EPWU Discovery Center @ El Paso Zoo to the following Saturday, March 6th. The training schedule will remain the same from 9am – 3pm. Please let me know if you will still be able to attend the training.

There is still plenty of space for any additional registrations. I hope you can still attend.

Virginia Galarza

Water Conservation Technician

El Paso Water Utilities -

TECH2O Water Resources Learning Center

915-621-2001 p

915-621-2011 f

vgalarza@epwu.org

There is now a live video feed of the El Paso All Sky Camera. This makes it possible to enjoy the night sky without ever leaving the comforts of your home.

This will never replace the joy viewing the night sky while lying on a mountain top.

Imagine watching the next meteor shower while relaxing in the climate controlled comforts of your home or office. WOW!

Also at this site, is videos and photos of meteor events. Its a new web site so there is not much there yet.
http://elpallskycamera.us/

"High and Dry"
February 11 - April 18

Over the past decade, the International Center for Arid and Semiarid Land
Studies (ICASALS) at Texas Tech University has created an annual exhibit of
photographic images of desert lands. The Centennial Museum is honored to
present a stunning collection of sixty images from the current and past
shows, featuring landscapes, people, flora and fauna of North American dry
lands.

Please join us for the opening reception:
Thursday, February 11
5 to 7 pm

Note: Parking is availble behind the museum
University and Wiggins, UTEP

Thanks to the expertise of Dawn Thurmond of MCAD (Museums and Cultural Affairs Department) and Poppies Planners this year’s Poppies Celebration promises to be bigger and better than ever. The rains and snows of fall and winter are good omens for poppies blooming in the Spring. The 2010 Franklin Mountain Poppies Preservation Celebration on Castner Range will be Saturday 20 March 2010. We need volunteers for many jobs including information booth, parking coordinators, VIP contacts and many more. If you can assist, please contact Dawn Thurmond: ThurmondD1@elpasotexas.gov , 915-755-4332, 915-541-4280. The next meeting of the Poppies Planners is 9 AM, Thursday, 4 Feb 2010, at the Museum of Archaeology, 4301 Transmountain Rd.

An upcoming City Council meeting (March 16) will be important to any of you interested in preserving and protecting wildlife habitats. El Paso has three major wildlife preserves: Keystone Heritage Park, Feather Lake Wildlife Refuge, and the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park. The real issue is how seriously the City is about protecting wildlife at these locations. A Natural Open Space Zoning Ordinance if passed in its entirety will require any industrial business that locates adjacent to one of these sites to provide a buffer, a set-back and a wall between it’s operations and the wildlife refuge. City Staff wants the preserves – not the industries – to pay for any buffers, walls, and so forth. Read more here. By the way, the Open Space Master Plan recommended implementation of this zoning ordinance within 6 to 12 months of the plan's approval (March 17, 2007). Here it is - three years later.



Know that this weekend (Saturday and Sunday, February 27 and 28), Keep El Paso

Also, mark your calendars now for El Paso’s annual Poppy Fest on March 20th from 10 to 6. The festival is held at the El Paso Museum of Archeology and includes information booths by local environmental, hiking and gardening organizations. Parking and shuttle service will be from Cohen Stadium. Because of our wetter than normal weather this winter (thanks to El Niño), the poppy bloom should be profuse. A real treat will come at noon when you can meet Takota, the El Paso Zoo's new Golden Eagle Ambassador for Conservation of the Chihuahuan Desert.

Elpasonaturally© is written and published by Jim Tolbert who takes sole responsibility for the content of the letter. To subscribe or unsubscribe, just reply to this letter or email jimhtolbert@elp.rr.com. Your email address will not be shared or sold.

2010 TMN Class Sponsor(s) Schedule:

1st week:
Feb. 10th - TMN Intro. & Land Ethics- Sponsors: Judy Ackerman, Joe & Inga Groff;
All materials and equipment has been arranged for this first day.

2nd week:
Feb. 17th - What is a TMN Challenge & Weather/Climate - Sponsors: vacant

3rd week:
Feb. 24th - Overview of TX regional ecosystems - Sponsors: vacant

4th week:
March 3rd - Ornithology - Sponsors: Judy Ackerman

5th week:
March 10th - Mammology - Sponsors: vacant
March 13th - Ornithology Field Trip - Sponsors: Virginia Galarza

6th week:
March 17th - Urban Ecology & Soils - Sponsors: vacant

7th week:
March 24th - Geology - Sponsors: vacant
March 27th - Geology Field Trip - Sponsors: vacant

8th week:
March 31st - Archaeology - Sponsors: Lorinda G.

9th week:
April 9th (Friday) - Aquatics - Sponsors: vacant
April 19th - Aquatics Field Trip - Sponsors: vacant

10th week:
April 14th - Botany & Plant Adaptations- Sponsors: vacant

11th week:
April 21st - Invertebrates - Sponsors: Pat Rios

12th week:
April 28th - Herpetology - Sponsors: Rose Janice

13th week:
May 5th - Desert Ecology - Sponsors: vacant
May 8th - Desert Ecology Field Trip - Sponsors: Pat Rios & Virginia Galarza

14th week:
May 12th - Wrap up, evaluation & volunteer opportunities - Sponsors: vacant
May 15th - Archaeology Field Trip @ Hueco Tanks & Picnic - Will need a committee to plan this.


Please call me if you have any further questions... I know that is a lot of information!
Virginia Galarza
Education Chair, Trans-Pecos Chapter

Hello Texas Master Naturalist!

I am very happy to announce that we have 14 new TMN students!! The classes begin this Wednesday, February 10th at the Garden Center, 3105 Grant Ave. (Memorial Park) from 6pm - 9pm.

I am attaching the class schedule for this year and it is in an Excel worksheet so you can print. All TMN members can attend these class sessions for advanced training... there is always new information and findings that are worth learning. Please contact me if you plan on attending so that we can get enough copies of materials.

Typically, the previous year's class will host the new members by sponsoring an intructor and hosting at least one class or field trip. This is a great way to earn your hours and make up classes/field trips you may have missed or just listen to one of your favorite lectures again. With that said, you don't have to be last year's class member to sponsor a class so if you are available to volunteer, there is always enough tasks that can be shared. Tasks include contacting instructor, arrange to have equipment instructor needs for presentation (Texas AgriLife Extension Services provides the equipment), arrange for copies to be made for class and attend class to assist set-up. For field trips, assisting field trip guide/instructor with same needs and assist the day of. I am including within this email the schedule that includes the names of the TMN members who have already signed up to sponsor a class. I have already made initial contact with the instructors, I will contact those people who sign up, individually, with contact information for your instructor.

Please fill in next to the class information, your name and phone number. Make sure you reply to: virginia_galarza@ yahoo.com so that it does not have to be broadcasted to all list.serve and I will immediately (almost) confirm or contact you to let you know it has been filled. I may get up to two sponsors/hosts since I am hoping for many emails to come my way... hint, hint!! :)

Greetings:

We would like to let you know about an opportunity for your chapter to get involved in a very important wildlife monitoring partnership with Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept, which involves opportunities for your members to gain advanced training credit and volunteer hours. This partnership involves assisting TPWD by your members participating in a train the trainer workshop for Texas Amphibian and Mussel Watch taught by TPWD biologists, and then taking that knowledge out in the field and monitoring amphibians and freshwater mussels within your community as well as promote the program through outreach events that include monitoring.

For many years Lee Ann Linam and I taught workshops for Texas Amphibian and Mussel Watch throughout the state and found that we were asked to repeatedly return to the same locations. This made it difficult for us to give workshops in new areas. Two people can only do so much. The idea of training trainers came up several years ago and Texas Master Naturalists seemed like the ideal source. Now we have 18 partners and most of them are Master Naturalist Chapters (a few are Nature Centers).

The partnership includes an indepth training in both Watch programs. We usually begin with an amphibian workshop on Friday through Friday evening and then a mussel workshop during the day on Saturday. We charge a minimum fee of $10 per workshop for materials. The partner handles registration and organizes the workshops by setting up locations for the classroom and field training. Spring and early summer are the best times to hold these workshops because frogs and toads are most vocal.

Attached are partnership agreement forms that will give you more details and lists the responsibilities of TPWD and the TMN Chapter.

Another opportunity
A pilot project that we began last year involves forming local Biological Assessment Teams made up of Master Naturalists interested in being trained to monitoring specific rare species within their region. Information is greatly needed for populations of many rare species that TPWD tracks through the Natural Diversity Database. If your chapter is interested in more information on this project, please let me know.

Please give me a call if your chapter is interested. Our spring schedule is filling quickly. I look forward to working with you.

Marsha E. May
Texas Nature Trackers
Wildlife Diversity Branch
Texas Parks and Wildlife

4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744

(512.389.8062)

The next TMN class will start Feb 10, 2010 and run thru the middle of May.
The classes will be on Wednesday from 6p to 9p with four or five field trips on various Saturdays which will be announced. They will be held at the Garden Center 3105 Grant.
The price will be either $140.00 or $150.00 with a refund of around $50.00 when all the requirements are met.

Contact: Matt Santillan at the Texas Agrilife Extension office 915-860-2515. His e-mail address is msantill@ag.tamu.edu.
 If I can be of any more service, please let me know

Thanks and have a great new year,

Bill Hoover.

Dear Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition Member,



The Army is currently conducting a project on Castner Range to determine where unexploded ordnance is and is not. They are keeping us informed of their progress. More information is below.


The US Army is currently performing various activities at the Fort Bliss Castner Range (west of US 54, north and south of Transmountain Road) as part of the Wide Area Assessment Field Demonstration Project. The project team has suspended site preparation activities until 5 January 2010. Upon our return, the team will finalize site preparation activities for the geophysical surveys. We plan to fly low altitude helicopter-borne magnetometry the week of 11 January 2010 and deploy ground-based geophysical teams later in the month. Local residents should not be surprised with the flurry of people and activities. As a reminder, we have scheduled the second Technical Project Planning Meeting for 14 January 2010 beginning at 9:00 am at the Radisson Hotel, El Paso Airport. If you have questions about this project or the MMRP, please contact Mr. Ron Baca, Program Manager, Environmental Division, Directorate of Public Works, Fort Bliss, at (915) 568-7979; or Ms. Kimberly Watts, U.S. Army Environmental Command, at (410) 436-6843. V/R, Victoria Kantsios ___________________________ Victoria Kantsios URS Corporation 2450 Crystal Drive, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22202 (703) 418-3030 (Office) (404) 702-1141 (Cell) (703) 418-3040 (Fax) victoria_kantsios@urscorp.com

Texas Master Naturalist Chapters:

Attached, you will find the TMN News & Notes from the State office for the last quarter of the year. Its has been a busy one so there is a lot of news & notes.

Please distribute appropriate information to your chapter members through your email networks, websites, and upcoming meetings and newsletters.

Thank you for your service and dedication throughout 2009 and we look forward to a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year for the Texas Master Naturalist Program in 2010!

Michelle & Sonny

Master Naturalists, 


TMN- Trans-Pecos Chapter

Texas AgriLife Extension Service
9521 Socorro Rd.
Suite A-2 Box #2
El Paso, TX. 79927

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thanks,
Matthew Santillan
Texas AgriLife Extension Service
(915) 860-2515
FAX (915) 860-2536
msantill@ag.tamu.edu

Please send all Volunteer Hours and correspondance to the following address:

Texas AgriLife Extension Service
9521 Socorro Rd Suite A2 Box #2
El Paso, TX. 79927

Our new phone number is (915) 860-2515
Our new FAX number is (915) 860-2536

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at the number listed.

Thanks,

Matthew Santillan
Texas AgriLife Extension Service
El Paso County

We have just updated our calendar and home page at www.chihuahuandesert.org with a bird report from the Lower Valley of El Paso, a new list of CDEC Recommended Events for 2009-2010 and more.



I hope to see you at the Zoo when we launch our first after hours education program at the new El Paso Water Utilities Education Discovery Center. Don’t forget the “Don’t Know Much about the Desert” at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park on October 17, Boo at the Zoo on October 24-25 and the Tech H2O Water Festival October 29-31. Check out our Get Your Desert Dose Calendar page to learn more on these and other upcoming programs and events.



Rick LoBello

YOU have an opportunity to help protect Castner Range.



On 5 Oct 09, Mayor Cook will visit Congressman Reyes in DC. Encourage the Mayor to ask Congressman Reyes, “What is the status of your efforts to preserve Castner Range with a Conservation Conveyance?” More information on a Conservation Conveyance is in the attached white paper.



You can contact Mayor John Cook at:

10th floor of City Hall
2 Civic Center Plaza
El Paso, TX 79901

Phone: (915)541-4145
Fax: (915)541-4501

mayor@elpasotexas.gov



Better yet, contact your City Representative and ask him or her to ask the mayor.



District 1 Representative - Ann Morgan Lilly
2 Civic Center Plaza
El Paso, Texas 79901

541-4151

district#1@elpasotexas.gov



District 2 Representative - Susie Byrd
#2 Civic Center Plaza, El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-541-4416
district#2@elpasotexas.gov

Franklin Mts State Park Cautions Visitors After Recent Dehydration Incidents

EL PASO, Texas – In the last 30 days, 13 people were stranded and suffered dehydration during four different incidents within Franklin Mountains State Park. All received prompt assistance from authorities and park staff and none suffered serious injury, but the rash of cases involving visitors who went out in mid-day heat without sufficient water is prompting park staff to call for common sense precautions.

Hiking, mountain biking, and rock climbing are among the popular outdoors activities among state park visitors in El Paso area. The number of persons enjoying the outdoors is increasing. However, as temperatures rise in the area, heat related incidents are also increasing.

In all four recent incidents at the park, visitors were able to use mobile phones to call for help. But park authorities caution visitors NOT to rely on mobile phones for emergency assistance, as service is unreliable in some areas of the park.

People planning outdoor activities should consider these recommendations:
• Take plenty of drinking water (more than you may think you will need).
• Take light snacks.
• Protect yourself from the sun. Use sunblock lotion, wear a long sleeve shirt and long pants, and use a cap or hat.
• Do activities with someone else. If you do activities alone, let somebody else know about your plans.
• Stay on the trail always. Walking off-trail increases your chance of suffering an injury, getting lost, or encountering rattlesnakes. In addition, desert soils are fragile. Cutting across switchbacks tramples vegetation, erodes the soil, and eventually destroys the trail.
• Have a cell or mobile phone for emergencies, but do not rely on them only. Carry with you a whistle, mirror, flag, flashlight or other means to signal your location.
• Check weather conditions and avoid doing activities during extreme temperatures. Seek shelter in the event of strong winds and thunderstorms.

For more information contact Franklin Mountains State Park at (915) 566-6441

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Master Naturalist program has reached 1 million volunteer service hours. This major milestone marks the 10th anniversary of the program, which began in Texas but has since given rise to a growing national movement.
The Texas Master Naturalist program began in 1998 as a joint effort between Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service (formerly Texas Cooperative Extension) to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and areas within communities throughout the state. The program provides an opportunity for concerned adult citizens of all ages to learn about the natural environment and seek ways to better their communities.
To gain the title of “Texas Master Naturalist,” participants must complete a minimum of 40 hours of natural resource training, 40 hours of service and eight hours of advanced training offered through the program within their first year and complete a minimum of 40 hours of service and 8 hours of advanced training to keep their certification current each year thereafter.
The 1 million hours of service were achieved by more than 5,306 volunteers in 39 recognized local chapters throughout Texas. In the past 10 years during which these service hours were achieved, Texas Master Naturalists were on hand to help with resource recovery after natural catastrophes such as hurricanes and droughts. Volunteers were also ready to serve when the economy took a turn for the worse, making the value of their donated time even more precious.
The monetary worth of the 1 million hours of service is valued at approximately $19.58 million. In addition, the impact of the Texas Master Naturalist volunteers has been seen in more than 90,000 acres of land across Texas.
Information about the Texas Master Naturalist program, including the schedule of training courses and contact information for various local chapters across the state, is on the program Web site.
---
On the Net:
http://masternaturalist.tamu.edu

TMN Curriculum Distribution

The Texas AgriLIfe Bookstore distributes the Texas Master Naturalist Curriculum. Chapter orders should be placed through the local County Extension Office. Extension Agents and county secretaries can assist with placing the order. Payment is expected when you order. Checks should be made payable to AgriLife Bookstore.

The Bookstore will also accept payment by Visa or Master Card for on-line orders. On-line orders must be approved by the County Extension Agent or the state TMN coordinators. This validates the chapter order to allow the wholesale price offered only to chapters.

The Bookstore can be contacted by visiting http://agrilifebookstore.org and selecting the “Environment” link after “Browsing the Shelves”. The phone number is 979-845-6573 and fax is 979-458-0172.

When ordering request MKT-3568-C, TMN Curriculum. Your order will include the binder insert (MKT-3337) and binder spine. Binders are not included. Indicate your chapter name when ordering and be sure to include shipping instructions.

The curriculum price will remain at $30.00 per copy when sold to Texas Master Naturalist Chapters. Shipping charges will be added to your order. A minimum order of 5 copies is required to receive the wholesale price. Again, be sure to include your chapter name when making the order.

You will note that the Bookstore web site shows TMN curriculum item MKT-3568 and its retail price of $75.00 per copy. MKT-3568 should not be requested by chapters.

We continue to get requests to purchase copies from individuals who are not in the Texas Master Naturalist program. Our commitment is to our members first and we believe the retail price increase will reduce the requests from others thus reducing the chances of a shortage for Texas chapters.

The state park is open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday, Thursday and Sunday;
and from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and holidays. The last gondola up to
the peak leaves one hour before closing.

The Tramway, located at 1700 McKinley in El Paso, is operated by Texas
Parks & Wildlife Department.

The Wyler Aerial Tramway is the only tramway in Texas open to the
public.
The passenger gondolas rise 946 feet vertically to the observation deck
on Ranger Peak summit at an elevation of 5,632 feet.

Dedicated Volunteer Effort Receives Recognition!
 
See Trans Mountain link under Events on left menu for details.

The Texas Master Naturalist program develops local teams of "master volunteers" to provide educational and outreach services aimed at the better management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities. The Texas Master Naturalist program is a partnership between the Texas Cooperative Extension Service, Texas Parks & Wildlife.

Our mission: is to develop a corps of well-informed volunteers who provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural area within our community ."