Join us for the Parks and Natural Areas (PNA) Roundtable on Monday, July 8, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at H-GAC Conference Room A, Second Floor.

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. To register visit events.r20.constantcontact.com/register.

This year’s gala is the most important fundraising event of Houston Audubon’s landmark 50th Anniversary. Gala proceeds will benefit the organization in its work to ensure special natural places, critical habitat, and resilient bird populations will be a legacy for future generations to enjoy.

For the past 50 years, Houston Audubon has been the voice for birds, and they’ve served the Houston-Gulf Coast region through land conservation, habitat restoration, education and advocacy. At this year’s gala, they will celebrate Houston Audubon’s journey, its achievements, and the dedicated donors, volunteers, staff, and partners whose collective efforts have led us to being the regional avian conservation leader they are today.

Date: Thursday, November 7
Time: 6:30pm Cocktails / 8pm Seated Dinner
Location: The Water Works in Buffalo Bayou Park

Attire: Cocktail

Co-Chairs: Carolyn and Chris Dorros and Mary and David Wolff

Please consider supporting the 2019 Buffalo Bayou Partnership Gala, Moonscape. It will be a magical evening, dining under a luminous tent on the beautiful lawn at The Water Works in Buffalo Bayou Park. To commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing, this year’s gala will highlight the signature Lunar Cycle Lighting along Buffalo Bayou.

This illuminating celebration will support the ongoing care of Houston’s most significant natural resource and Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s vital programs and projects that enhance the quality of life for all in our city. Tables for ten guests are: $25,000; $15,000; $10,000 and $6,000. Individual tickets are:  $1,500; $1,000 and $600.

Cocktail-only tickets are available for $100 and can be purchased here.

Click here for a response form.  For more information, contact Leigh McBurnett, BBP Director of Development, at lmcburnett@buffalobayou.org or 713.752.0314 ext. 105.

The Nature Conservancy in Texas invites you to attend the 2019 Houston Conservation Gala! Join us on Thursday, November 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Houston Zoo for a gala of global proportions. Spend an “evening on the ark” as National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore presents National Geographic’s Photo Ark—a groundbreaking effort to document species before they disappear.

Sartore is a photographer, speaker, author, teacher, National Geographic fellow and regular contributor to National Geographic magazine. Most importantly, he is an avid conservationist who began the ambitious Photo Ark project 11 years ago in his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. Since then, he’s visited 40 countries in his quest to create a lasting photo archive of global biodiversity. To date, Sartore has captured portraits of more than 9,000 animal species in human care, inching him nearer to his original goal of documenting 12,000 unique species.

During the evening, Sartore will take us behind the scenes, describing how his vision for the Photo Ark not only began, but where it’s taking him next. He’ll share with us the stories of his travels and what goes into the creation of a photo archive of true biodiversity. And above all, he’ll impart on us the saliency of this work, helping us understand how intimate animal photography like this can play a critical role in inspiring people to take action around conservation.

Sartore’s commitment to saving species makes him a perfect keynote speaker for our Houston Gala. The Nature Conservancy is working throughout Texas to protect at-risk species—we’re restoring grasslands to preserve and improve monarch butterfly habitat, acquiring land to conserve one of the last remaining wintering grounds for endangered whooping cranes and protecting vital corridors for ocelots in South Texas. Like Sartore, the Conservancy is dedicated to connecting people and nature throughout the Lone Star State.

To purchase tickets or sponsor the event, contact Megan Brann at megan.brann@tnc.org or 832-260-4915. To ensure sponsor recognition in the invitation, please respond with your sponsorship commitment by September 4, 2019.

Join us for the Parks and Natural Areas (PNA) Roundtable on Monday, July 8, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at H-GAC Conference Room A, Second Floor.

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. To register visit events.r20.constantcontact.com/register.

Please join the group for a morning of trail maintenance helping the Friends of Woodland Park revitalize, weed, and mulch the wooded trail entrance! This event is hosted the by Friends of Woodland Park and supported by Parks Project.

You Bring: Sturdy closed-toe shoes, clothing appropriate to the weather (long pants and sleeves), refillable water bottle, sunscreen, bug spray, hat, and work gloves (if you have them).

Parks Project Provides: Snacks, water, and Parks Project swag for volunteers!

Following the trail work, come over to the Spring Street Beer and Wine Garden (weather pending) for a chance to socialize and relax after a morning of hard and fulfilling work.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email charlottecisneros@gmail.com

Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church invites you to a monthly environmental education web meeting series whose theme in 2019 is environmental issues, and what you can do. In November, Lisa Brenskelle, head of the Lutherans Restoring Creation Team for the Texas Louisiana Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will discuss the U.N.’s Global Environmental Outlook, a report issued earlier this year, and how faith enables our response to this ecological crisis. Lisa will address: What is our present ecological crisis? & What specific issues are central? She will examine the science that explains the present state of our world and the major environmental issues we face. Lisa will then consider how our faith both informs and enables our response to this crisis. The first half of this talk reviews the Global Environmental Outlook. The second half of the talk discusses how faith enables a response. Lisa holds a PhD in engineering, and has worked on a volunteer basis in earthkeeping ministry for decades. Join her for this thought-provoking talk! Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com with any questions about this talk.

Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church invites you to a monthly environmental education web meeting series. In January, Jaime Gonzalez, Houston Urban Conservation Programs Manager for The Nature Conservancy, will highlight a variety of local environmental issues, and how local people/organizations are coming together to address them. He will explain tools used for environmental action mapping that make collective action more effective. And, he’ll speak about how all of us can work together to create positive environmental change in Houston. Join us online for this insightful talk! Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com with any questions about this talk.

H-GAC’s Parks and Natural Areas Summit and Awards Ceremony will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Friday, February 14, 2020, at H-GAC Conference Room B, Second Floor. The Summit will include presentations on trends and topics related to parks and natural areas.

The event will also include the annual Parks and Natural Areas Awards recognition ceremony. These projects serve as models for planning and project implementation for parks and natural areas in the region. Projects will be honored in three categories: Planning Process, On-the-Ground Projects Over $500,000, and On-the-Ground Projects Under $500,000.

A light breakfast will be served. Registration and breakfast begin at 9:00 a.m., followed by topic speakers at 9:30 a.m. The awards program will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will be followed by networking until noon.

Agenda
9:00 a.m.    Registration and Breakfast
9:30 a.m.    Presentation – Claire Hempel, Design Worskshop, Equity In Parks
10:00 a.m.  Presentation – Katie Coyne, Asakura Robinson, TBA
10:30 a.m.  Parks and Natrual Areas Annual Awards Ceremony
11:30 a.m.  Networking

The Parks and Natural Areas roundtable serves as a forum for discussion of issues related to parks and natural areas and promotes the Parks and Natural Areas awards program. The roundtable facilitates information exchange and planning efforts between various stakeholders and collaborators to protect and preserve parks and natural areas across the region.