Community Notes 04-01-2013

1. Trinity/San Jacinto and Galveston Bay BBASC Meeting. The next meeting of the Trinity and San Jacinto Rivers and Galveston Bay Basin and Bay Stakeholder Committee (BBASC) is scheduled for Wednesday, April 3, 2013, at 1:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the San Jacinto River Authority offices located at 1577 Damsite Road, in Conroe, Texas. The committee was created by the 80th Texas Legislature in recognition of the importance that the ecological soundness of our riverine, bay, and estuary systems and riparian lands have on the economy, health, and well-being of our state. The BBASC was unable to reach consensus regarding appropriate flows for the basin and bays; this meeting should provide an opportunity to provide input. http://www.tceq.texas.gov/.
2. Statement on Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Stay of TAP Decision. In an earlier decision, a federal judge ruled that the state of Texas failed to take necessary steps to provide enough water to maintain the habitat of the endangered whooping crane – a decision which could have implications on how water in some areas is rationed in future droughts (http://www.chron.com/). The Fifth Circuit has decided to stay the lower court ruling. Read TCEQ’s full statement on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Stay of The Aransas Project Decision: http://www.tceq.texas.gov/.
3. 2013 Gulf of Mexico Climate Community of Practice Workshop. The Climate Community of Practice workshops will bring together elected officials, city planners and other local leaders and decision-makers in the Gulf of Mexico with extension, outreach and education professionals who provide reliable information and science-based guidance to determine communities’ level of risk and strategies to improve their resilience. The Climate Community of Practice is a group of professionals who aim to incorporate adaptation strategies into Gulf Coast communities’ comprehensive plans. The workshops will be held on April 8, 2013 (1-5:15pm), April 9 (8:30am-4:30pm), and April 10 (8:30am-noon) at the Rice Lofts, Crystal Ballroom. More at https://sites.google.com/. Registration closes April 3, 2013 at 5pm.
4. Bat Presentations at Waugh Street Bridge. The Waugh Street Bridge is home to over 300,000 Mexican Free-Tailed Bats, and every night at dusk you can see them head out from their daytime perches for their nightly excursions. On the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Friday of the month from March thru November, staff from The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department give informational talks twenty minutes before sunset and are available to answer all your bat questions. The next lecture is on April 5, 2013 starting at 7:22 pm. More at http://cechouston.org/.
5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rock. Sugar Land’s Earth Day Celebration – called Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rock – will be held April 20, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Activities will begin at Mercer Stadium, 16403 Lexington Blvd., with a recycling collection event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Items accepted will include household electronics, paper for shredding, clothing and household goods for reuse. In addition, grant funds from the Houston-Galveston Area Council and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will allow residents to dispose of batteries, oil, paint, antifreeze and fluorescent light bulbs during the recycling event. Environmental activity booths and performances are planned at Sugar Land Town Square from 2-6 p.m. Enjoy eco-friendly displays and demonstrations, interactive games and educational booths from local organizations. More at http://cechouston.org/.
6. Texas Watershed Steward Workshop. A Texas Watershed Steward workshop addressing water quality issues in Galveston County bayous will be held from 8am-4pm April 30, 2013 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office for Galveston County, 4102 Main Street in La Marque. The workshop is free and open to anyone interested in improving water quality in Dickinson Bayou and surrounding areas. Participants are encouraged to preregister at http://tws.tamu.edu. The training provides a discussion of watershed systems, types and sources of water pollution, and ways to improve and protect water quality. More at http://cechouston.org/.
7. Lazy Gardener & Friends Newsletter. Sign up now for Houston’s new “LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS” newsletter! This free, weekly online newsletter is a project of John Ferguson and Mark Bowen of Nature’s Way Resources with The Lazy Gardener, Brenda Beust Smith. It will include:
   • a Lazy Gardener column by Brenda
   • what-to-do-each-month in Houston area gardens
   • articles by guest writers
   • a calendar of upcoming Greater Houston area horticulture events
   • and much, MUCH more including input from readers.

   If you’d like to receive this free, emailed newsletter, send your full name and email address to lazygardenerandfriends@gmail.com. Be assured that — as with Brenda’s own personal Lazy Gardener email list — this list will never be shared or sold, and you will never receive anything from it other than the newsletter.

8. State Turtle. Texas has a state bird, flower, song, small and large mammals, fish, shell, tree, insect, plant, fruit, stone, shrub and many other symbols, but no official sea turtle! The Fourth Grade Green Team at Oppe Elementary in Galveston hopes to solve this problem led by teacher Katie Blaser. Representative Craig Eiland of Galveston has introduced HCR 31 which the students wrote asking that the Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle be proclaimed the official sea turtle of the state of Texas. The full resolution can be found at www.capitol.state.tx.us and can be printed out. The resolution was sent to the Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee and the Green Team testified at their meeting on March 20, 2013. It passed and has gone on to the House of Representatives and to the Senate. This resolution will not pass unless many other representatives and senators around the state vote for it. Support can be shown by calling representatives and senators to ask for their support of HCR 31 for the Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle to become the official sea turtle of the state of Texas. If anyone has a question, they can e-mail Carole@seaturtles.org or Kathryn_Pistone@gisd.org.
9. Feral Hog Reporting Tool. Feral hogs contribute to watershed pollution through wallowing and defecating in and around streams. This can increase E.coli bacteria, nutrients, and sedimentation in the water bodies. Feral hogs not only pose a problem for water quality in the state, they also compete with wildlife and livestock for habitat, harbor endemic and exotic diseases, and transmit parasites to domestic livestock and humans. Rooting, wallowing, and other behaviors of feral hogs also causes damage to agricultural and wildlife habitats. Because of this, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has developed an online system to report feral hog activity which can be found at http://feralhogreports.tamu.edu/.
10. TV: Texas Parks & Wildlife. Broadcast on KUHT Channel 8 at 3:00 PM each Saturday and on cable channels in Baytown, Deer Park, Seabrook, and on HCC. More info on the TPWD website (* indicates a segment about the Houston area). This week’s broadcast will include:
    • Bastrop, Back to Its Roots
    • Wyman Meinzer’s West Texas
    • Casting Call – Neighborhood Fishing Program
11. Air Quality Forecast. http://www.tceq.texas.gov/airquality/monops/forecast_today.html. Houston Clean Air Network and Realtime Ozone Mapping: http://houstoncleanairnetwork.com.
    • April 2: Green–Good. Moderate winds and lower background levels should help to keep air quality in the “Good” range.
    • April 3: Green–Good. Moderate winds and lower background levels should help to keep air quality in the “Good” range.
    • April 4: Green–Good. Moderate winds and decreasing background levels should help to keep air quality in the “Good” range statewide.