Press Posts
Some Progress
A little more than a year ago (August 18, 2017) I began this chronicle type of blogging to keep track of the purpose, processes, and progress towards changing our property from a manipulated and manicured piece of land back to its more natural state. If you have kept up with my entries, you will recall… Read More
Tom Kula, Executive Director & General Manager of the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD)
With an annual operations and capital budget of more than $500 million, NTMWD provides drinking water treatment and delivery, wastewater collection and treatment and solid waste services for a population of 1.7 million people in one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. NTMWD operates one of the nation’s largest advanced water treatment plants at… Read More
Texas Collaboration Protects Dark Skies
The western part of Texas is home to one of the largest oil and gas producing regions in the US, the Permian Basin. Also located in this area is the McDonald Observatory, home of the world’s third largest telescope, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). For almost 30 years, Bill Wren has been working at the McDonald… Read More
Reducing light pollution from oil and gas production in Texas skies
By: Steffi Lee AUSTIN — As Texas continues leading the nation in oil and gas production, companies are trying to do their part in protecting the state’s night skies. It’s a view that draws around 100,000 people to the McDonald Observatory in West Texas every year. They’re able to experience the galaxy in a sea of… Read More
McDonald Observatory, Oil and Gas Organizations Collaborate to Protect Night Skies
9 July 2018 FORT DAVIS, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory has collaborated with the Permian Basin Petroleum Association (PBPA) and the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA) to reduce light shining into the sky from drilling rigs and related activities in West Texas. The excess light has the potential to… Read More
Cultivating the Healing Power of Nature
Everyone agrees that nature has the power to heal. But ask how it heals—and answers are in short supply The need to find answers grew out of Laura Bush’s passion for the land of Texas and the outdoors. While serving as First Lady, she championed preservation of natural spaces and heritage by serving as Honorary… Read More
On the wings of pollinators
TPWD guidelines help you fill your yard with butterflies, birds and bees. By Melissa Gaskill Jim Wittliff steers a well-traveled four-by-four utility vehicle down a slope and stops to point out piles of brush surrounding small trees. The brush, he explains, protects the seedlings from browsing deer, trampling livestock, wind and rain. Wittliff and his… Read More
Conserve like a Texan
Texan by Nature (TxN), a nonprofit founded by former First Lady Laura Bush to activate and amplify Texan-led conservation, has opened the TxN Certification program to receive applications. This certification provides an objective measurement and recognition of innovative, transformative conservation projects from Texas businesses, organizations and individuals. By highlighting initiatives benefiting the state’s people, prosperity and natural… Read More
Laura Bush aims to spur Texas conservation
By Minnie Payne on May 25, 2018 Lady Bird Johnson was an advocate for conservation who inspired the Highway Beautification Act and founded the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Now a fellow First Lady from Texas is following in her footsteps. Laura Bush, who shares Johnson’s love for the state’s ecology, founded Texan by Nature in 2011. The nonprofit aims to activate and amplify Texan-led conservation… Read More
Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Public Meeting
Jenny Burden, Texan by Nature Program Manager, attended the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Public Hearing in Lubbock, Texas on May 23, 2018 in support of one of our 2018 Conservation Wranglers, the Texas Playa Conservation Initiative. Mike Carter, Joint Venture Coordinator with Playa Lakes Joint Venture spoke about their program, remarks start at 51:56,… Read More