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October 6, 2014

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: October 7, 2014

Featured

  1. Master plan for Memorial Park advances (Jocelyn Kerr – Houston Chronicle, 9/30/2014)
    The Memorial Park Conservancy, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department and the Uptown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone are working with the public to create a new long-range master plan for Memorial Park. The master plan will provide guidelines for reorganizing the park to improve access and traffic flow, and to define which facility upgrades are needed. The public input process began in 2013 with open houses and focused workshops geared to diverse audiences from across the city. Educators to teens to recreation groups were invited to give input on the park. There were also 20 in-depth interviews with city demographers and park leaders. The planning group used the feedback to identify key areas to improve. One of the top priorities is reorganizing Memorial Park so it’s more unified.
    www.chron.com
  2. Texas State Parks Regional HQ Cited for ‘Green’ Design (Texas Parks & Wildlife, 10/2/2014)
    The U.S. Green Building Council has cited the 7,000-square-foot headquarters of the Texas State Parks’ regional offices at Sheldon Lake State Park for its exceptional “green” architectural design that incorporates a number of cost-efficient and energy-saving features. Before the end of the month, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department should receive a plaque from the national environmental organization citing the Region 4 office building for achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification. Located on the northern edge of Sheldon Lake just northeast of downtown Houston, the headquarters is the first TPWD structure to receive LEED certification. LEED Gold is USGBC’s next-to-highest certification level awarded through a detailed process that monitors projects from design through construction and requires detailed documentation.
    www.tpwd.state.tx.us
  3. Houston Zoo Wraps Up Summer Restocking Prairie With Prairie Chickens (Carrie Feibel – Houston Public Media, 9/29/2014)
    Houston zookeepers work to save all types of endangered animals, from African elephants to Galapagos tortoises. But they also work quietly to conserve species in Houston’s ponds and prairies. The Attwater’s is not actually a chicken. It’s a grouse, a game bird that nests and hides on the ground. The main factor driving the chicken to extinction is humans gobbling up its prairie habitat for farms, rice field, and suburbs. But it’s also threatened by invasive fire ants. The ants compete for food and have been known to gruesomely devour a baby Attwater’s chick before it can even peck its way out of the shell. There are only about 100 of the chickens living wild on the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge. Every year, the Houston Zoo breeds and hatches more. But instead of freeing them abruptly, the young birds spend two weeks in this open cage, a sort of halfway house.
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org

EcoNotes

  • 3 October
  • 2 October
    • Texas State Parks Regional HQ Cited for ‘Green’ Design (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      www.tpwd.state.tx.us
    • Texas Lost Over 1 Million Acres Of Private Farm and Ranch Land In 15 Years (Kyle Ver – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • When Can A Big Storm Or Drought Be Blamed On Climate Change? (Christopher Joyce – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
  • 1 October
    • Judge dismisses lawsuit over rare lizard in W. Texas (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • What Makes Houston the Most Ideal “Opportunity City?” (Michael Hagerty – Houston Matters)
      www.houstonmatters.org
    • EPA says greenhouse gas releases from wells, pipelines decline (David Conti, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – Eagle Ford Texas)
      http://eaglefordtexas.com
    • Judge’s Corner: Watching over our river (Paul Pape – The Statesman)
      www.statesman.com
    • Report Shows Schools Vulnerable to Toxic Exposure (NBC Chicago)
      www.nbcchicago.com
    • Sunday Streets Return to Houston; BikeValet Volunteers Needed (Bike Houston)
      www.bikehouston.org
    • NASA Invites Public to Participate in #SkyScience for Earth Science Week (NASA)
      www.nasa.gov
    • Texas Forest Sector Contributes $30.3 Billion to Texas Economy, Supports More Than 130,600 jobs (Big Country Homepage)
      www.bigcountryhomepage.com
    • Returning to the Scene of the Brio Superfund Site, Before Its Hollywood Moment (Swamplot)
      http://swamplot.com
  • 30 September
    • Master plan for Memorial Park advances (Jocelyn Kerr – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • Public invited to be scientists for a day at Katy Prairie Bioblitz – Your Houston News: News Public invited to be scientists for a day at Katy Prairie Bioblitz (The Rancher)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • GBF Honors Guardians of the Bay at 2014 Luncheon (Trey Bartsch – Galveston Bay Foundation)
      http://galvbay.org
    • Hundreds of Volunteers Help GBF Restore Habitat at Marsh Mania 2014 (Trey Bartsch – Galveston Bay Foundation)
      http://galvbay.org
    • Will Texas Even Bother Trying to Comply With EPA’s Clean Power Plan? (Kyle Ver – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Fire at paint recycling facility contained Tuesday morning (Kristianna Gross – KXXV News)
      www.kxxv.com
    • EPA approves plan to close two units at San Juan Generating Station (Erny Zah, The Daily Times – Eagle Ford Texas)
      http://eaglefordtexas.com
    • EPA works with Texas to protect water quality with $2.5 million grant (EPA News)
      http://yosemite.epa.gov
    • JOHN CRABTREE: Stop muddying the water (John Crabtree – The Magnolia Edition Potpourri)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • BST team wins interdisciplinary research award (Texas Water Resources Institute)
      http://twri.tamu.edu
    • Quail decline webinars to discuss restoration and monitoring (Texas Water Resources Institute)
      http://twri.tamu.edu
    • 20-year USGS pesticides study shows aquatic life threats, some improvements (Texas Water Resources Institute)
      http://twri.tamu.edu
    • BST team wins interdisciplinary research award (Texas Water Resources Institute)
      http://twri.tamu.edu
    • San Antonio a Step Closer to Controversial Pipeline (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 29 September
    • Houston Zoo Wraps Up Summer Restocking Prairie With Prairie Chickens (Carrie Feibel – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Turtle Group Set to Move to Island Location – Sea Turtle Action Center Grand Opening (John Wayne Ferguson – The Daily News)
      https://seaturtles.org
    • Sierra Club shows up in force to historic climate march, Texas solidarity events (Sierra Club)
      http://texas2.sierraclub.org
    • State Lawmakers Consider the Impacts of EPA Regulations (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Become A Scientist For A Day At Katy Prairie Conservancy (Covering Katy)
      http://coveringkaty.com
  • 26 September
    • State says federal pollution limits impossible to meet (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
  • 22 September
  • 19 September
    • HARC’s BEE-TEX research: Forging a new way to monitor air toxics (HARC News)
      www.harcresearch.org