife, and other local partners.
Let’s take a much needed holiday break or long winters nap. Deadline for the Texas Master Naturalist Call for Proposals for our second Virtual Volunteer Fair has been extended to Friday January 8th. 2021. Connect with our TMN Volunteers virtually and get them signed up to help you on your projects in 2021!
COVID-19 UPDATE 1.6.2021
The COVID-19 Agency Guidance was updated as of yesterday. However, the only real updates boil down to the two points below: Point 1: The guidance distributed December 18th remains the same but is now effective through January 21st.
Covid-19 guidelines from our sponsoring agencies request that all in-person activity STOP due to the continued high incidence of COVID-19 transmission.
Counties are shown on the TMN website and listed as red, yellow or green. The website is update weekly. Red counties are asked to NOT to engage in any in-person activity.
All VH / AT listings in the VMS systemin are sponsored by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Texas Parks & Wildlife. Any in-person VH or AT activity is considered non-essential at this time. Any entries into VMS will not be approved as long as the county status is red.
The only activity allowed is “Mission Critical” – The organization has to be pre-approved by the State. This is only allowed for animal feeding, rehabilitation, and care at the following locations:
Blackland Prairie Raptor Center
Heard Wildlife Sanctuary
Holifield (pending)
The volunteers that were approved for this activity were submitted by the respective organizations in the organization’s initial status request.
Tom Shackelford
BPTMN President
TMN Program Policy for Return to Service Guidelines
Red Level: Counties with two of three factors of positivity rate of 8% or more, or a rapid rise in cases or a hot spot (indicated in pink/red)
- No face-to-face Extension-hosted or Extension-sponsored events.
- No guest speaking or presenting at other entities’ events.
- No overnight events.
- No travel is approved to these counties.
- Essential training related to continuing education and emergency response may be approved by the executive associate director on a case-by-case basis
Click here for additional information
Monthly Chapter Meetings
Tuesday, January 12, 7:00pm
“North Texas Trees Highly Prized by Wildlife” – Rick Travis
We’ll take a virtual walk through our North Texas woodlands, focusing our attention on native north Texas trees that are most valuable to wildlife as a haven, food source, and host for reproduction. In our review, you’ll also learn keys for identifying these valuable tree species, their native range, habitat preferences, natural history, and additional values they provide our ecosystems.
Rick owns a Bachelors’ Degree in Forest Management and an MBA, both from Stephen F. Austin State University. With retirement from his business career, Rick is fulfilling a long-deferred desire for involvement in the environmental sciences. He is an active member of the Blackland Prairie Master Naturalist Chapter, a member of the City of Frisco’s Urban Forestry Board, and a volunteer trail guide at several places, including the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary, the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (LLELA), and Frisco parks and nature trails. Rick is also the Forest Ecology/Trees instructor for the Blackland Prairie, North Texas, and Elm Fork chapters’ new member training classes.
Monthly Deep Dives – check back 2021!
Past Meeting Topics
