North Texas Master Naturalist – Calendar & Info

Looking for exciting opportunities to learn something new about local wildlife or volunteer in the outdoors?  The North Texas Master Naturalist group maintains a comprehensive calendar of events for many of our local environmental preservation and development organizations (i.e., Cedar Ridge Preserve, Native Plant Society of Texas, Texas Master Naturalist, Connemara Conservancy, Heard Museum).  All events are open to the public.

If you’re simply seeking more information on Texas native trees/shrubs/mammals/reptiles, identifying invasive species or educating yourself on the natural history of  North Texas, see the Links page on the North Texas Master Naturalist website.

2009 St. Patrick’s Day Parade Photos

Thanks to everyone who participated in the parade with the Dallas Sierra Club and helped gather recycling and spread the conservation message.  We helped collect about ten cubic yards of loose recyclables, weighing about 1240 lbs (0.62 tons).  Much of this was plastic, I was informed.

Trash from the parade equaled about 150 cu yds, weighing about 30K lbs (15 tons).  Now we have metrics for use in our 2010 efforts!

Check out photos of our group in action here!

Laura’s photo link.

Candace’s photo link.

Ron’s photo link.

Young Sierrans’ Flickr link.

The slideshow option on these is great!

Renew America Together – National Day of Service (1/19/09)

Many of you are probably familiar with Obama’s call for a National Day of Service, which he’s designated for Monday, January 19th, MLK, Jr. Day.  Actually, service opportunities are being scheduled all weekend long (1/17-1/18).

If you’re interested in volunteering and you don’t know where to go, you can search for organized events in your neighborhood on the USAService website.  Just enter your zip code and preferred location distance radius and let the power of the Interweb (and some fancy database software) do all the work for you.  This site will be available after the Inauguration and act as a match-up site to connect folks interested in volunteering with volunteer opportunities.

You can also register your service project, if you are planning one.

But wait, if you sign up now, you’ll also receive a second Sense of Patriotism absolutely FREE!

Disclaimer: Sense of Patriotism is non-transferable.  However, it is contagious.  Er, I guess it is transferable…

Trinity River Audubon Center – Volunteer Opportunities

* Does anyone have interest in volunteering as a group on a particular center project in the future?  We could help blaze or maintain trails, work on quarterly projects, etc.  Dana mentioned we may be able to create an “in kind” relationship with our group where we could receive membership discounts (or something) in return for our volunteer efforts. Let me know your thoughts!  ~Peter

From the Trinity River Audubon Center’s website:

Volunteering is an exciting and rewarding way to participate with Audubon Center. We are always looking for enthusiastic individuals or groups of people to support and enhance our programs. Possible opportunities include (time commitments and training vary):

• Volunteer Naturalist
• The Eco-Team
• Trailblazer
• The TRAC A-Team
• Special Program Volunteers
• The Science Survey Team
• Prairie and Wetland Restoration

See the TRAC website for more information about volunteer opportunities or contact Dana Wilson, Volunteer Coordinator, at 214-370-9967 or dwilson@audubon.org.

Audubon Dallas – Conservation In Action Work Days

If you’re ever in the mood to get outdoors to break a sweat doing some local hiking trail maintenance, look no further than Audubon Dallas’ (site) monthly Conservation in Action Work Days. Habitat restoration & trail maintenance at Cedar Ridge Preserve happens the 3rd Saturday of every month throughout the year, rain or shine. Volunteers remove non-native plants, restore trails, and work in the butterfly garden. Repairing trails reduces erosion trouble spots and removing non-native plants clears crowded trail edges. We’ll provide snacks, water, pruning shears, shovels, and work gloves. All you need to bring is sun screen and bug repellent.

At an elevation of 755 feet, Cedar Ridge Preserve is a slice of the hill country just 20 minutes outside Dallas. Cedar Ridge Preserve is a not-for-profit natural habitat of 633 acres featuring 10 miles of hiking trails, a native plant nursery, butterfly gardens, and picnic areas.

2008 Dates

• September 20th
• October 18th
• November 15th
• December 20th

Time: 9:00 AM
Location: Cedar Ridge Preserve – Located at 7171 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, Texas 75249 (map).
Questions/Contact: volunteers@audubondallas.org

White Rock Lake – For the Love of the Lake

For the Love of the Lake (FTLOTL) “is an enthusiastic, energetic group of volunteers dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of White Rock Lake Park as an urban oasis.” Volunteer opportunities exist for all ages (monthly, second Saturday, lake shoreline spruce-ups; the adopt-a-shoreline program).

More info is available on the FTLOTL site.

2008 Dates:

• September 13th
• October 11th
• November 8th
• December 13th

Registration Location: FTLOTL Office – 1152 N Buckner Blvd, Dallas, TX 75218 (map). NE Corner of Garland Rd. & Buckner Blvd. in Casa Linda Plaza (Facing Buckner & Doctors Hospital)
Registration Time: 8-9 AM – Enjoy complimentary breakfast and beverages, get your clean up material (trash bag, recycling bag, gloves, trash picker-upper) and meet fellow volunteers.
Clean up Time: 9-11 AM (2 hours)
Questions? Phone: 972-622-SAVE (7283)