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Partners Coming Together
Lisa Tuck
Scott Ball
October 2019
Texas Master Naturalists Heartwood Chapter (Woodlands, Conroe)
Native Plant Society of Texas Sam Houston Chapter (Huntsville)
Herb Society of America Texas Thyme Unit (Huntsville)
Friends of Lake Livingston (Livingston, Huntsville)
Walker County, Texas Three ecoregions
Piney Woods
Blackland Prairie
Oak Woods & Prairie
Water supplies southern neighbors
National forest
State park
Prison units
Ellis Unit
University
Natural Science and Art Research Center
Pinewoods Environmental Research Laboratory
Christian Camp
Walker County, Texas
Fabulous people and organizations
Texas Master Naturalists Heartwood Chapter
Friends of Lake Livingston
NPSOT Sam Houston Chapter
Herb Society of America Texas Thyme Unit
The Adickes Foundation
Many others
What We Will Cover
This presentation describes some of the ways these varied
groups have come together to better our communities
The Partners
Programs and Projects
Benefits
Challenges and Resolutions → Successes!
The Partners – TMN Heartwood Chapter
Partner description
Heartwood formed 15 years ago
Serves Montgomery
and Walker Counties
Historically has
operated primarily in
Montgomery County
Working to expand footprint in Walker
The Partners – NPSOT Sam Houston Chapter
Partner description
Local chapter of the
Native Plant Society of
Texas
Formed in 2017
How we got together
Lisa was a founding
member of NPSOT SH
and is a Heartwood member
The Partners – Friends of Lake Livingston
Partner description
Aquatic Habitat Restoration
How we got together
Scott volunteered for FoLL, as
it was near his weekend house
Scott ended up being in
charge of FoLL project
The Partners – Ellis
Unit in TDCJ
Partner description
Scooter Langley heads up the
Lee College Horticulture Program
at TDCJ, including the Ellis Unit
Separately, Ellis Unit Trustees
perform work at various places
How we got together
We all met Scooter through our
projects
The Partners – Carolina
Creek Christian Camp
Partner description
~500-acre, non-denominational, independent 501c(3) Christian camp
Bedrock principle: 20% of all campers come from are urban/inner city
Carolina Creek awards $400,000 in scholarships each year
How we got together
Scott visited CCCC to pursue a partnership with the FoLL conservation project
Lisa invited herself to Scott’s second meeting with CCCC
The Partners – Herb Society of America Texas Thyme Unit
Partner description
HSA promotes the delight of
herbs through educational
programs, research, and sharing
the experience of its members
with the community
Local group is Texas Thyme Unit
How we got together
Lisa is a member
The Partners – SHSU Natural Science and Art Research Center
Partner description
SHSU houses its collections in
one place
SHSU purchased and
refurbished the former
Huntsville HS and made it
the NSARC
How we got together
Dr. Will Godwin, Curator,
attended a meeting of the
fledgling NPSOT Sam
Houston chapter
The Partners – The
Adickes Foundation
Partner description
David Adickes, artist, purchased the former Huntsville HS and housed The Adickes Foundation there
Sold the building to SHSU
The Adickes Foundation will remain there for 2 years
How we got together
Linda Wiley, Curator, attended a NPSOT meeting and invited us to meet in their space
The Partners – PineywoodsEnvironmental Research Laboratory (PERL)
Partner description
Fish hatchery built in 1930’s, used until 1984 when dam washed out
Land went to TPWD, then to SHSU
SHSU hired Alan Byboth in 2013 to restore it to native
How we got together
NPSOT 2017 Fall Symposium held in Huntsville
Lisa organized field trips for it and received an email about Alan and his work there
Programs and Projects – Conservation
Conservation – Protecting and/or Restoring Fishery Habitat with the community
Friends of Lake Livingston restoring aquatic habitat to Lake Livingston, TX
Partner with TPWD and Trinity River Authority
Covers 85,000 acres of lake and 4 adjacent counties
8 local high schools involved in raising plants, planting, conservation, ecology education
A multi-TMN Chapter partnership between Piney Wood Lakes (Livingston) and Heartwood (Conroe)
Partnership with the TDCJ/Lee College Horticulture program at the Ellis Unit (Walker County)
The Solution!
Restore habitat with American Water-willow on shorelines, islands, and shallow water flats
01Reduce erosion, improve water filtration and quality, and provide habitat for juvenile fish, reptiles and birds
02Reestablish Lake Livingston as a prime destination for anglers and outdoor recreationists
03Enlist and engage local high schools and community members in growing, planting, and managing project areas
04
American Pondweed
Pickerel Weed
Softstem Bulrush
Experimenting with
Varieties ofAquatic Plants
• Water Willow
• Bulrush (Three Square)
• Wild Celery (Eel Grass)
• Bull Tongue
• Delta Arrowhead
• Pickerelweed
• American Pondweed
• American, Variable Leaf, Illinois
Making A Difference
8 High Schools
Big Sandy, Coldspring-Oakhurst, Corrigan-Camden, Goodrich, Livingston, Onalaska, Leggett, Shephard ISDs
Propagating, growing, planting
Ecology Education & Improvement
Macro-Invertebrate Monitoring
Site Monitoring
23 Propagation tanks
Programs and Projects
– Conservation
Conservation – Protecting and/or Restoring Fishery Habitat with the community
CCCC helped sponsor a FoLLplanting along Carolina Creek in mid-August (photos available or video)
Inserted 4 aquatic species along the creek property
Planted a variety of aquatic bushes/tree’s for “riparian restoration”
Programs and Projects – Introducing Concepts
Introducing Naturalist Concepts to CCC Camp
Programs
Ellis Unit Trustees cut nature
trails at CCCC
Scott (Heartwood) and Leo
(CCCC) are working to establish two nature trails for
inclusion into the camping
curriculum for 2020 –
exposure to nature,
ecology, tree and plant
species and the Carolina
Creek eco-system
Programs and Projects – Introducing Concepts
Introducing Naturalist Concepts to CCC Camp Programs
TTU designed herb garden for CCCC
Culinary near the kitchen
Native and sensory, with seating and gathering places
NPSOT Sam Houston designed native plant flowerbeds for lodges
Planting will be joint project with TMN Piney Wood Lakes and Heartwood
CCCC will maintain them
Camper education on native plants and importance of pollinators
Programs and Projects
– Introducing Concepts
Introducing Naturalist Concepts to the Community
TTU created and maintains three gardens behind the historic Wynne Home in Huntsville
Ella Ruth herb garden
Children’s garden – herbs that demonstrate the five senses
Rose garden
TTU hosts elementary school children annually for garden tours and demonstrations
NPSOT Sam Houston installed native flowerbeds at Raven Lodge at Huntsville State Park
Programs and Projects – Introducing Concepts
Introducing Naturalist Concepts to current and future Master Naturalists
Field trips to PineywoodsEnvironmental Research Laboratory in 2018, 2019
SHSU staff providing venues, presenters and field trips for the 2020 Heartwood Intern Class
Ecosystems – Alan Byboth, PERL
Entomology – Will Godwin, Natural Science and Art Research Center
Projects at SHSU PERL and NSARC being identified and approved for Heartwood service work
Programs and Projects – Introducing Concepts
Introducing Naturalist Concepts to Offenders in the Ellis Unit
Master Naturalist training
With the TMN Heartwood Chapter, Scott instituted a TMN training program
at Ellis Unit
Three classes graduated to date
Herbs Behind Bars program
All prison units can participate
TTU teaches a class at Ellis Unit
TTU provided seeds for participating units statewide in 2018 and 2019
Benefits – Practicing Naturalist Concepts
Offenders in the Ellis Unit Practicing Naturalist Concepts
Catalyst for volunteer conservation work behind bars
Positive contributions by offenders
Education on conservation issues and solutions
Provide valuable research for the Friends of Lake Livingston project
Ellis Unit raises 6,000+ water willows/year for the conservation project
Benefits – Practicing
Naturalist Concepts
Practicing Naturalist Concepts
The Great Fossil Rescue
NPSOT learned a famous palm fossil was going to be moved and
likely destroyed
Benefits – Practicing
Naturalist Concepts
Practicing Naturalist Concepts
The Great Fossil Rescue
NPSOT learned a famous palm fossil was going to be moved and
likely destroyed
NPSOT retrieved the fossil and
donated it to the SHSU Natural
Science and Art Research Center
Challenges and Resolutions
Challenge
Competing priorities
Timing can be an issue
(e.g. – CCCC summer
camp vs off times)
Resolution
Do the project in stages, or
understand it will not or
cannot be done at a
certain time
Different agendas between
organizations Several projects done.
Different organizations with
aligned goals
Challenges and Resolutions
Challenge
Coordination between
multiple groups
Resolution
Various organizations
learning to work together.
Several programs implemented and working
Ensure projects are followed
Herb garden design
Flowerbed design
Assign someone to track
progress
Challenges and Resolutions
Challenge
Duplicate requirements,
e.g. background checks
Resolution
Case by case, may be the
nature of the beast
Distance
Some projects are in a
neighboring county or
even multi-county – some
volunteers not willing to
drive
Working to develop a good
volunteer base in each
county or area by working
with partners
Increased presence at
local activities
Challenges and Resolutions
Challenge
Age demographics
Some projects require labor
skills beyond the capability
of the volunteers
The will is there but not the
ability
Resolution
Booths at activities that
attract younger crowds,
such as WCMG Butterfly
Festival. Children are a little
young…but their parents are perfect!
Attracting diverse
volunteers Booths at activities where
the diversity exists
Go where the people are
Challenges and Resolutions
Challenge
Lack of volunteers
Resolution
We recruit from similar
organizations
e.g., TTU, NPSOT, and parts of TMN are about plants
We “grab” specific people
Any Questions?
Lisa Tuck
Texas Master Naturalists Heartwood Chapter
Scott Ball
Texas Master Naturalists Heartwood Chapter
