Calendar
The 2021 Texas Land Conservation Conference will be held as a virtual event April 14-16 and will offer a variety of program content and learning experiences related to land and water conservation in the Lone Star State. This year’s event will also feature regional (outdoor, safe, and socially distanced!) in-person networking events on Thursday evening. As 2021 will be our 25th-anniversary conference, we will be raising a glass to celebrate this milestone!
With nearly 300 attendees and growing, the conference is the preeminent statewide meeting for anyone working in the field of land and water conservation, private landowners interested in conserving their land, government, business, and NGO agency partners, and any person interested in learning more about these important issues in Texas. This year’s event will be our first-ever virtual event and it will be jam-packed with fantastic sessions on a diversity of important land and water conservation topics. Please make plans to join Texas Land Conservation Conference for what is sure to be another excellent learning and networking opportunity!
Whether you’re ready to jumpstart your career in the sustainability industry or find your next move, this career fair is for you!
Parking:Â City Lot H
Enjoy a free walking tour in Buffalo Bayou Park highlighting the landscape and ecology of 19th century Texas that created Houston, as well as the importance of prairies in rebuilding this astonishing and all but vanished ecosystem.
Meet count leader Jason Bonilla in the parking lot of Woodland Park. Please note that the park does not have a maintained trail system. As such, there is a lot of poison ivy that is somewhat unavoidable when walking the park and looking for birds. Additionally, there are terrain changes and unstable areas. Participants should wear long pants and closed-toe shoes. They usually meet on the fourth Saturday of the month.
Interested in volunteering? Stop by the Jesse H. Jones Park and Nature Center for a casual gathering with staff and volunteers to learn about the variety of rewarding volunteer opportunities.
Ages 16+ or accompanied by an adult. Families are welcome. Please contact volunteer coordinator Brent Wilkins at 281-446-8588 or bwilkins@hcp4.net for more information and to RSVP.
The 2021 Conference Planning Committee is putting together a conference that will have health and safety measures in place. American Society of Landscape Architects will have touchless badge registration, chairs in the classrooms will provide safe spacing, and American Society of Landscape Architects are requiring that everyone wear a mask. Hand sanitizer will be located throughout the convention center and in the exhibit hall.
American Society of Landscape Architects are hopeful that we will once again be able to come together in Galveston for a few days of education, networking, and advocacy. In the event that it is determined that it is unsafe to host an in-person conference in April, the chapter leadership and Conference Planning Committee will review alternate dates for 2021 or offer a virtual conference.
Register before March 17, to take advantage of the early bird attendee registration prices.
Participate in the City Nature Challenge on April 30 – May 2. Be part of an international project, support outdoor learning and exploration, and even integrate technology into the classroom.
Find an Educator Toolkit here: https://
Find a student-friendly explanation video here: https://youtu.be/
Visit the Houston project page on iNaturalist here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021-houston-galveston.
Join in a fun challenge to observe and record wild species. It is easy to participate by making observations on your own using the iNaturalist app. Just take a picture of a plant or animal, and the community will help identify which species it is. Any observation in the greater metropolitan area of Houston will count during the four-day challenge. You can participate by exploring the life in your backyard (and use the hashtag #backyardchallenge on social media), in your neighborhood park, or from an apartment balcony or courtyard. You can also help with IDs for other people’s observations to increase our species count.
Held on the “2nd Saturdays†of each month, they will enjoy a delicious vegan potluck and meeting, along with a discussion, film screening, food demo or speaker presentation on intersectional issues of veganism, animal rights, environmentalism, nonviolence, health and more. Each month will be something new! Their new venue is at the HCC Conference Center.
They are asking for a donation of $5 per person to help cover our facility rental expenses. All attendees must bring a vegan entree to share at the potluck (serving size to feed 10 people)!
Please remember to bring a vegan dish to share with the group! Their events are always vegan, so please only vegan or raw vegan foods (no animal-derived ingredients). Also bring reusable dinnerware and plates to keep the event earth-friendly. If you have questions on ingredients, feel free to contact them.
They will also feature a new discussion topic on inter sectional issues each month, such as: animal rights, ethical vegan living, vegan health & nutrition, cooking, world hunger solutions, eco-friendly living, nonviolence and more! Some months will also include film screenings and/or guest speakers and food demos.
Houston Community College Conference Center is located at 3100 Main St, 3rd Floor, Houston, TX 77002. See below for map. Free Parking is available on level 7 & 8 of the HCC Administration parking garage at Main & Elgin. Use elevator from parking garage to 3rd floor breezeway, which leads to the Conference suites. You must enter the building through the parking garage and not street-level.
All attendees must sign in at the Security Desk.
RSVP is appreciated for seating!
Hermann Park Bird Survey
Leaders: Skip Almoney and Peter Tsan
They meet at 8:00 AM (7:30 in the summer months). Take the Parking Lot D entry from
Masks are optional for vaccinated participants and social distancing is recommended. Please wear a mask if unvaccinated. Please contact Julie Francis at hermannparkbirdsurvey@gmail.com if you’d like to participate. The Hermann Park Survey is conducted on the second Monday of the month. Everyone is welcome — beginners, experts, or even if you’re just curious. Please bring binoculars. If you don’t have any, let them know in advance and they’ll provide them.
For more information, please visit houstonaudubon.org/birding/bird-surveys.
Clear Lake Chapter meetings are on the 2nd Monday of the month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. There is a meet and greet at 6:30 p.m. followed by the business meeting at 6:45 p.m. and program at 7 p.m. Meetings are open to the public; visitors are welcome.