Passport to Texas

Become a Texas Master Naturalist, http://txmn.org/

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This is Passport to Texas

They say you never forget your first love. For writer Sheryl Smith Rogers, her first love had eight legs.

Spiders are my first love, and from there I grew into plants and animals.

Eager to fully understand the natural world around her, Smith Rogers completed Texas Master Naturalist training.

I’m with the Highland lakes chapter, which is based out of Burnet. So you learn about your own ecosystems in your region. I’m learning about the plants that are indigenous to this area. Whereas, if you live on the coast, you’ll be learning about those kinds of plants. So, we’re all learning what’s important to our
area.

Trainees learn about living things in their ecosystem, as well as their region’s geology, hydrology and more. After receiving certification, Smith Rogers says Master Naturalists volunteer in their communities where needed.

Volunteers go to ranches and survey the plant species, and they offer land management advice. In a city, volunteers might go into a city park and create a butterfly garden. For instance, here in Blanco – at Blanco State Park – the Master Naturalists help put on program every May for third graders. They do so
many different things [laughs].

Find details on becoming a master Naturalist on the Texas parks and Wildlife Website.

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

Planting pine trees at Bastrop State Park after the wildfire. Photo courtesy Texas Master Naturalist Facebook Page.

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This is Passport to Texas

There’s a training program for people with a passion for nature. It’s called the Texas Master Naturalist Program.

19— The Texas Master Naturalist Program is a volunteer based training program; 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 is assistant state program coordinator. They train roughly 700 volunteers annually, and have sessions this spring in 16 of their 44 chapters.

15— Our curriculum that is used for the training, has 26 chapters in it. So, they march through those 26 chapters all with a large context of the state of Texas, but then developed even more within their local ecosystem.

Once trained, volunteers provide 40 hours of community outreach, and take 8 hours of advanced training annually. The program’s not just about taking or facilitating classes. It’s also about discovery.

08—Quite a few of our Master Naturalists have identified new species of plants or new species of animals located within the state of Texas.

Are you ready to help Mother Nature? Consider the Texas Master Naturalist program; training sessions starting soon. Learn more at txmn.org.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Master Naturalist volunteering at Coastal Expo

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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.

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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

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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