Maybe you don’t want to know. If you do, this session is for you. Manufacturers and everyone utilizing manufactured items put chemicals in the air, water, and the very goods they sell or dispose of. Some of these chemicals are dangerous to life and create unintended consequences.

This event is free and open to the public. RSVP to Steve Stelzer at 832-394-9050.

Following a presentation on what the I-45 expansion means for Houston, city planner and urban designer Jeff Speck will be in conversation with Kinder Institute Director Bill Fulton. Copies of his new book, “Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places” will be sold on-site. A book signing will follow the event.

Schedule

6:30 p.m. – Registration & Light Bites
7 p.m. – Program
8-8:30 p.m. – Book Signing

Volunteers meet the second and fourth Thursday of every month to propagate plants from locally collected native seed. A typical workday may include seeding pots, bumping up trays into 1-gallon containers, separating seedlings, and weeding pots. They will also have special seed collecting trips, invasive species removal workdays, and planting events in restored prairies.

If you’re interested in volunteering for the Natural Resource Management Program, email kelli.ondracek@houstontx.gov or visit houstontx.gov/parks/naturalresources.html.

Habitat Restoration

Our volunteer group meets the second and fourth Thursday of the month from 9 a.m. to noon at the HPARD Greenhouse.

We propagate plants from locally collected native seed. A typical workday may include seeding pots, bumping up trays into 1-gallon containers, separating seedlings, and weeding pots. We will also have special seed collecting trips, invasive species removal workdays, and planting events in our restored prairies!

We are also beginning to conduct semi-annual vegetation transects and monthly bird surveys at our current and future restoration sites. If you’re good at identifying plants or birds or if you would like to learn more about them, come join us!

If you’re interested in volunteering for the NRMP, email kelli.ondracek@houstontx.gov.

The Memorial Park Conservancy has generously offered Katy Prairie Conservancy use of their greenhouse while the Native Seed Nursery at KPC’s field office in Waller is being renovated. Volunteers will help grow plants that will be used for various Katy Prairie Conservancy spring projects and for the Great Grow Out. The Memorial Park Conservancy Greenhouse is located in Memorial Park on the south side of Memorial Drive. All are welcome, no experience necessary.

Workdays are scheduled for the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month from 9:00 a.m. to noon.

If passed, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would benefit all of us, bringing more than $63 million per year to Texas for at-risk wildlife and habitat conservation, research, nature education, and outdoor recreation.

Please join Texas Alliance for America’s Fish & Wildlife and their partners at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to learn more about the need for, and benefits of this bipartisan legislation, specific benefits to the Greater Houston area, 2018 Texas successes, and the many ways you can get involved in the months ahead.

Space is limited, please email info@txwildlifealliance.org to RSVP.

Workdays are held once a month, October through March on the second Saturday of the month. We start work around 8:30 AM and work until about noon, when we break for lunch, provided by Houston Audubon and prepared by the lunch crew. Lunch at the picnic area of Boy Scout Woods is a good chance to visit with other volunteers and recharge from a morning of exercise and work. After lunch, we take about an hour to tie up any loose ends and clean up.

Come be a part of sanctuary maintenance, habitat restoration, and Houston Audubon’s amazing volunteer workforce. Email Pete Deichmann at pdeichmann@houstonaudubon.org for more information or to be put on the email list.

• November 10
• December 8
• January 12
• February 9
• March 9

Do you live in Houston and want to go solar? Now’s your chance! Neighbors have formed the The Houston Central Solar Co-op with the help of Solar United Neighbors to make it easier to save money on the purchase of solar panels, while building a community of local solar supporters.

Join HREG for an information session to learn about solar energy as well as how solar co-ops simplify the process of going solar while providing a discount through their bulk purchasing power.

The PNA Roundtable serves as a forum for discussion of issues related to parks and natural areas, promotes the PNA Award Program, and maintains a regional inventory of parks. The PNA roundtable facilitates information exchange and planning efforts between various stakeholders and collaborators to protect and preserve parks and natural areas across the region. For more information, visit www.h-gac.com.