“Education, Restoration, Conservation”

Our 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.

Our Commitment to You

The Blackland Prairie Texas Master Naturalist chapter is strengthened by the diversity of our members. We are committed to providing a welcoming environment where diversity, equity, and inclusion are a core part of everything that we do. We strive to be an organization that reflects the communities we serve and encourages multiple ideas and viewpoints.

The Texas Master Naturalist program is a partnership between the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Parks & Wildlife, and other local partners.

4,000 Hour Milestone Presidential Volunteer Service Awardee, Rick Travis

BPTMN 2023 Photo by Tom Shackelford planting harvested gama plugs and wildflowers

BPTMN 2023 Photo by Rick Travis Clymer Spring Wildflowere tour

BPTMN 2023 Photo by Rick Travis 0 Clymer barb wire fence removal 23

Monthly Chapter Meetings

2023 December Blackland Prairie Chapter Holiday Party

Michelle Connally, Class of 2018

December 12, 2023 – Tuesday, 6:30 PM – IN PERSON ONLY CHAPTER BUSINESS & POTLUCK

Blackland Prairie Chapter Holiday Party

Join us for an evening of cheer and camaraderie!

We are excited to invite our Blackland Prairie Chapter members to our annual holiday party! This event is In-Person only!

When: Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Time: 6:30 PM
Where: Heard Museum, 1 Nature Place, McKinney, TX 75069
Directions to SRC: Drive through Heard gates; go past the parking lot and museum building; continue until the road ends at the large white SRC building.
What: A festive evening of food, drinks, music, and door prizes!

We will have a potluck dinner; the Chapter will provide Honey Baked ham and smoked turkey breast. For our vegetarians – Aloo Gobi (cauliflower & potatoes) with Basmati rice.

Please bring your favorite dish to share.
We will also have a variety of nonalcoholic drinks available; please bring your own cup.
Use our Signup Genius link below to RSVP for us to accommodate our guests and confirm your favorite dish.
BPTMN: Blackland Prairie Chapter Holiday Pot Luck (signupgenius.com)

There will be live Native American flute music by Jay Wooldridge from our Red Cedar Flute program, and we will have door prizes!

This is an excellent opportunity to catch up with Partners, Project Leaders, the 2023 Meeting & Deep Dive Speakers, Mothing setup friends, and fellow chapter members to celebrate the holiday season.

We hope to see you there!

CLICK HERE to read the 2022 Holiday Party Re-Cap; We are blessed to have all of you in our Blackland Prairie TMN tribe.

Logging VH/AT:
AT – Attending this meeting is not an eligible AT event because there will NOT be an Advanced Training presentation.
VH – If you have photos of your 2023 BPTMN volunteer service memories, send these photos to michellec@bptmn.org. We will have a slide show running on the projector screen. Up to 1 hour of Time Spent collecting and providing photo details such as When, Who, Where and What can be counted as Volunteer Service Hour.
VH – Are you interested in helping hospitality with setup and tear down? Time Spent can be counted as Volunteer Service Hours. Sign up here.

Donations: Do you have a door prize you want to DONATE? Please get in touch with Stephanie Cleveland at stephaniec@bptmn.org.

Contact: If you have any questions about this event, please get in touch with Michelle Connally at michellec@bptmn.org.

Past Chapter Meeting Speakers and Topics

Monthly Deep Dives

Jay Wooldridge smiling in front of the Wylie Prairie sign.

2023 November ONLINE Deep Dive with Jay Wooldridge | Native American Flutes made of Eastern Red Cedar and the Juniper’s Benefit to wildlife.

November 21, 2023 – Tuesday 6:00 PM – ZOOM ONLINE MEETING – Jay explains the benefits of the Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) to birds, wildlife and humans as well as some other not so well known facts.

2023 November ONLINE Deep Dive with Dave Powell | “Symbiotic Relationships in Texas and How to Teach It”

November 30, 2023 – Thursday, 6:00 PM – ZOOM ONLINE MEETING. Dave gives us an explanation of the types of symbiosis with examples of them and a game that can be used to teach them for most ages.

News Article – Trees Are Stressed. Now They Can Tell Us Why

10/23/2023

Leah Justice, Class of 2021 – Submitted Bloomberg Article by Todd Woody – TreeTag sensors, developed by startup ePlant, can give homeowners, farmers and forestry managers early warning when trees are water stressed or in danger.