OUR MISSION
The Texas Master Naturalist 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.
VOLUNTEER SERVICE IS THE REASON FOR OUR EXISTENCE
Chapter members must contribute 40 hours of volunteer service annually to retain certification in the Texas Master Naturalist program. Our members make a difference in more than 115 chapter-approved volunteer projects across our ten-county service area and contribute thousands of hours each year towards the preservation of our Hill Country environment. For approved projects, please click here.
HOW TO BECOME A TEXAS MASTER NATURALIST AND MEMBER OF THE HILL COUNTRY CHAPTER
For information on becoming a Texas Master Naturalist and member of the Hill Country Chapter, click here. Our 2022 class started on Feb 22nd and had the Commencement on May 10, 2022. Click on the “Class of 2022” tab above to read more about our classes.
NOTICE OF 2022 ANNUAL MEETING IN HOUSTON
Put it on your calendar now as the state TMN planners are preparing for our 23rd Texas Master Naturalist Program Annual Meeting, an event to gather, learn, and celebrate another year of the Texas Master Naturalist Program. This year’s meeting offers in-person and virtual options to attend the event at the Omni Houston Thursday, October 20th to Sunday October 23rd. Click here for further details.
MONTHLY CHAPTER MEETING, WITH NEW SOCIAL TIME BEFOREHAND – SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
The Texas Master Naturalist, Hill Country Chapter has in-person Monthly Chapter Meetings. Our next Chapter Meeting and Advanced Training session is open to the public and will be held on Monday, September 26, 2022. Our monthly Chapter Meetings and Advanced Training sessions are HYBRID. This means you have the option to attend in-person (at Upper Guadalupe River Authority in Kerrville), via Zoom or Live Stream via Facebook. Pre-registration is required to attend the chapter meeting session via Zoom. Click the following link or copy the link into your browser: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvc-CsrjgpEtznjsTPvgKHlbEnNz0Wf_GF. You will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Doors open at UGRA at 6 pm for socializing. A short business meeting will be held at 6:30pm and the Advanced Training session is from 7 PM to 8 PM. There is no cost to attend. The UGRA Building is located at 125 Lehmann Drive, Suite 100 in Kerrville.
There will be something new at this meeting: Nancy Scoggins has made arrangements for refreshments in the kitchen/break room starting at 6:00pm and will end shortly before the start of the Chapter meeting.
Advanced Training Topic: Invasive Plants: Stop the Spread, Spread the Word!
Description: Invasive plants are wreaking havoc on the health of our ecosystems (below, right). They cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. Management of invasive plants includes prevention, identification and eradication. Removal of invasive plants and replacement with native plants is essential to restoring the biodiversity of our public and private lands. Invasive plants are causing economic and environmental harm and harm to human health.
Presenter: Cheryl Hamilton (above, left). Cheryl has been an Alamo Area Master Naturalist since 2007 and a member of the San Antonio Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas since 2009. Cheryl co-founded the Balcones Satellite of the Invaders of Texas Program in 2010. Since that time volunteers with the “Salsa Squad” have eradicated more than 200,000 invasive plants from city, state and national parks in Bexar County and adjacent counties above, center). Volunteers have also created demonstration native plant and pollinator gardens. Cheryl has presented more than 100 invasive/native plant workshops at the local, state and national level since 2009. In 2015, she received a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 volunteer hours to the master naturalist program. Cheryl currently serves on the NPSOT Invasives Committee to build resources for NPSOT members.
The in-person program will answer the following questions:
- What is the definition of an invasive species?
- What are the top twelve most invasive plants in the Texas Hill Country?
- How did invasive plants arrive?How do invasive plants reduce biodiversity?How do invasive plants cause harm?How do invasive plants spread?What makes a plant invasive?How do we manage invasive plants?Why should we replace invasive plants with native plants?
- How can we help stop the spread and spread the word?
FURTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
This event is in lieu of the Native Plant Sale; our semi-annual fundraiser.
Raffle tickets may be purchased at Riverside Nature Center from now until October 8th. Drawing and winner notification will take place on that date.
