CELEBRATE ARBOR DAY BY LEARNING MORE ABOUT OAK WILT

Today is National Arbor Day, traditionally observed the last Friday of April. While many towns and organizations celebrate by planting trees (and bravo) it's also a good time to remember to respect and take care of the trees we have. Oak Wilt is a destructive tree disease that has run rampant through Texas ultimately due to human carelessness. Help spread public awareness of how we can all work together to prevent the spread. Avoid pruning between February and June (at a minimum), paint all wounds no matter what time of year, and learn more about oak wilt at texasoakwilt.org.

PLATEAU BIOLOGIST ASSISTS ON NEW WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AND PROPERTY VALUATION PUBLICATION

"Wildlife Management and Property Valuation in Texas" by Larry Redmon and James Cathey, with editorial assistance from other experts including Plateau's own Shane Kiefer, has just been released. Download as a free PDF from the Texas Agrilife Extension bookstore here.

WHAT A YEAR FOR WILDFLOWERS!

What a year for wildflowers! Plateau Senior Wildlife Biologist Shane Kiefer snapped these photos in his travels. According to Shane, most are from Coleman County. The paintbrushes are from Hwy 87 in Mason.

NESTING SEASON: FIRST KEMP'S RIDLEY SEA TURTLE NEST FOUND ON SATURDAY.

Texas Parks and Wildlife reports the first Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle nest was found on Saturday at Padre Island National Seashore. TPWD advises to not approach nesting turtles as it may frighten them back into the water without nesting, and please be careful if driving on the beach. Learn more about this endangered species in the TPWD's video.

INVASIVE AWARENESS

Now that spring has sprung, many of us have that gardening bug. We can just head to the home improvement store and pick up some plants on sale for the front flowerbed. A little inexpensive aesthetic landscaping never hurt anyone, did it?

Actually, yes.

Non-native plants, many of which you can buy just down the street at your nearest home improvement store, can wreak havoc as they invade native ecosystems, carried away from "contained" beds by rain, wind, birds, aggressive roots, shoes, etc.

The National Park Service, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, The Garden Club of America, National Invasive Species Council Student Conservation Association and many others have partnered to create Plantwise, a site to help gardeners learn how to manage their gardens and reduce invasive plants in the landscape. Here are a few Plantwise facts:

-- Invasive species are the number one threat to native biodiversity on protected lands.

-- Invasive plants are spreading over approximately 1,729,730 acres per year of U.S. wildlife habitat.

-- Scientists estimate that invasive plants cost our economy $35 billion in damages and treatment each year

To learn more about how to create an eco-friendly garden, visit beplantwise.org.

And for loads more information on invasive plants, including an extensive database, how you can report sightings of non-natives, and help stop the spread, visit the Texas Invasives website at texasinvasives.org.

Plateau is experienced in, and has the chemical applicator licenses for, large scale invasives removal. If your property has fallen victim to a non-native invasion, contact us today for more information.

Guadalupe River State Park to Open New Center for Kids April 24...

And Plateau's own Romey Swanson will be there hosting the Live Reptile/Amphibian Exhibit. Romey will teach kids about some of the native critters and even let them hold some of them! More about the entire event:

A strolling spider expert in safari gear, guided nature walks, crayfish displays, bird-banding and a live reptile show-and-tell are just some of the activities planned for Guadalupe River State Park’s Earth Day celebration from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Saturday, April 24. The special day also marks the grand opening of the Children’s Discovery Center.

The Children’s Discovery Center, designed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Interpretive Services Department, occupies a hexagonal building not far from the Guadalupe River. The center encourages youngsters to look at the popular Texas Hill Country park’s remarkable natural resources through the eyes of a scientist. Children enter the building by crawling through the trunk of a “cypress tree” to discover what awaits them outdoors in the almost 2,000-acre state park when they really pay attention to nature.

A number of hands-on exhibits on such topics as water ecology, interesting critters and strange night sounds invite children and adults alike to “take another look at the park through the eyes of a scientist to see what you’ve been missing.” The colorful murals and interactive exhibits with such titles as “What’s Under the Water?” support and enhance outdoor educational activities and align with national initiatives to reconnect urban children with the outdoor world.

Nine concrete markers containing a different animal track have been placed in various spots in the park’s Day Use Area near the river to help visitors identify animals that left them. The answers can be found by looking inside a book located just outside the discovery center.

“As interpretive planners,” says TPWD’s Wendy Womack, “we determined there was a need at Guadalupe River State Park to make children more comfortable with the outdoors by providing a building that would give them the tools to better see and understand the natural world.”

She says the discovery center is composed of three parts: interactive exhibits, a circular desk with activity boxes containing natural items such as animal shells and fossils, and backpacks containing simple tools such as magnifying glasses that can be checked out for park exploration.

During the Earth Day celebration, youngsters will be able to visit 20 different learning stations staffed by TPWD biologists and archeologists, park volunteers and experts from such organizations as the Austin Gem and Mineral Society and Texas Natural Science Center. Kids who visit the discovery center get a free bug box with a magnifier lid. Members of the Native Plant Society of Texas will be talking about plants and seed planting, and will hand out wildflower seeds. The state park’s friends group will be serving free hot dogs.

Two-hour guided walks of the adjacent Honey Creek State Natural Area will be given at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. In addition, throughout the day, Spider Joe will be strolling through the park, shaking spiders out of trees and answering questions about his arachnid buddies.

Texas Parks and Wildlife believes that places like Guadalupe River State Park’s Children’s Discovery Center help connect Texas’ increasingly urban population with the natural world and serve to put outdoor experience into context to help youngsters understand how nature works. The new center is one way the state park is enhancing its interpretive programming that reaches tens of thousands of visitors annually, but has a difficult time serving the influx of visitors during warm-weather months. The new center will augment the park’s interpretive programs by leading families to engage in unstructured outdoor nature investigation.
The park entry fee for persons 13 years of age or older is $7; children 12 and younger are free. After entrance to the park, all Earth Day activities and a hot dog lunch are free. For more information about the Earth Day events at Guadalupe River State Park, call (512) 389-8598 or visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Web site.