Our 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.
WE ARE ALL ABOUT VOLUNTEER SERVICE
Chapter members each 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.
What is a Texas Master Naturalist?
Check out this three minute video created by the Texas Master Naturalist – Lost Pines Chapter.
Do you love nature? Do you want to make a difference? Click on the link below to go to our form. Fill in the form and be sure to tell us about yourself and what you are passionate about. We’ll be in touch. Click here.
The Hill County Chapter serves Bandera, Edwards, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Mason, Menard, Real, and San Saba Counties. Our ten-county service region covers 10,651.08 square miles.
The Texas Hill Country is located on the eastern portion of the Edwards Plateau, and is bound by the Balcones Escarpment on the east and the Llano Uplift to the west and north. The “Texas Hill Country” is not a precise geographic area but a vernacular term that describes an area of central Texas, characterized by karst topography with clear rivers, dense vegetation, and pure air.
MONTHLY CHAPTER MEETING, WITH SOCIAL TIME
The Texas Master Naturalist, Hill Country Chapter meets monthly in person and online via Zoom. Our next Chapter Meeting and Advanced Training session is open to the public and will be held on Monday, July 28, 6:30p-8:00p.
The meeting is at
GUADALUPE BASIN NATURAL RESOURCES CENTER (GBNRC) Building
125 Lehmann Drive, Suite 100
Kerrville, Texas
Pre-registration is required to attend the chapter meeting session via Zoom.
Click the link, shown below, to register.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84850885770
Doors open at 6 pm for socializing. A short business meeting will begin at 6:30p and the Advanced Training session is from 7:00 to 8:00p. There is no cost to attend. All are welcome.
The Advanced Training topic for the July 28, Chapter Meeting is…
Managing Soil as an Ecosystem
This year we are highlighting the four elements that the ancients thought made up everything – Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. We have had wonderful presentations on fire and water so far. Next up at our July meeting we will examine soil, notably the soils of the Texas Hill Country, as living, breathing ecosystems.
The Soil Food Web is the interaction of organisms in the soil to create a natural balance of ecosystem services for nutrient recycling, water regulation, and carbon sequestration. Managing your soil as an ecosystem involves understanding soil succession and how to amend soils to meet the needs of plants or crops you want to grow. Join us in-person at the Guadalupe Basin Natural Resources Center in Kerrville, or online via Zoom, on Monday, July 28, 2025. Social time starts at 6:00pm, the Chapter meeting is at 6:30pm, and at 7:00pm, Dr. Duke will share why soil is an ecosystem, and how to evaluate the microorganisms in your soil and to create compost, compost teas, and compost extracts to improve and regenerate your soil.
Speaker: Jane Duke, PhD, is a citizen scientist of Soil Regeneration. She became involved with soil improvement while living with her husband on a horse farm in Oak Point, Texas, and growing wheat and sorghum in Bovina, near the New Mexico border. In 2021, Jane was certified as a Soil Food Web Lab-Tech in soil analysis. These days she is on the Board of the Elm Fork Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists and is the NICE (Natives Improve and Conserve Environments) coordinator for the Trinity Forks Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT), as well as being active in Texas Organic Food & Growers and Texas Beekeepers associations. Jane earned an MA in Environmental Philosophy from UNT and a PhD in Consumer Economics and Environmental Design at Texas Tech.