Passport to Texas

Master Naturalist volunteering at Coastal Expo

Nature: The Value of Master Naturalists to Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Texas Parks and Wildlife and Texas A&M Agrilife Extension are principal sponsors of the Texas Master Naturalist Program. This program trains volunteers to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources where they live.

08— Our master naturalists are able to give back to these partners both through their volunteer service and through their contributions on other ways.

Mary Pearl Meuth with Texas Agrilife Extension is assistant state program coordinator. She says what the more than 9-thousand trained volunteers have given back to the state since the program’s inception in 1997 is phenomenal.

12—Texas Parks and Wildlife values the over 2.4 million service hours that have been given back over the 15 year history of the program to at more than 54-million dollars for the state of Texas.

The Texas Master Naturalist Program trains roughly 700 volunteers annually statewide. And new training programs are starting up this spring among 16 of the program’s more than 40 chapters.

08—And these 16 chapters are located around the state, offering trainings at different points of the week, and different times of the day.

Tomorrow: training, teaching and discovering with the Texas Master Naturalist program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

South Plains Chapter Texas Master Naturalists from Facebook page.

Nature: Who Volunteers to Become Master Naturalists? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When you’re passionate about something, it’s hard to keep it to yourself. And when that passion leads you to become a Texas Master Naturalist, you don’t have to.

13— We develop a corps of well-informed volunteers that provide education, outreach and service around the state in the beneficial management of natural resources and the natural areas within Texas.

Mary Pearl Meuth with Texas Agrilife Extension is assistant state program coordinator. People of all ages and from all walks of life may train to become a certified Master Naturalists, although retirees are strong within their ranks.

27—We do ask that each Master Naturalist provides 40 hours of volunteer service yearly along with their continuing education of 8 hours of advanced training every year to maintain that certification. That is difficult to do on a full-time employee based status – if you’re a full-time worker. But, we do have many master naturalists who are able to juggle the load. So, we do have young and old.

Since the program’s inception in 1997, Master Naturalists have given back to Texas in millions of meaningful ways. We have details tomorrow.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Photo from the Texas Master Naturalist Facebook Page

Nature: Texas Master Naturalist Program Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Texas Master Naturalist program trains volunteers in all aspects of the Texas environment where they live.

11— All the way from the plants and why they’re named what they’re named in their local ecosystem, to the birds and the mammals and the fish and the invertebrates and everything.

Mary Pearl Meuth is assistant state program coordinator through Texas Agrilife Extension.

15— They [volunteers] are encouraged to share their knowledge, either through events with other local classrooms and youth education programs, working and volunteering at state parks or nature centers and natural areas.

Texas’ more than 40 Master Naturalist Chapters train and certify volunteers in the specifics of their local ecosystems after they’ve learned the universal basics.

18—Master Naturalists join the program because they’re excited about the environmental world in which we live and the diversity of Texas, which is just incredible. And, once they join, then they can give back to their community that needs that resource.

To maintain certification, volunteers agree to 40 hours of community outreach and eight hours of advanced training annually. Find details txmn.org.

More in the Master Naturalist Program tomorrow.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Camping at Inks Lake

Nature: Outdoor Resolutions for the New Year Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Don’t you love the start of a new year? It‘s totally fresh and filled with possibilities. So, take a few minutes to consider how you’re going to make this year better for you and your family.

One way would be to get outside more, because—as we like to say: life’s better outside.

Spending time in the natural world has a way of resetting the brain and giving you a fresh perspective. Researchers have discovered that children who spend time in nature do better on exams, and are less disruptive in the classroom.

Bring a pair of walking shoes to the office, and during your lunch hour, stroll outdoors in the fresh air. Even if you’re in a city, you can still observe the varied wildlife and plant life you see along the way. It’s amazing how much nature you can actually find in a concrete jungle.

Spend time with friends or family at one of our many state parks. Most folks are within 90 minutes of a state park or natural area; many are much closer. Take a nature hike, ride a bike. Pitch a tent and sleep under the stars, or find a park with cabins and rough it indoors.

Commit to learning something new about Texas history by visiting one of the state’s incredible historic sites.

There’s a world of wonder out there, and once you spend more time outdoors, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

That’s our show…Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

No one holds a candle to Texas State Park volunteers

State Parks: Volunteering at Parks Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Texas State Parks rely heavily on volunteers.

07—Over the last several years it’s been pretty consistent; we clock about six hundred thousand hours of volunteer time.

And that’s just manual labor, says Lori Reiley, state park volunteer coordinator. Those 600-thousand volunteer hours translate into big savings for state parks.

06— Our volunteers make up about a third of our workforce. So, we really couldn’t function as well without them.

Volunteers do everything from mowing lawns and scrubbing toilets to taking entrance fees and leading interpretive programs. Reiley says state parks encourage and welcome new volunteers.

16—We could always use their help. And while we get the occasional civic organization or nonprofit that wants to volunteer for service projects, we really could always use more individuals just on a regular basis to come out and volunteer in the parks.

Find out how you can volunteer at state parks on the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

We record our series at the Block House in Austin; Joel Block engineers our program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.