Nash Prairie - Native Prairies Association of Texas

these distinctly un-fun requirements of
office-keeping and she’s met a series of
looming agency grant-related deadlines.
The fun part for her has been applying her
brokering skills to pending prairie conservation
easement negotiations. She’s hired two
exceedingly qualified program directors,
James Alderson and Charles Anderson
who have taken over coordination of the
tallgrass prairie surveys so that these county
surveys can be com pleted on budget and
within the timeframes specified in the grants.
In addi tion, these gentlemen will coordinate
volun teers and manage our own prairie
holdings, while bringing a new level of attention
to the monitoring of our prairie conservation
easements. As one of the volun teers
who have served for years on the monitoring
committee, I say hail and welcome!
Of special note, is NPAT’s recent appointment
to the management board of the Oaks
and Prairies Joint Venture (JV), a collaboration
of nonprofits, and state and federal
government agencies to promote successful
strategies for bird conservation. Our role
there is to focus conservation on our state’s
greatly declining grassland bird populations.
We are ably represented on the board by
ED Dalmara Bayne and by NPAT Board
mem ber and Maddin Committee Chair
Pat Merkord who serves on the JV’s
Technical Committee.
If you missed our summer members’
meeting held jointly last August at Fort
Davis with Texas Society for Ecological
Restoration and the Texas Riparian
Association, you missed an amiable event
with interesting fun people. What beautiful
countryside! What a great venue! We are
still in the early planning stages for the
2009 members’ meeting. If you’ve got
suggestions, let us hear from you.
And now, you might be asking yourself,
how can you add your weight to move
prairie conservation farther along We
have a great need for people willing
to show up and be counted. If you
have an interest in West Texas, consider
joining the Maddin Prairie Committee. If
you have real estate skills, consider serving
on the Property Acquisitions Committee.
If you love North Texas prairies, consider
helping us manage Peters Prairie, or if you
are in Central Texas, the Riesel Prairie. If
you love meeting prairie owners and their
families, join the Easements Monitoring
Committee. If you have special skills
in public relations, accounting, the law,
fundraising, etc. please, please do step
forward. You are needed! Why wait when
Welcome Our New Director!
Letter From the Executive Director
I
am delighted to join NPAT as
their first employee. NPAT has
accomplished a great deal as an
all volunteer organization and I look
forward to utilizing my Master’s degree
in Environmental Planning/Geography
and ten years in nonprofit management
to help them further their goals. And
as the granddaughter of a Czech/Texas
farmer, this is also an opportunity for me
to embrace my roots. Although I lived
in Northern California for several years
and did my research in Africa and Marin
County, I grew up in the Houston area and
have been a resident of the Hill Country
for over twelve years. Growing up, I saw
first hand the benefits of sound ecological
management as applied to farming and as a
graduate student witnessed both ends of the
spectrum when both farmers and ranchers
chose to embrace or ignore the importance
of working with native habitats.
I have long admired land trusts as a
primary vehicle for helping us to conserve
our natural resources; something which
I strongly believe will benefit us all. And
to that end, NPAT has hired two program
directors to oversee the surveying of native
prairie remnants throughout the state. This
project is the result of generous grants
from: Texas Parks & Wildlife, the Dixon
Water Foundation, Houston Endowment,
the cause of grassland conservation is such
a rewarding service Call or email our ED
or myself and we’ll talk about it.
I have now served on the NPAT Board of
Directors for 22 years. I am standing for reelection
to the board to serve for one more
term, to be of whatever assistance I can be
during this exhilarating transition time, yet
this is my last time to serve as an officer. It
has been my honor and my great pleasure
to serve in various roles with NPAT over
these years, always with eyes on the prize
of native grassland conservation. My
attention is turning towards international
grassland conservation and I want to see in
what ways I can be helpful. If I’m blessed
and persistent, perhaps someday I’ll be
emailing reports to this Journal from a
Himalayan grassland plateau!
Prairiely yours,
Kunda Wicce (fna Lee Stone)
and the Meadows Foundation. We will
not only utilize this information to set
our own acquisition priorities, we will
also share the information with related
agencies throughout Texas. Working
together we will be better able to conserve
and even restore both our environmental
and cultural heritage. And by managing
our environment in a sustainable manner,
guaranteeing future generations the
resources they need on every level.
Sincerely yours,
Dalmara Bayne, ED, NPAT
512-847-7615
dalmara_bayne@texasprairie.org
Edith Hoyt, former NPAT Board
Director for seven years from 1992
through 1999, passed away the
second week of December 2008
in Dallas at the age of 99. She was
a caring activist and a dedicated
birder. Edith was a constant proponent
of wildlife protection and an
enthusi as tic volunteer, particularly
at Maddin Prairie Preserve in West
Texas. She was also active with
the Audubon Society and with
the Natural Area Preservation
Association [now Texas Land
Conservancy]. She will be greatly
missed by those who knew her.
2 Native Prairies Association of Texas TEXAS PRAIRIE Journal