April 2, 2024

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Good evening, Blackland Prairie Chapter Members,

You can access our latest bi-weekly newsletter from our Chapter’s Home Page at bptmn.org, click on the “Blackland Prairie Newsletter” image OR by direct link – https://txmn.org/bptmn/newsletters/

This bi-weekly newsletter will provide:

  • URGENT REQUEST – Community Engagement Assistance
    • Saturday, April 13th LLELA Train Run 7:30AM-12PM
  • Upcoming Advanced Training Opportunities
    • SAVE THE DATE AND RSVP SOON!
      • TxSER Ecological Restoration Workshop at LLELA camping and mothing event
      • Erwin Park “Prairie in Bloom” Guided Nature Tours
      • Clymer Meadow Early Spring Tour
      • Clymer Meadow 37th Annual Spring Wildflower Tour
      • Clymer Meadow Late Spring Prairie Tour
      • Hagerman NWR chapter social with AT!
  • Upcoming Volunteer Service Hours Opportunities
  • Shaking the Trees Edition 47 Posts on bptmn.org
    • Kathy Boys – 250 Hours Milestone
    • Julia Koch – Frankford Prairie Tour & Spring Concert
    • Rick Travis – April 8th Eclipse & Events Information
    • John Garbutt – Thoughts from Behind the Viewfinder Vol 3
    • Leah Justice – Monarch Butterfly WFAA Article
    • John Garbutt – Thoughts from Behind the Viewfinder Vol 2
    • Greg Tonian – “Ravenwood” Poem
    • Vicki Sanders – What’s all the Buzz?
  • Last Chapter Meeting & Deep Dive recordings
    • Dave Powell – Prairie Restoration
    • Vicki Sanders – Eclipse 101
  • Next month’s Chapter Meeting information
  • TMN State Program Updates
  • Chapter Advisor
  • Chapter Partners

If chapter members need to share information in the bi-weekly newsletters,
please send your requests to communications@bptmn.org.

Michelle Connally
Communications Director
Blackland Prairie Chapter

URGENT REQUEST – Community Engagement Assistance

  • The Community Engagement team has an emergency request for two-chapter members to assist at the LLELA Trail Run event on Saturday, April 13.  The event set up is at 7:30 am and will end at noon.  LLELA is an important partner for our Blackland Prairie chapter! 
    Full Circle Trail Race – Friends of LLELA
    Please assist if you can by emailing marlal@bptmn.org.

Upcoming Advanced Training

Check out our chapter’s calendar for more information and current opportunities.
Member VHAT Calendar (txmn.org)

Upcoming Volunteer Service Hours Opportunities

Check out our chapter’s calendar for more information and current opportunities.
Member VHAT Calendar (txmn.org)

  • March 12 thru June 1 – Lights Out Dallas Bird Survey – Spring 2024
  • Sun-Fri – Connemara Meadow Work Days
  • Mondays – Erwin Park Prairie Restoration
  • Thursdays – Wylie Prairie Restoration
  • 1st Thursday, April 4th – Clymer Meadow 1st Thursdays
  • 1st Thursday, April 4th – BPTMN Board Meeting via Zoom
  • Thursday, April 4th – Plano Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve Work Day
  • Sunday, April 7th – Frisco Work Day – Stewart Creek
  • Wednesday, April 10th – Plano Oak Point Park Trail Guide
  • Wednesday, April 10th – Plano Arbor Hills Nature Preserve Work Day
  • Friday, April 12th – Frisco Work Day – Commons Park
  • Friday, April 12th –BioBlitz at Chaparral Trail-Memorial Park Trailhead

Shaking the Trees Member Contributions

Last Chapter Meeting & Deep Dive recordings

Next Month’s Chapter Meeting information

Learning to read Tracks and Signs with Dwight Wilson

Tuesday, April 9, 2024 – 7:00 PM – Chapter Meeting
Saturday, April 13, 2024 – 9:00 AM – Tracking Hike at Oak Point Park with Dwight

Discover the Art of Tracking and Signs with Dwight Wilson! Join us on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:00 PM, either in person or online, for Dwight Wilson’s engaging presentation on learning to read tracks and signs. Dive into the fascinating world of wildlife clues and gain valuable insights.

2024-04-April-Chapter-Meeting-Dwight-Wilson-Tracking-Document

And that’s not all! Take your learning outdoors and join Dwight in person at Oak Point Park on the following Saturday, April 13 for an exciting Hands-On Tracking Hike. Explore the natural environment of Oak Point Park with a long and wide riparian corridor that includes soft foot trails along Rowlett Creek, we will decode hidden messages left by animals.

Speaker – Dwight Wilson

Dwight Wilson’s journey as a tracker was nothing short of remarkable. He has had the privilege of learning from some of the most esteemed trackers in the nation, including luminaries like Tom Brown, Jon Young, Paul Rezendes, Charles Worsham, and Nathan Kempton. Their wisdom and expertise have shaped Dwight’s keen eye for wildlife signs and his ability to decipher nature’s hidden language.

Dwight’s passion extends beyond the classroom. He has actively contributed to university wildlife projects, sharing his insights with hundreds of eager students. His practical experience isn’t confined to academia; he has also lent his tracking skills to federal law enforcement agencies and elite military personnel.

As an accomplished author, Dwight has penned two captivating books: “Following Track Vol 1” and “Following Track Vol 2.” And the adventure continues—“Following Track Vol 3” is currently in progress, promising even deeper insights into the art of tracking.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from a master tracker and deepen your appreciation for the natural world!

Physical Meeting Location:  Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary, 
1Nature Place, McKinney TX 75069, Science Resource Center (SRC) building.
Directions to SRC:  Drive through Heard gates; go past parking lot and museum building; continue until the road ends at the large white SRC building. 

Online Zoom Meeting Registration:  
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqc-yrqT4rHtzVMlNaWFk_mL0NlAjq0Lpj
Please register ahead of time for this meeting using your Zoom Account Email address. 
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the meeting.

Online Meeting Host: Heather Fell – heatherf@bptmn.org

Logging AT:  The monthly meeting presentation will allow members to earn 1-hour of AT. Log as AT: BPTMN Chapter Monthly Meeting Only (1 hour) with the speaker’s name and topic in the description box.

TMN State Program Updates

#TMNTuesday – https://txmn.tamu.edu/tmntuesdays/

Title: Virtual Volunteer Fair

Date: April 9, 2024 at 12pm

Description: Our volunteers are ready to volunteer!  Our Texas Master Naturalist Volunteers are dedicated to natural resource conservation work. After the innovations of the pandemic, we’re continuing to hold our ever-popular Virtual Volunteer in 2024 Fair where Texas Master Naturalist volunteers are introduced to virtual and distanced service projects offerings of our partner conservation organizations in their communities. This returning feature of our program easily allows members to remain active during the hottest months of the year and provide service opportunities for any ability throughout the year.

During the hottest months of the year, in-the-field service projects become less desirable and hit a lull until cooler months come around. The TMN Virtual Volunteer Fair (VVF) is an opportunity for our partner conservation organizations to present service projects that need volunteers from a distance or virtually! After five successful TMN VVF events, our members are asking for more virtual and distance-based service projects!

The Virtual Volunteer Fair will be an opportunity for our partner conservation organizations to present volunteer service projects that need volunteers from a distance or virtually! Save the Date and plan to join us on Tuesday, April 9th 2024, for this series of project presentations showcasing opportunities from across the state and across the spectrum of natural resource topics.

As an attending Texas Master Naturalist what can I expect?

Get ready to volunteer! The Texas Master Naturalist Program is planning to host its fifth Virtual Volunteer Fair this spring: Tuesday April 9th, 2024, with a series of 15-minute sessions highlighting projects by a variety of partner conservation agencies and organizations. Sessions will be recorded and uploaded to our website post-event for those who cannot attend the live presentations.

Virtual Volunteer Fair Agenda

10:00 AM – 10:15 AM        Introduction

10:15 AM – 10:30 AM        Texas Children in Nature Network Virtual Volunteer Opportunities – Alice Jansen, Texas Children in Nature Network

10:30 AM – 10:45 AM       Bridging Communities: Translating LEAP Program Promotional Material for Education Outreach in the Gulf Coast Region – Alicia Fontenot, Texas Children in Nature Network

10:45 AM – 11:00 AM        Pack for Adventure: Volunteer Event to Prepare LEAP Backpacks – Jennifer Larios, Texas Children in Nature Network

11:00 AM – 11:15 AM         Armchair Botanist: Mapping the Plants of Texas – Tiana Rehman, Botanical Research Institute of Texas

11:15 AM – 11:30 AM         Warnock Herbarium Updates – Sally Baulch, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

11:30 AM – 11:45 AM         BREAK

11:45 AM – 12:00 PM         1 Million Acres of Native Plants – Sandy Tibbs, Native Flora Seeds

12:00 PM – 12:15 PM         Agents of Nature – A Discovery Challenge – Marla Layne, Blackland Prairie Raptor Center

12:15 PM – 12:30 PM         Seasonal Interest Articles on the Coastal Prairie – Mary Anne Piacentini, Coastal Prairie Conservancy

12:30 PM – 12:45 PM        Photographers Needed: Help Bring the Coastal Prairie to Life! – Mary Anne Piacentini, Coastal Prairie Conservancy

12:45 PM – 1:00 PM          Spanish Translation of Regional Wildlife and Nature Guides – Marisa Oliva, Texas Children in Nature Network

1:00 PM – 1:15 PM             Conclusion & Wrap Up

Projects Not Presented During Virtual Volunteer Fair

Time to Restore: Connecting People, Plants, and Pollinators – Erin Posthumus, USA National Phenology Network/Nature’s Notebook

Monarch Larva Monitoring Project – Wendy Caldwell, Monarch Joint Venture

Catalog of Projects

The Catalog of Projects lists ALL service project details along with the Project Contact and their email address. If you are interested in a particular project, please reach out to the Project Contact directly if you did not get a chance to sign up during the event.

VVF-Agenda-and-Catalog-2024

In addition, the projects are noted as statewide or by eco-region in the project description. Keep in mind that some site-based projects may offer aspects of the project that don’t require your presence at the site. If they do require your presence to assist, please make sure to consider the project’s location compared to your chapter’s region and your training as a Master Naturalist. Be sure projects you choose are within ecoregion(s) you are trained for and are pre-approved by your chapter.

How do I join?

Registration to attend our Virtual Volunteer Fair is now open. It is free to register! You can attend any or all project proposal presentations – come and go as you please! TMN volunteers will earn Volunteer Service hours for attending all project proposal sessions – please use the “TMN Virtual Volunteer Service Fair” Statewide Project Opportunity for logging service hours.

If you’ve never used WebEx as a platform at all, the WebEx 101 Guide linked is a great place to start – plus there are live testing sites on the Cisco WebEx page for any day users to test their equipment and set up.

Register today!

How do I Sign up to Volunteer?

At the completion of EACH project proposal and then again at the end of the event, we will share the “Project Volunteer Registration” survey.

Survey link will be posted on our website once available. https://txmn.tamu.edu/blog/virtual-volunteer-fair-2024/

Sign ups close on April 26th!

How do I log Hours?

Texas Master Naturalists can earn hours for attending the Virtual Volunteer Fair and for participating in service projects presented during the fair. A VMS (Volunteer Management System) Quick Guide reference document has been created to help show these opportunities and how to log them: VMS Quick Guide

LOGGING VH:  You can earn AT (amount TBD based on length of presentation) for attending this #TMNTuesday. Log as AT: TMN Tuesday. 

The live streamed presentation will be recorded.  You can earn AT for watching the recorded presentation!

TMN CONTACTS:

Michelle Haggerty – Texas Parks & Wildlife Department – Michelle.Haggerty@tpwd.texas.gov

Mary Pearl Meuth – Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service – mpmeuth@tamu.edu

Texas Master Naturalist Statewide Curriculum – Review and Edition Update!

Friends, Colleagues and Users of the Texas Master Naturalist Curriculum book,

Our first state level Texas Master Naturalist Curriculum was developed in 2004 and printed as a three-ring binder. In 2014, we engaged in a major update and publishing project and printed our curriculum with TAMU Press as a full color, 750+ page, 6.5-pound textbook and finally published it in 2016. It would only make sense that within that 10-year timeline, we start another update to the book!

We are starting the project to review, update and print a second edition of our TMN Statewide Curriculum! Keep in mind, this will be a multi-year project, but the time to start it is now. And we need your help!

To get our review and update started, we have two requests to our readers:

  1. The first is to help us gather information on how our book is being used. This information will be shared with our TAMU Press redesign team as they are looking to make updates to the layout and functionality of the book. Please complete this survey by May 1, 2024.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/tmn2ndedition

  1. The second is to help us collect errors/updates in the current edition. Each unit will be getting reviewed and updated, but two sets of eyes are better than one. Please share any errors or update suggestions in the linked survey below. Note – it’s vital that you share page and paragraph information to help us find these areas of edit need. This survey will remain open.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/tmnbookerrata

​Thank you for helping us advance our Texas Mater Naturalist Curriculum!

Mary Pearl & Michelle

Women of the Land Program – April 12th in Richmond, Texas – FYI only, submit individual AT request.

Chapter Advisor

Dr. Curtis Jones, County Extension Agent
825 North McDonald Street Suite 150
McKinney, TX 75069-2175
curtis.jones@ag.tamu.edu 
972-548-4233

Chapter Partners

Blackland Prairie Raptor Center
volunteer@bpraptorcenter.org
https://bpraptorcenter.org/

Connemara Meadow Nature Preserve
Bob Mione | info@connemaraconservancy.org
connermaraconservancy.org/wordpress/meadow-nature-preserve

Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary
Laura Ragan | volunteers@heardmuseum.org
www.heardmuseum.org/volunteer

LLELA Nature Preserve
Erin Piper | epiper@cityoflewisville.com
https://www.llela.org/research-restoration/volunteering