The Hays Humm - March 2022
Photos by Betsy Cross
February and March are ideal times to make a day trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. For the past two years, I’ve managed to make a quick trip down and take a few pictures. Both times I was rewarded with a diverse experience. I typically see a good number of adult alligators in the sloughs along the trail, but in 2020 I spotted a pod of baby alligators—a dozen or more—piled up together on a floating log tucked behind a curtain of marsh grass. That same year the refuge identified its first bald eagle nest since 1971. What a bonus it was to see the whoopers, the baby alligators, AND the bald eagle fledgling on a single trip—and over 30 different species I documented in just a few hours. I hope to drive down again soon, and I encourage others to do the same. With a little luck, we might get a glimpse of the overwintering whooping cranes, plus you never know what surprises could be waiting around the next bend of the trail.
Bald Eagle Fledgling February 2020 — This was the first reported bald eagle nest at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge since 1971. It was out in the marsh and not approachable by foot, which made for a long distance shot. When I returned in March 2021, the nest was still visible from the road, but I did not see an adult or a juvenile bald eagle.
The Whooping Cranes of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
The following historical articles were provided by Tai Gunter, Conservation Chair of the South Bend-Elkhart Audubon Society in Indiana. Tai has been digitizing 75 years of scrapbook archives and boxes of documents collected by his Audubon Chapter. He thought I might find these interesting.
February 1946 -Whooping crane report by Jack Van Coevering of the Detroit Free Press
January 1949 - Whooping crane update published in My Weekly Reader
“The population was at 15 [migrating birds] when Allen began his work in 1941… Allen concluded that overdevelopment; habitat loss and unregulated hunting were the main causes for low numbers of whooping cranes, roseate spoonbills, and flamingos. Allen changed the ways Americans thought about wildlife through education programs. In 1973 his efforts ultimately led to the passage of the Endangered Species Act.“ — Wikipedia
February 2020 - Aransas Whooping Cranes
Betsy Cross
A Whooper of a Story
In early 2018, Wildlife Biologist Lee Ann Linam made a presentation to the HCMN Chapter about whooping cranes. Many things in her talk stood out, but what I remember most are the stories she told of living on site at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge when she was a child. I was able to catch up with Lee Ann just before she left town last week to support the Whooping Crane Festival —held in Port Aransas each year the last weekend in February. She shared the following with me:
My family moved to the refuge in 1973 when I was twelve. We got there late on that first night and didn’t even know what it looked like until the next morning. My dad was the Refuge Manager for 13 years. He remains the longest serving manager of the refuge. I was always interested in the outdoors and animals; people brought us wild animals that had been raised by hand—a pet deer and a great horned owl that hung out in the tree by our house. The javelina would come up to our fence. It was a great place to ride my horse!
There were 45 whoopers at Aransas in 1973—the only flock of whooping cranes at the time. The primary conservation focus then was on habitat and land management. Matagorda Island was obtained along with other properties that expanded the cranes’ overwintering grounds. Prescribed fires conducted in the uplands resulted in more diverse food sources for the whooping cranes. Researchers started doing some of the first radio tracking of whooping cranes, which helped them locate and protect stopover areas during their migration [between Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada** and Aransas National Wildlife Refuge].
One of my favorite things to do was to go into the waterways and see the whoopers from the marshes. I also participated in the Youth Conservation Corps, where we did bird counts. When I was a senior at A&M, I became interested in the people aspect of wildlife management, and I participated in an environmental economics project. I reconnected with Aransas, where we surveyed visitors about the value of the whooping cranes. We asked them what they would be willing to pay to ensure recovery and sustainability of the whooping cranes. The resulting conclusion of the study yielded an overall value of $1.6 billion. The City of Rockport alone estimates that whooping cranes bring $6 million of revenue to the city every year.
In 2021, the total estimated whooping crane count was ~808 birds:
506 in the Aransas - Wood Buffalo Flock**
138 captive birds
80 in the Eastern Migratory Population—this population has been raised by people in whooping crane costumes and is taught to migrate by following ultralight planes
75 in a non-migratory population in Louisiana that started about 15 years ago
When the Port Aransas Whooping Crane Festival began in 1996, there were no whooping cranes there at all. But today, whoopers can be seen on Mustang Island and up and down the coast. There is one family of cranes at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center boardwalk in Port Aransas. You may also see them at Holiday Beach just north of Rockport and around the Big Tree at Goose Island State Park.
**Wood Buffalo National Park protects the nesting area of the last natural wild migratory flock of whooping cranes left in the world. The population of the Wood Buffalo – Aransas wild migratory flock has increased to an estimated 505 birds as of 2018. This is the highest count yet for this wild migratory flock since their near-extinction in the early 1940’s.
In 1941 when Robert P. Allen began his work— sited earlier in the 1949 article from My Weekly Reader—there were 15 migrating whooping cranes. To learn more about Allen and and his work, Lee Ann recommends a book by Kathleen Kaska: The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story.
Lee Ann’s experience as a youngster growing up at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge influenced her decision to attend Texas A&M, where she got a Bachelor of Science, Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences degree. Upon graduation, she worked for 30 years as a Wildlife Biologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, specializing in wetland ecology, herpetology, citizen science, and conservation education. Lee Ann is an active volunteer in the Hays County Master Naturalist Chapter. See how our chapter benefits from her expertise in a September 2021 Hays Humm article by Lee Ann, Mussel Beach, a Wild About Nature program she led at Blue Hole.
March 2021 — Can you ID these birds? Whooping Cranes? Pelicans?
Betsy Cross
Maybe this shot is more helpful?
Still uncertain? Then check out these comparative photos from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
American White Pelicans can look like Whooping Cranes in flight. They have a large wing-span (9 feet), and the long bill can give the appearance of a long neck in flight. Unlike the Whooping Crane, their legs do not extend beyond the tail in flight, and the black on the wings extends all the way to the body. TPWD Texas Whooper Watch: Whooping Crane Look-alikes
I was a bit disappointed that my March 2021 photos of 12 Whooping Crane look-alikes were actually American White Pelicans, but it didn’t dampen my enthusiasm or enjoyment of a fun-filled trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.
Enchanted Rock Natural Area
Photo: The Nature Conservancy, https://www.nature.org/
by Tom Jones
My first visit to Enchanted Rock (E-Rock) was in 1975 before it became a state park. When I was a geology student at the University of Texas, E-Rock was one of the stops during my first summer field camp. It was the first time I had seen Texas pink granite. I have made many trips back to this magical place since then. When my kids reached middle school, I started guiding private tours of the park with various organizations. As my wife will quickly point out, she accompanied me during most of the 5 years that I led E-Rock tours. After many of our annual trips, she wanted to stay in Fredericksburg, hiking the sidewalks, visiting shops, stores and wineries. I got the message, and thus started a long-time exploration of the developing Hill County vineyards.
Enchanted Rock has so many good things to see, and I’ve created a list of my favorite features and stories. If you have never visited E-Rock, I encourage you to make a reservation and schedule your visit as soon as possible.
1. How E-Rock got enchanted? - As temperatures fluctuate, particularly in the evening, the rock can be heard groaning and creaking. This once-mysterious trait lends itself to legends of the "enchanted" nature of the park. We now know that these sounds are caused by the thick sheets of granite contracting and expanding across one another. The Indians believed the Rock to be enchanted because of the eerie sounds emitting from the huge dome at night and the peculiar sound when we walk on it. The noise has been described exactly as if we were walking on a thin crust over a cavern.
2. What is E-Rock? - Enchanted Rock is an igneous intrusion extending deep into the earth's crust. It is one of several moderate-sized plutons, a general term that refers to any igneous body that was crystallized beneath the Earth's surface—a plutonic body. Examples of plutons include Denali (formerly Mount McKinley) in Alaska; Cuillin in Skye, Scotland; Cardinal Peak in Washington State; and Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia.
Granite slabs on the flanks of E-Rock
A good view of the huge granite boulders that are creeping downslope. Their movement is due to the rainwater under the slab freezing, resulting in the slab being lifted very slightly. When the ice melts the slab returns to the base rock in a position slightly lower down the slope. Photo: https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/enchanted-rock-issues-heat-warnings-three-dogs-died-park/
3. How was E-Rock created? - It was created by molten rock cooling and crystallizing deep under Earth’s surface about a billion years ago. Since that time the overlying formations have eroded away to expose the granite. E-Rock began to crack and peel off (slowly) like an onion. The dome itself has classic exfoliation features. Town Mountain Granite is rich in silicates (quartz, feldspar, and dark minerals) and gets its distinct pink color from the abundance of potassium feldspar. Reference: Enchanted Rock Geology: For the Casual Observer or Amateur Enthusiast https://redshoesredwine.com/enchanted-rock-geology/
4. Vernal pools are located near the top of Enchanted Rock. - Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that occur in depressions throughout the park. They are covered by shallow water for variable periods from winter to spring but may be completely dry for most of the summer and fall. Vernal pools are hotspots of life and biodiversity. Translucent Fairy Shrimp are known to live in the dome's vernal pools. The depressions are frequently dry, but the eggs can survive without water, hatching after rain refills the pools. The vernal pools also support rock quillwort—an endangered species of grass only found only in Central Texas. Reference: Texas Through Time
5. Did you know? - Enchanted Rock opened as a state natural area when the Nature Conservancy of Texas purchased the property from Charles Moss in October, 1978. It later sold the 1,640.5-acre property to the state of Texas. The state bought an additional three acres to add to the park. It is a National Natural Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places as an Archeological District. More than 400 archeological sites have been discovered in the park, of which about one quarter are State Archeological Landmarks.
6. Enchanted Rock is 1.1 billion years old. - E-Rock is formed from pink granite which is over 1.1 billion years old. Earth is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old. Enchanted Rock was likely formed when two continents collided. From Fredericksburg, the drive to Enchanted Rock is only 17 miles. The route takes us across 100-million-year-old limestone in Fredericksburg to the E-Rock granite, which is about 1.1 billion years old.
Geologic cross sections ref: Roadside Geology of Texas - Darwin Spearing. Time scale reference https://www.geologyin.com/2016/12/10-interesting-facts-about-geological.html.
7. Enchanted Rock is a Central Texas cultural icon. - It is not only an important Central Texas geologic feature but also a cultural icon that has attracted visitors from the Paleoindians who first settled North America to day-tripping tourists, avid hikers, and interested geology students from every corner of the Lone Star State and beyond. Indeed, almost every Texan visits E-Rock as a rite of passage.
8. Ladybird Johnson urged the creation of the E-Rock Natural Area. - Purchased at the urging of Ladybird Johnson in 1978, the huge pink granite dome rising 425 feet above Big Sandy Creek near Fredericksburg was recently designated a National Natural Landmark. It had already been well known as “enchanted” since the early 1800s, according to centuries-old legends. Reference The Nature Conservancy
9. Humans have lived in the area of E-Rock for 12,000 years. - Native Americans (Comanche and Tonkawa), who observed glittering and flashing at night, especially after rain, believed that ghost fires flickered on top of E-Rock. They also heard the rock creaking and groaning and thought the place was haunted and magical. The flickering lights may be caused by the moon reflecting off wet granite and the creaking noises by contraction of the dome's outer surface as it cools after expanding in the daytime heat. Native peoples believed the ghosts had power to cast spells on intruders. According to local legend, a captive Spanish conquistador who escaped the Tonkawa by finding refuge in the dome’s deep cracks and crevices was thought to have been “swallowed” by the rock to join the spirits inhabiting the place. Reference: R.M. Reed: Geology and Geomorphology of the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, 2011
Vernal Pools on top of E-Rock - Photo reference Reddit link
Photo by Lance Jones
FROZEN BIRDING
Dick McBride
On Saturday February 5, on a cold 26-degree morning, 12 people gathered at the Meadows Center in San Marcos to join Stephen Ramirez for his monthly bird walk. It was chilly, but at least the winds were calm and thus encouraging. It was possibly a good sign that we began seeing a number of birds while we were standing in the parking lot. We spent a half hour watching Orange-crowned Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets among others. As usual Black and Turkey Vultures circled overhead.
Stephen’s bird walks are concentrated in San Marcos, and he rotates birding locations each month, usually visiting most locations a couple of times a year. The standard viewing procedure at The Meadows Center is to make a loop walk from the parking lot to the Boardwalk and back. Along the way on our trip to the Boardwalk, we stopped to view more Orange-crowned Warblers, and American Goldfinches showed up too.
American Bittern - Colton Robbins
It had been a good morning already by the time we arrived at the Boardwalk, but things really got exciting when an American Bittern was spotted in the cattails inside the Boardwalk. It took some moving around to get a good view. The Bittern was very well camouflaged in the cattails; it held its long bill up, blending in perfectly with the cattail leaves.
A Sora and a Snipe were also seen among the cattails. Cattails provide good cover and good hunting for many birds and other wildlife. Robin Wall Kimmerer includes a fascinating chapter about the Native American Indians’ many uses for cattails in her terrific read, Braiding Sweetgrass. Enjoy MN Bob Currie’s book review in October 2020’s Hays Humm.
A short distance down the Boardwalk—and incredibly close to it—we spotted a beaver lodge. One of our party related that he had seen beavers resting on top of this lodge when high waters had forced them out of it. Reports of beavers in the San Marcos area have become more numerous in the past few years, and they are relatively new to The Meadows Center on Spring Lake. We noticed fresh channels in the lake bottom, and some led back to the woods, where tree stumps showed obvious beaver activity. “Nature’s Engineers” are changing the environment in Spring Lake.
Farther down the Boardwalk we had good views of a number of shorebirds and water fowl, including Great Egret, Killdeer, Snipe, Solitary Sandpiper, Pied-billed Grebe, Wood Duck, and Eastern Phoebe.
A final treat awaited us on our return to the parking lot. We had a great look at a Zone-tailed Hawk circling among the Vultures overhead. We tend to ignore the ever-present Vultures, but it is a pleasure to discover other species joining their kettles. It is not unusual for Zone-tailed Hawks to join vultures. These hawks are commonly found in Mexico and Central America, and only about 300 nesting pairs are found in the U.S. This is about as far to the northeast as they are usually seen.
The walk lasted about 90 minutes, which is about average, and we counted 37 bird species. The bird list can be found here. Thanks to Colton Robbins and Lance Jones for their pictures. Click on any photo to see an enlargement.
Our cold start was rewarded by one of the better bird walks this group has experienced.
What is a Naturalist?
Constance Quigley
As naturalists, we spend a lot of time observing. Recommendations and actions are carefully considered, as the consequences can be significant. Sometimes it seems we are philosophers rather than proponents or contributors to ecological sustainability. As naturalists, we frequently decide that doing nothing is the superior path. Waiting and patience are necessary whenever we are working with natural processes. It can be frustrating, especially when we see something that we “know” is bad – for animals, plants, people, water, the land, etc. The naturalist instinct is to react, but the naturalist way is to pause and observe.
Lately I’ve been fascinated with processes that are not easily observed. Such processes are either microscopic or global or have very long timelines, or all three. During our MN training classes we discuss biology, geology, hydrology, meteorology, and anthropology. We study soil and water and the organisms that contribute to and detract from healthy ecosystems. We develop an understanding of the observable world around us.
But we don’t discuss the philosophy of a naturalist, what we hold as our system of thought. We come from a multitude of backgrounds and have widely varying interests and educations, but we all have in common a love of nature. Is that enough to provide us with a unique worldview?
Naturalism as a belief system.
You’ve adopted the title of Naturalist. Does that make you an adherent of Naturalism? It’s an interesting question. You may not know that Naturalism is a formal belief system or philosophy. Like other religions or worldviews, Naturalism has its own tenets founded on the idea that nature is the fundamental source of all existence and can be used to explain everything from the origin of the planet to human behavior.
Essentially, Naturalism asserts that science and empirical principles constitute our primary truth. The supernatural is eschewed as a contributing factor in determining how humans interact with the Earth. As with other belief systems, Naturalism has numerous facets and influences many other doctrines. You could even say that anyone who believes in science is a Naturalist by definition. At any rate, it’s worth exploring this body of thought.
“A naturalistic view of yourself places you completely and irrevocably in the physical world, a fully-connected, card-carrying participant in the unfolding of the material universe. Your life is bounded by birth and death, your consciousness solely the product of your brain, your will the product of thousands of influences, some traceable to the long natural history of our evolution. If your limits are made clear under naturalism, so too is your lineage. The first might keep you humble, the second might give you a sense of place as unbounded as the universe described by science.” ~ Tom Clark, Naturalism.org
A very comprehensive treatment of naturalism can be found at Naturalism.org. I found the section on Applied Naturalism particularly interesting. A Naturalistic focus can have significant impact on behavior in terms of morality and free will. The notion of making all decisions based solely on objective analysis is enticing on one hand and terrifying on the other. Imagine living every day based strictly on your physical needs, like a lion or a lizard. I’m not sure I could make the transition into a non-spiritual creature. Then again, I’m not sure creatures are non-spiritual. Don’t get me started. Here’s another viewpoint of Naturalism from a more religious/philosophical perspective.
Just another trip around the sun or the spirit of Gaia? Some photos of early Spring in Central Texas:
The Gaia Hypothesis: Is the Earth alive?
“In Gaia we are just another species, neither the owners nor the stewards of this planet. Our future depends much more upon a right relationship with Gaia than with the never ending drama of human interest.”
Another Naturalist-oriented worldview or belief system is founded on the concept of Gaia. Named for the Greek god of the Earth – the mother of all life - The Gaia hypothesis was formulated by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the 1960s and has been expanded and refined over the years. Adherents of Gaian theory believe that the Earth is a very complex living system - a self-regulating organism.
One product of the Gaia hypothesis is Earth System Science. The concept of our planet as a system of systems has been widely accepted by NASA and many other science organizations. National Geographic discusses this body of thought and describes the five systems that interact on our planet: geosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.
Gaia as a self-regulating organism is a more questioned concept, although embraced by Aldo Leopold and supported by many scientists in multiple disciplines. The idea that Earth is in homeostasis and that its various systems work together like the organs of a human body to sustain life has not been proven or disproven, arguably because its very complexity defies physical observation. Indeed, so many factors are continuously changing that it seems virtually impossible to predict the outcome of a particular process or event (the butterfly effect comes to mind).
Some thorough reading of the Gaia Hypothesis can be found at Science Direct and at Lovelock’s website. Greenpeace also published a brief history and summary of the Gaia paradigm in 2019, Gaia: Everything on Earth is Connected.
I don’t want to dwell too much on the philosophical aspects of these worldviews, but as a master naturalist I do find them very intriguing. I invite you to share your own belief system or others that offer insight or clarity about the world we participate in. Some very interesting perspectives can be found in indigenous cultures, various ancient civilizations, mythology, etc. I hope that you will join me in exploring them.
In honor of Spring and just because, here are some books I’ve acquired and/or read lately. I highly recommend these for all naturalists.
Charro Ranch Workday
February 12th, 2022
Michael Meves
Thanks everyone for a very productive volunteer day at Charro. Before getting into our accomplishments, a little bit of Charro trivia. Do you know where the name Charro comes from? The previous owner of the property, Lucy Hibbard, named the park after the first names of her step-father Charles and her mother Roberta. (Char-Ro). I doubt many of you knew that!
We experienced a tremendous turnout for the volunteer day last Saturday. A majority of the volunteers helped thin out Ashe junipers and then used the cut branches to build up the brush pile behind the bird feeders. Brush piles are important because they provide a place for birds to nest, hide, and stay warm. I happened to visit the feeders the following day and in the brush pile saw several sparrows (Lincoln’s, Song, and Field), which I hadn’t seen before this season. It may be a coincidence, or maybe the larger brush piles are helping the birds.
We also started preparing the areas for the new native species demonstration gardens that will be planted this spring. Volunteers laid down small stones to outline the garden borders. The gardens were designed by former Charro Ranch Park volunteer coordinator Sue Harding. Sue prepared the application to receive a grant from the Willet foundation for $1500, which was recently approved. The funds will be used to purchase the plants and soil amendments as well as a shipment of water to get the plants started.
Other activities included removal of invasive Johnson grass in the park, adding more mulch to the trails, and removing from the walking paths some partially buried boulders which were tripping hazards. Finally, volunteer Irene Bonde suggested we pull the grass from the joints of the solstice circle and replace it with mulch to prevent future weed growth. Great idea.
Christine Middleton
“The land steward has a keen and sensitive conscience toward the land, and he thinks as much about his responsibility toward the land as he does his rights as a landowner.”
What is HELM?
Habitat Enhancing Land Management (HELM) — It means managing your property in ways that create and sustain a healthy, functioning ecosystem by:
Controlling erosion, invasive species, and other impediments to land health
Increasing the diversity of native wildflowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees
Restoring habitat for birds, butterflies, amphibians, or whatever wildlife you love
And lots more!
Retired wildlife biologist Steve Nelle eloquently defines land stewardship as “… a deeply held inner conviction that motivates landowners to care for and sustain the land entrusted to them.” That’s an interesting way to think about your property—rather than your owning it, the land has been “entrusted” to you to look after. And your commitment is not only to yourself but to the generations that come after you!
Being a good land steward is not difficult. Often it means simply letting nature do most of the work with a few occasional nudges in the right direction. Land stewardship can be enjoyable as well as educational for you and your entire family. How do you start? The first step is learning to read your land. Getting to know the plants and animals that currently inhabit your land can tell you a lot about its past, its present condition, and the likely future. That’s where the process starts. But the journey doesn’t end there as nature never stands still.
To a great extent, the current health of any piece of land depends on how the generations that preceded us treated that land. Over the past one hundred fifty or so years, much of Hays County has seen abuse, primarily overgrazing, unsustainable agriculture, and the war on cedar. In recent years, development and climate change have taken and continue to take their toll. But nature fights back. Watching a piece of land recover can be an extremely rewarding experience.
First Step—Reading Your Land
So what should you look for in assessing the current state of your property? An important first step is getting to know the plants that are growing there. Thanks to modern technology, you no longer need to lug around lots of heavy plant guides and a notebook for recording what you found. Just download the iNaturalist app to your phone and you have everything you need on a device you probably already carry with you when walking around your property.
But don’t stop at simply learning the names of plants. Develop an understanding of why that particular plant is growing in that particular spot. Grasses can be good indicators of what is going on. For example, Silver Bluestem (Bothriochloa laguroides) is a mid-succession grass. That means where you see a lot of silver bluestem, the area is either halfway to recovery or is headed in the wrong direction.
Seep Muhly
Another grass, Seep Muhly (Muhlenbergia reverchonii), tells you what its name implies – there is likely a seep nearby. The line of pink grass shown in the adjacent photo would be very useful in locating the source of extra water.
How can you learn more about the plants you’ve identified? A good place to start is the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s plant database. The entry for Seep Muhly notes that it is found “in dry or moist, limestone-based grasslands and savannas, often near seeps.” Besides growing conditions, the database includes lots of useful information about various native plants, such as whether they like sun or shade, when they bloom, and whether deer like them. In future issues of this newsletter, we will cover in more depth plants found in Hays County and what it means if you find them growing on your property.
Highlights of Upcoming HELM News
The proliferation of certain plants can be an indication that an area was recently disturbed. A classic example is a plant known as Roosevelt or Poverty Weed (Baccharis neglecta) because of its abundance in abandoned agricultural fields during the Dust Bowl days. But just because some, mainly farmers, consider Baccharis a weed doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value. After a flood, Roosevelt Weed on a gravel bar catches soil and speeds the process of building back the river bank. Roosevelt Weed is also a great nectar plant, and fortunately it blooms at the same time Monarch butterflies are passing through Hays County on their way to winter refuge in Mexico. Expect more on under-appreciated natives in coming issues.
Even more unloved and often hated with a vengeance are plants that are considered invasive. To be considered an invasive species, a plant must be both non-native and harmful in some way. But harm is subjective, and debates regarding what to do about them can get rather heated. What is a problem in one place may not be a problem someplace else. And what humans do often influences how an invasive species behaves. For example, non-native King Ranch Bluestem will outcompete native grasses if an area is mowed frequently. But left alone, often native grasses like Little Bluestem gradually move in. And like aggressive natives, invasives often love newly disturbed areas. More on invasives found around Hays County in upcoming issues.
And what about the plant that is perhaps our most hated native, especially by cedar fever sufferers? Sometimes referred to as Mountain Cedar or simply “damn cedar,” Ashe Juniper (Juniperus ashei) is native to the Texas Hill Country and is not invasive. However, the way it is found growing today in many parts of our area is not the way it grew predominantly before Europeans settled here. And the fact that bushy versions of the species are quite often found in areas devoid of soil doesn’t mean they are the cause. Quite the opposite, the junipers are there because the soil was degraded, most likely due to overgrazing. And those bushy-looking trees play an important role in rebuilding lost soil. Next time you find yourself in an old growth cedar forest, reach down and dig just a bit. Grab a handful of what you will discover is very rich soil. More on Mountain Cedar in our next issue.
So be careful about drawing conclusions without doing a bit of research. Ashe Juniper is not the only Hill Country species vilified by confusion between correlation and causation. Another common myth is that ball moss is killing our oak trees. Again not true! Ball Moss is an epiphyte—also sometimes referred to as an air plant. That’s because it only attaches to a branch for support. Unlike Mistletoe, Ball Moss derives nutrients from the atmosphere, not the tree. But because it often anchors itself to dead branches, people assume it caused the branch to die. And Ball Moss is not without benefits. Ball Moss fixes nitrogen. So as dead branches break off during a storm and decay, nitrogen is added to the soil. Also, those clumps of ball moss are filled with little bugs that are food for some of our favorite birds. In future issues watch for more on oaks including true hazards like oak wilt.
Finally, speaking of wildlife, what is growing on your property will significantly impact who comes to visit you. Diversity is the key. Think hard about what animals you want to observe. All of them need food, shelter, and water. In terms of food, many eat different foods at different stages in their lifecycle. For example, birds who eat seeds as adults feed their young a more protein-rich diet – think bugs, primarily caterpillars. And, with the exception of migrants, animals living on your land need to eat year round. So summer/fall blooming plants are as important as spring flowers. And plants like the Possumhaw (Ilex decidua) in the foreground of the picture at the top of the article provide much needed winter nourishment. More on the relationship between plants and wildlife in future issues.
Spread the Word!
We’re here to help! Hays County Master Naturalist has a specially trained team eager to visit and walk your property with you. For free! We will identify plants and teach you to use iNaturalist. We can help you better understand what is happening on your particular property and suggest ways you can become an even better steward of the land entrusted to you. Request a HELM visit.
If you'd like to be added to the HELM mailing list to receive our periodic newsletter, send an e-mail to helm@haysmn.org.
“Where am I going, and why am I in a handbasket?”
The humorous bumper sticker / t-shirt, meant to amuse, aptly describes our awakening to the global climate crisis, which is anything but amusing. We are inundated daily with news of plant and animal extinctions, more severe and costly weather phenomena, rainforest destruction, pollution, glacial and polar ice melts, rapid increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, rising temperatures of both the earth’s surface and the ocean, extended drought and famine. In the face of this torrent of disastrous news, many find themselves becoming hopeless.
image: National Geographic, Hope documentary; biology.com
Subtitled “A Survival Guide for Trying Times,” The Book of Hope explores through dialog one of the most sought-after and least understood elements of human nature: Hope. In a collaboration with Douglas Abrams, Dame Jane Goodall, naturalist and the world’s foremost authority on the behavior of chimpanzees, addresses the dire climate changes we are experiencing and why she has hope we will unite to face our challenges in the short window of time we have remaining. Their conversations touch on vital questions. How do we stay hopeful when all seems hopeless? How do we cultivate hope in our children? What is the relationship between hope and action? The book is structured in 5 sections; What is Hope? Jane’s Four Reasons for Hope; Becoming a Messenger of Hope; A Letter from Jane; and Further Reading. Intertwined with stories of Jane’s experiences in the field and personal challenges both authors have faced, their conversations focus on hope as a human characteristic and how it functions as a key to our daily living, our human progress, and our future.
What is hope?
Trying to quantify an intangible concept is problematic at best. In preparation for the book, Abrams researched the emerging field of hope studies. While initial studies offer tantalizing correlations between hope and success, Jane finds stories more effective than data in her presentations around the globe. Their discussions embrace Jane’s vast experiences in nature and in taking her message of hope to groups large and small. The common denominator in describing hope is that action is an essential characteristic. It is not passive. It is not a Pollyanna avoidance of problems, but a positive way of engaging them. Their animated conversations examine hope’s many facets, offering insights and practical applications. Hope is a survival trait. There is a mechanism within each of us as individuals that steers us toward whatever it takes to continue to live. Can we develop that into collective behavior to preserve not only ourselves but our species?
Jane’s four reasons for hope
Jane travels the world sharing her experience and wisdom and inspiring hope in others. Her hopefulness despite grim global realities is focused around four main reasons for hope: the amazing human intellect, the resilience of nature, the power of youth, and the indomitable human spirit.
While Abrams probes her reasons for hope with challenging questions, Jane answers with stories and examples from her history to illustrate her thoughts. She delineates between human intellect, a tool capable of sending men to the moon and back, and human intelligence, the ability to use that tool in ways that increase the quality of our lives without degrading our world. Our evolving intelligence has led to exploiting our environment in catastrophic ways. The good news is that our intellect can find ways to heal the damage if our intelligence will choose to do it. Our intelligence, when guided by empathy, could develop a new moral code to direct the use of our intellect to our survival.
Her moving stories exhibiting the resilience of nature include the Survivor Tree saved from the wreckage of the 9/11 collapse of the Twin Towers, and the two 500-year-old camphor trees that survived the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Her accounts of nature recovering from disasters, most caused by humans, are inspiring glimpses into the depth of the survival mechanism. She uses these as a foundation for stories of different kinds of resilience and healing, including Native American traditions of herbal medicines and spiritual healing practices. So much in nature contributes to our health and holistic well-being, but we are damaging and destroying it. Life itself has an innate will to live, a survival mechanism. Nature plays the long game and has eons to heal and renew itself. We do not. We must use our human intellect to partner with the resilience of nature and find ways to coexist and survive without destroying ourselves. Nature has survived for billions of years, overcoming ice ages, meteors, super-volcanos and more. Nature will adapt and survive. We may not if we don’t begin to act now, individually and collectively.
In her travels, Jane encounters many young people who feel their “future has been compromised and there’s nothing we can do about it.” Jane agrees with the part about a compromised future. She invokes worldwide and probably very ancient folk wisdom passed down by thinkers such as Suquamish chief Seattle and Ralph Waldo Emerson: “We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” But we have not borrowed it, we’ve stolen it through centuries of ignorance and greed. It’s called intergenerational injustice because the children of the future have no voice or vote in our boardrooms. But Jane disagrees with their assessment that there’s nothing they can do about it. In fact, the talks she likes giving best are to high school and college students because they are so engaged, energetic, and alive.
Jane Goodall Wikipedia.com
In 1991, a dozen local Tanzanian teenagers visited Jane at her home in Dar Es Salaam to discuss things they felt were injustices. From the humble beginning with those dozen teenagers, Jane’s youth program of Roots and Shoots was born. And it’s not just about the environment. Understanding that everything is interconnected, groups are asked to choose three projects that will make the world a better place – for people, for animals, and for the environment – starting in their local community. The main message: every single individual matters, has a role to play, and makes an impact on the planet every single day. The energy and success of the groups is contagious and dynamic. Today Roots and Shoots has grown to over 10,000 groups with hundreds of thousands of members in more than 100 countries. Jane also sees hope in the dynamic activism of youth who understand that for them to have a future, things have to change NOW. That includes our holding current leaders accountable for real effort to find solutions for the problems they have created, as well as preparing to take leadership roles in guiding future decisions. Greta Thunberg has managed to bring global attention to the bleak future our children and grandchildren face. In a speech to the World Economic Forum, she said “Adults keep saying ‘We owe it to young people to give them hope.’ But I don’t want your hope. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day, and then I want you to act! I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if your house was on fire. Because it IS!”
In considering the last and most intangible of her Four Reasons for Hope, the indomitable human spirit, Jane is often asked “How do you define spirit.?” She replies, “Different people will define it different ways. I can only tell you what it means to me. It’s my energy force, an inner strength that comes from sense that I am connected to the great spiritual power that I feel so strongly – especially when I’m in nature.” It is a living force that exists within all elements of nature, including us humans. It is the “stuff” of artists’ epiphanies, intuitive perceptions or insights into reality that give them the vision to create masterpieces. Perhaps it is an indefinable yet very real aspect of all life and connects us to a greater reality that we have not yet developed senses and sciences to quantify. The indomitable human spirit is something that tells us we must go on even when it seems hopeless. And it inspires others to overcome their challenges. Jane continues with the incredible stories of three people who, despite overwhelming odds, developed an almost incomprehensible will, a mindset so contrary to ordinary that it led them to extraordinary achievements others would consider impossible. Jane’s ability to weave these stories into her narrative touch the reader in deep and mystical ways, reaching our innermost feelings, perhaps a collective instinct, a genetically embedded understanding of the nature of being, a place from which our best energies, including hope, emanate.
Becoming a messenger of hope.
Jane Goodall Wikipedia.com
Though she’s 86 now, Jane still travels the world and gives over 300 presentations per year. She speaks to small Roots and Shoots groups in low-income neighborhoods and to world leaders at major conferences. She has founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which supports environmental causes and projects all over the globe. The path to international leadership from her bright but unassuming youth is a fascinating journey, full of coincidences and surprising achievements. She has taken on medical research facilities that use chimpanzees in gruesome experiments and force them to live in small cages; she has fought poachers and criminals who kill endangered animals for bushmeat. There is no challenge too arduous for Jane to tackle. The foundation of that courage and faith is the hope that sustains her. Her determination and ability to inspire gifted and successful leaders to help her accomplish her goals is evidence of the power of hope. Her talent for speaking is not practiced but comes from an innate source that enables her to communicate effectively and emotionally without being over-dramatic. She speaks without notes, believing each occasion will draw forth the needed words to make her message of hope appropriate to the audience and setting. The quiet force of her voice, the passion of her life, and the stories she weaves make her presentations all the more compelling and moving.
As the conversations in the book follow the path of her journey from shy young woman to global public speaker, much of Jane’s philosophy and spirituality emerge. It’s a lively portrait of character and experience, chance and choice, always guided by an inner strength and faith. Though she has had her share of loss and heartbreak, her invincible will moves her forward to address even the gravest challenges, including the crucial challenge of climate destruction. Her gift to the world is her indomitable spirit, founded on her unshakeable hope, and the call to action to save ourselves and our posterity. It is a gift desperately needed in a world seemingly headed down a dead-end road.
The Book of Hope concludes with a personal message of hope from Jane, and an extensive list of references for further reading. For the readers, it leaves us with a renewed sense that as long as there are people like Jane Goodall, we may find an off-ramp on the dead-end road. All it takes is a will to act and an unwavering belief in hope.
