Coalition Notes 01-04-2012

1. HUG: What to Plant and Do Now in your Veggie Garden. The next meeting of Houston Urban Gardeners will be Monday January 9 at 6:30 PM at the Houston Garden Center, 1500 Hermann Dr. in Hermann Park. Carol Brouwer, Ph.D., will share full-color mouth-watering slides to illustrate what others and she have grown at their home gardens. She will also talk about what we can do in this pleasant weather to enhance our vegetable gardens and prepare them for spring and summer. HUG meetings remain FREE and inclusive-everyone is invited. We will have snacks and coffee. Be prepared to meet and network with some like-minded people. More on the HUG website.
2. Urban Harvest Fruit Tree Sale. Urban Harvest will be holding a fruit tree sale on January 14th from 9am-1pm at the University of Houston Robertson Football Stadium. There will be a great variety of fruit trees to choose from. Urban Harvest will also be holding talks to prepare people for caring for a fruit tree. These talks will be held on January 7th (2-4:30pm) and January 10th (6:30-9pm) at United Way, 50 Waugh Drive. More information is available at http://urbanharvest.org/events/.
3. Buffalo Bayou Park Progress. Buffalo Bayou Park reached a major milestone in its plans to transform the park. The Houston City Council and the Harris County Commissioners Court are supporting the project, which now paves the way for the new renovations. The plans for the park include restoring the area to a more natural and self-sustaining state, reintroducing native landscapes, and enhancing safety and convenience for visitors. Learn more about the project at http://www.buffalobayou.org/.
4. Lunch Bunch: East Texas Native Trees and More. Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens will be hosting an event covering the East Texas native trees. The presentation will take place on January 11th from 12-2pm at 22306 Aldine Westfield Road. Bruce Cunningham, forester and botanical illustrator of Trees, Shrubs & Woody Vines of East Texas, will discuss his work. Bring a sack lunch to enjoy during the program. Please call (281) 443-8731 for reservations. More information is available at http://www.hcp4.net/mercer/.
5. Birds and Bottomland BioBlitz. The Gulf Coast Bird Observatory will be hosting an educational event on January 14th from 9-11am. The program, a joint effort by the Cradle of Texas Master Naturalists and GCBO, raises awareness about the importance of habitats to birds. This month, the event will focus on Trees and Shrubs of the Bottomlands. Visit http://www.gcbo.org/ for more information.
6. Galveston Bay Water Quality Public Meeting. GBF is holding a public meeting on January 18th from 5:30-7:30pm at Armand Bayou Nature Center’s Education Center. The meeting will cover updates to the Implementation Plan to reduce bacteria levels in the Upper Gulf Coast Oyster Waters. The meeting should help to spread awareness of bacteria issues around Galveston Bay and share more details on the management measures that will be taking place over the next five years to reduce bacteria levels. More information at http://galvbay.org/advocacy.
7. Register now for Houston Environmental Education Summit. The 2012 Environmental Education Summit in Houston on January 28, 2012, will offer one-and-a-half-hour and three-hour-long workshops with two focus tracks to serve different professional development needs. These will include hands-on instructional workshops that offer State Board of Education Certification credit as well as Texas Environmental Education Advisory Committee credit. All workshops are directly correlated to the TEKS. We hope you will join us again at this exciting conference. Pre-registration is only $25 and includes lunch. Please go to houstoneesummit.org for more information.
8. ONC Nature Notes. The Jan-Feb-2012 issue of Nature Notes, the newsletter of the Outdoor Nature Club, is now available on the ONC website.
9. H-GAC Vision for Tomorrow. H-GAC recently published Vision for Tomorrow, a regional comprehensive plan based on emerging issues, opportunities, trends and local values for the H-GAC region. The vision represents a shared ideal for the region in 2035, moving beyond jurisdictional boundaries and encompassing the needs of rural, suburban and urban areas alike. The document is also intended to provide a guiding framework by identifying specific priorities, actions and available tools that can move the region toward its desired goals. It is organized into four categories that stem from the general themes of the vision: Built Environment, Natural Environment, Quality of Life and Economy. Vision for Tomorrow was prepared by the H-GAC Board of Directors Planning Committee, in coordination with H-GAC staff. The publication is available on the H-GAC website.