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Texan by Nature, originally formed in 2011 as Taking Care of Texas, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focusing on uniting business and conservation. Texan by Nature is headquartered at Austin, Texas.
Texan by Nature was founded by former First Lady Laura Bush in 2011. Its stated mission is to, "align the broad interests of conservation groups with the resources of businesses, health care institutions, schools, the scientific community, and faith-based organizations [to] ... collectively create a positive impact for Texas’ economy, people, and land for generations to come". [1]
Each year, Texan by Nature selects innovative projects from across Texas. These projects must be science based, with measurable outcomes and data.
Exploration Green Conservancy -
Trinity Park Conservancy - Trinity River Conservation Corps
Rio Grande Valley Reef Restoration
Oyster Shell Recycling Program
Grassland Restoration Incentive Program
Texas Prairie Wetlands Program
Building Conservation Trust – Oyster Reef Restoration
Building Conservation Trust (the National Habitat Program of Coastal Conservation Association) and Coastal Conservation Association Texas restored oyster habitat in Sabine Lake. [3]
Constructed wetlands
Tarrant Regional Water District, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, North Texas Municipal Water District, the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center, the Rosewood Corporation, and Alan Plummer Associates partnered to create over 4,000 acres of wetlands to showcase a sustainable approach for natural water filtration. The wetlands provide water supply to over 3.8 million people in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and provide habitat for local wildlife. [4]
Cool schools
Dallas Independent School District partnered with the Texas Trees Foundation to reduce urban heat at Dallas elementary schools. Eighty trees are planted per school with the goal to maintain a tree canopy cover, create outdoor learning environments, provide STEM-based curriculum, and to enhance experiential learning. [5]
Dark Skies Initiative
Working with the Permian Basin Petroleum Association and the Texas Oil & Gas Association, McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas published a "Recommended Lighting Practices" guide. [6] They have also partnered with the Apache Corporation to produce a video. [7]
The practices reduce light pollution, have greater cost efficiency, and improve visibility and increase worker safety in the oil field. [8]
El Carmen Land & Conservation Co.
El Carmen Land and Conservation Company, owned by CEMEX USA and Mr. Josiah Austin, is working on desert restoration and habitat enhancement in the Trans-Pecos.
Texas Playa Conservation Initiative
The Texas Playa Conservation Initiative is working to restore the playas in the Panhandle.
Partners for this project include Texas Parks and Wildlife, Playa Lakes Joint Venture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Ducks Unlimited.
2017 Conservation Wranglers
Lake Livingston Friends of Reservoirs]
Lower Rio Grande Valley Learning Landscapes Collaborative
2014 Conservation Wranglers
Texas State Bison Herd
Texas Botanical Gardens and Native American Interpretive Center
Bracken Bat Cave
The Texan by Nature Project Certification provides Texan employers, organizations, and individuals with recognition of their conservation efforts.
South-Central Monarch Symposium
The South-Central Monarch Symposium took place May 31-June 1, 2017 at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Over 200 monarch conservation partners attended the event. [9] Over 50 speakers presented their research, ranging from milkweed availability, distribution, and resources to private landowner perspectives.
The goals of the symposium included consolidating data on the monarch butterfly migration and identifying gaps in current scientific understanding and habitat management practices.
On July 18, 2018, Data and Project Manager Amy Snelgrove provided testimony of the findings from the symposium to the Texas House of Representatives' Committee on Culture Recreation & Tourism. [10]
On August 10, 2018, the South-Central Monarch Conservation Community became live. This is a community to bring monarch researchers and conservation professionals together to recover the butterfly throughout Texas and Oklahoma. [11]
Topics include:
A Natural Connection: Exploring Positive Outcomes in Health and Healing Through Nature
Texan by Nature co-hosted the symposium with Houston Methodist to discuss and identify gaps in the science between the mechanisms in nature that produce positive physiological and psychological health and healing benefits. Top researchers, physicians, and policymakers gathered to share their knowledge on the connections between health and nature and discussed their findings.
On May 2, 2018, a partnership between Texan by Nature, Houston Methodist Hospital, and Texas A&M University System was announced to form the Center for Health and Nature in Houston, Texas. [12] Two research projects are currently being developed:
The Center for Health and Nature is planning for its 2019 Symposium for February 13, 2019.
Texan by Nature and Mrs. Bush hosted the first Conservation Wrangler Summit in 2018 to celebrate the best Conservation Wrangler projects. The now yearly event draws leaders from across Texas to share insights and efforts making impact in areas of conservation and sustainability.
In 2019 Texan by Nature partnered with Texas Monthly to rank the top 20 companies in Texas working to push conservation forward. Over 2,000 Texas-based companies were evaluated by a 14 point grading system resulting in the top 20 businesses committed to conservation efforts.
“The TxN 20 is an effort to recognize innovation and best practices in conservation coming from Texas-based businesses," Texan by Nature CEO and President, Joni Carswell. [15]
Texan by Nature is a primary sponsor of this wild life documentary that showcases Texas conservation and ecological issues through the eyes of wildlife. Deep in the Heart is a project led by Ben Masters of Fin and Fur Films.
Description of Conservation Partners
List of Conservation Partners
2020
Laura Bush, Founder
Neal Wilkins, PH.D., Chairman
Cynthia Pickett-Stevenson, Vice Chairman
Tamara Trial, Secretary
Regan Gammon, Treasurer
Katharine Armstron
Marc Boom
Tina Buford
Joe Crafton
Ray Ingle
Elaine Magruder
Adair Margo
Carolyn Miller
Greg Schildwachter, PH.D.
In 2017 Joni Carswell was hired to lead Texan by Nature replacing interim director Matt Wagner.
This is an index of conservation topics. It is an alphabetical index of articles relating to conservation biology and conservation of the natural environment.
National Wildlife RefugeSystem (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the Department of the Interior. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants. Since President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge as the first wildlife refuge in 1903, the system has grown to over 568 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts encompassing about 856,000,000 acres (3,464,109 km2).
The California State Coastal Conservancy is a non-regulatory state agency in California established in 1976 to enhance coastal resources and public access to the coast. The CSCC is a department of the California Natural Resources Agency. The agency's work is conducted along the entirety of the California coast, including the interior San Francisco Bay and is responsible for the planning and coordination of federal land sales to acquire into state land as well as award grant funding for improvement projects. The Board of Directors for the agency is made up of seven members who are appointed by the Governor of California and approved by the California Legislature, members of the California State Assembly and California State Senate engage and provide oversight within their legislative capacity.
The Cache River is a 92-mile-long (148 km) waterway in southernmost Illinois, in a region sometimes called Little Egypt. The basin spans 737 square miles (1,910 km2) and six counties: Alexander, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, and Union. Located at the convergence of four major physiographic regions, the river is part of the largest complex of wetlands in Illinois. The Cache River Wetlands is America's northernmost cypress/tupelo swamp and harbors 91 percent of the state's high quality swamp and wetland communities. It provides habitat for more than 100 threatened and endangered species in Illinois. In 1996, the Cache was designated a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention.
The Sierra Nevada Alliance is a network of conservation groups encompassing 24 watersheds of the 650 kilometer-long Sierra Nevada in California and Nevada. Beginning in 1993, the Alliance protects and restores Sierra Nevada lands, watersheds, wildlife and communities.
Bolsa Chica State Ecological Reserve is a natural reserve and public land in Orange County, governed by the state of California, and immediately adjacent to the city of Huntington Beach, California. The reserve is designated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to protect a coastal wetland and upland, with both migratory and resident threatened and endangered species of wildlife and wildflowers.
Papua New Guinea together with the West Papua region of Indonesia make up a major tropical wilderness area that still contains 5% of the original and untouched tropical high-biodiversity terrestrial ecosystems. PNG in itself contains over 5% of the world's biodiversity in less than 1% of the world's total land area. The flora of New Guinea is unique because it has two sources of origin; the Gondwana flora from the south and flora with Asian origin from the west. As a result, New Guinea shares major family and genera with Australia and the East Asia, but is rich in local endemic species. The endemicity is a result of mountainous isolation, topographic and soil habitat heterogeneity, high forest disturbance rates and abundant aseasonal rainfall year round. PNG boasts some 15–21,000 higher plants, 3,000 species of orchids, 800 species of coral, 600 species of fish, 250 species of mammals and 760 species of birds and 8 species of tree-kangaroos out of which 84 genera of animals are endemic. Ecosystems range from lowland forests to montane forests, alpine flora down to coastal areas which contains some of the most extensive pristine mangrove areas in the world. Much of this biodiversity has remained intact for thousands of years because the ruggedness of the terrain made the interior lands inaccessible; furthermore low population density and restrictions on the effectiveness of traditional tools, ensured that these biodiversity was never overexploited.
Elkhorn Slough is a 7-mile-long (11 km) tidal slough and estuary on Monterey Bay in Monterey County, California. It is California's second largest estuary and the United States' first estuarine sanctuary. The community of Moss Landing and the Moss Landing Power Plant are located at the mouth of the slough on the bay.
The American Land Conservancy was an American non-profit organization whose goal was to protect the natural environment.
Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge was created on October 12, 2004, the 545th National Wildlife Refuge in the United States. Its creation was the result of cooperation between at least 30 agencies or governmental entities. The creation of the refuge was spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy, and the initial endowment of 2,300 acres (9.3 km2) of land was donated by the Conservancy. In light of its planned final size of 37,756 acres (153 km2), it is described by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as "the largest tallgrass prairie and wetland restoration project in U.S. history."
Conserving Carolina is a non-profit conservation organization working to preserve water and land resources in Western North Carolina. Conserving Carolina was created in July 2017, from a merger of two previously separate organizations, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and Pacolet Area Conservancy. The combined organization maintains a primary office in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and a regional office in Columbus, North Carolina.
The Cosumnes River Preserve is a nature preserve of over 51,000 acres (210 km2) located 20 miles (30 km) south of Sacramento, in the US state of California. The preserve protects a Central Valley remnant that once contained one of the largest expanses of oak tree savanna, riparian oak forest and wetland habitat in North America. Agricultural development has changed the landscape from groves of oaks and tule marshes to productive farmlands.
The Conservation Fund is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a dual charter to pursue environmental preservation and economic development. From 2008–2018, it has placed more than 500,000 acres under conservation management through a program whose goal is to purchase and permanently protect working forests. Since its founding in 1985, the organization has protected land and water in all 50 states, including parks, historic battlefields, and wild areas. The Fund works with community and government leaders, businesses, landowners, conservation nonprofits and other partners to integrate economic and environmental objectives.
Friends of Ballona Wetlands (FBW) is a California non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1978 by a small group of friends, scientists and neighbors who recognized the environmental value of Los Angeles County's last remaining tidal ecosystem. The organization is dedicated to preserving and protecting the Ballona Wetlands through stewardship and educating the public. The FBW partners with the California Coastal Conservancy and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The FBW also partners with faculty and staff from a Catholic college, Loyola Marymount University (LMU), and with Heal The Bay. The FBW was founded in 1978, and legally continued their access in 2003, when the CDFW acquired the private Ballona Wetlands. Public access improved when the Ballona Wetlands became public land.
The Land Trust for Tennessee is a non-profit conservation organization working to protect Tennessee's natural, scenic, and historic landscapes and sites. Since 1999, The Land Trust has conserved more than 135,000 acres (550 km2) of land across 65-plus Tennessee counties.
Pacific Forest Trust is an accredited non-profit conservation land trust that advances forest conservation and stewardship solutions. Its mission is to sustain America's forests for their public benefits of wood, water, wildlife, and people's wellbeing, in cooperation with landowners and communities.
Valer Clark Austin is a permaculturalist involved with desert greening. Based in southern Arizona, she is known for promoting ecological restoration through water conservation and holistic land management.
