COLLEGE STATION — Three upcoming educational and informational opportunities in October and November will be held for residents of the Plum Creek watershed area, as well as area stakeholders and members of the Plum Creek Watershed Partnership, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel.
Oct. and Nov. educational and informational opportunities on feral hogs, environmental issues and other topics for residents and stakeholders in the Plum Creek watershed area will be presented in San Marcos, Schertz and Lockhart. (Texas AgriLife Extension Service photo)
The first opportunity is a Feral Hog Workshop to be presented from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 at the Texas AgriLife Extension Service office, 1253 Civic Center Loop in San Marcos, said Richard Parrish, AgriLife Extension agent, Hays County.
Two Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide applicator continuing education units — 1½ in general and ½ in laws and regulations — will be offered at the program.
Topics will include basic biology and history of feral swine, laws and regulations regarding feral hogs and feral hog control, Parrish said.
Attendees should preregister with the AgriLife Extension office in Hays County. The cost is $15.
For more information or to preregister contact the Hays County Extension office at 512-393-2120 or email Parrish at re-parrish@tamu.edu.
Nikki Dictson, an AgriLife Extension program specialist in College Station, said the second opportunity will be the first-ever Central Texas Environmental Summit in Schertz hosted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The summit will be held from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Nov. 3at the Schertz Civic Center.
According to the summit agenda, agency commissioners will speak about environmental issues along the San Antonio/Austin I-35 corridor. Following presentations, participants can attend town hall meetings with elected officials or visit exhibits presented by the commission, state agencies, groundwater conservation districts, river authorities and councils of governments.
The summit is free but requires registration, Dictson said. Attendees should register at http://www.tceq.texas.gov/assistance/summitsreg.
Additional summit information can be found at http://www.texasenvirohelp.org/ or by contacting Nathan Weiss in the commission’s San Antonio Regional Office, 210-403-4092.
Dictson said in addition to the workshop and summit, there will be steering committee meeting of the Plum Creek Watershed Partnership from 6-9 p.m. on Nov. 10 at Lockhart State Park Recreation Hall, 4179 State Park Road and Farm-to-Market 20, west of U.S. Highway 183 in Lockhart.
Main agenda topics will include discussion of the update to the Watershed Protection Plan to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as updates on the Kyle Clean Water Act §319 Implementation Grant and new City of Kyle Water Reuse Feasibility Study, Buda Wastewater Project, Plum Creek Feral Hog Education Program, implementation of agricultural best management practices and the new Plum Creek Implementation Grant.
“These upcoming opportunities will provide Plum Creek watershed area residents and other stakeholders with a lot of information on water quality and other environmental issues of importance to the future of their community and this vital water resource,” Dictson said. “We hope these opportunities also will help promote further interest and involvement in water conservation and water quality improvement efforts in the area.”
For more information on these opportunities and the Plum Creek Watershed Partnership, go to http://plumcreek.tamu.edu/. The website also contains several publications on feral hog issues which may be downloaded.
Funding for the development and implementation of the watershed protection plan for the Plum Creek Watershed Partnership was provided through a federal Clean Water Act §319(h) grant to the Texas AgriLife Extension Service from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
-30-
