Texan by Nature is headed to historic San Antonio for the Private Lands Summit! Hosted by the Texas Wildlife Association, this year’s summit will take place at the JW Marriott in San Antonio on Thursday, July 14th as part of TWA’s WildLife2016 convention. The theme of the event is “Impacts Across Fencelines,” with topics including ecotourism, commercial hunting operations, livestock practices, bio-energy, conservation mitigation banking, emerging locavore movements, and the important role that private lands stewardship plays in the sustainability of these land-based products.
As a partner of the Texas Wildlife Association, and eager to promote collaboration between partners to enhance conservation efforts, Texan by Nature will be attending the conference to guide discussion sessions and learn all we can about the good work being done by partners and private land owners to further Texan-led conservation. This year, Texan by Nature Executive Director Erin Franz, past president and current member of the board Katharine Armstrong, and board member Dr. Neal Wilkins will speak at this distinguished event. Find information on our speakers and their sessions here:
Session title: Introduction – Land Stewardship and Conservation
When: 10:00 am
Board member Katharine Armstrong will start off the Private Land Summit with an introduction focused on land stewardship and conservation. Katharine is a fifth-generation Texan raised on her family’s cattle ranch in South Texas. She was appointed to the Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) Commission in 1999 and in 2001 became the first woman to lead the Commission as its Chairman. She is also the director of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and a director at the Texas Wildlife Association.
Session Title: Session II – Tools of the Trade
When: 1:00 pm
Board member Dr. Neal Wilkins will begin and moderate the second speaker session of the afternoon. Dr. Wilkins is President & CEO of the East Foundation. Dr. Wilkins was formerly a professor at Texas A&M University, where he directed the Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources and the Texas Water Resources Institute. Much of his work was dedicated to conservation and management of natural resources on private land through a combination of science, outreach, and policy innovation.
Session Title: Creative Funding for Conservation Action (a part of Session II)
When: 1:40 pm
Our Executive Director Erin Franz will discuss creative funding for conservation action as part of the second session of speakers. Erin leads the organization’s mission to spur Texan-led conservation that produces tangible benefits for people, prosperity, and natural resources. She is also currently a member of the Austin chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Junior League of Austin.
We hope you can join us for this year’s event! Want to register? Click here. The full summit agenda can be found here. The 31st annual convention schedule of events can be found here.