GET TO KNOW Local environmentalists

1) What do you currently do at the RNC? What I have been doing for the last couple of years is exhibits. I was just working on one about the dinosaurs and birds — which is a lot of fun. I would come up with the concept and find props and would try and develop programs that would go along with it.

2) What was the purpose of the RNC when you first started? To foster greater awareness of the natural resources of The Hill Country through education, information and by example. It was around ‘87 and ‘89 when we became an organization. We bought the current building in ‘92. There was an old house here that got recycled and in 1993 we planted the trees that are out there. There’s about a hundred different species and our focus is The Hill Country and so these are native plants and they provide good things for the wildlife.

3) Can you tell me what impact you want to leave on the community? Well we live in a really unique part of Texas. We are at a meeting grounds of different plant communities, and we have great diversity. What people often don’t think of is that there is nature in the city. With the river and certainly now with the river trail, they have access to that and it’s really just trying to get people to understand how it is all connected. All the 4th graders from KISD come for an all day field trip, and they’ve been able to get the 2nd graders, and one big component is the river. We also planted all the wildflowers and trees here and because of that we have documented 160 species of birds including pelicans and 90 species of butterflies — and that is all in the city.

Susan Sander, Riverside Nature Center founder. Interview by Parastoo Nikravesh. SUSAN SANDER

It is my happy place. The more I read, study — because I’m an observer and I’m constantly reading about it and being in it — the more I can see the interconnections and it is just pretty awesome. To know that this river goes to the gulf and then becomes a part of the whole big water cycle is pretty cool. If you’re drinking water in Kerrville out of the tap it’s coming from this river. I think we have a real vested interest in knowing about the river and caring about the river and caring for the river. It is literally a lifeblood thing. So having the river trail to me is just awesome.

5) What is something you’ve learned recently about nature that you find interesting? Probably is that when you look at a hummingbird you’re looking at a dinosaur. Because the things that make a bird a bird started back in the dinosaurs. I think one of the quotes I read was something to the effect that when you look at a bird you’re seeing this evolutionary process of miniaturizing dinosaurs. They just keep getting smaller and smaller. Birds have characteristics like hollow bones and so did dinosaurs and it is really cool.

5) What do you like to do the best at the RNC? If there are kids here I love to do instruction. My generation can lament the loss of things like a field of wildflowers getting developed — which is a loss to me — and not seeing as many birds as we used to, but for kids today this is their nature. This is where it starts. When we did the Ice Age exhibit we tell them we had mammoths walking around this region and deer. So when they go outside and see a deer they’re looking at an Ice Age animal. There’s a lot of wonder and there’s a lot of things to see, but it’s not always going to be showy. If you know what you’re looking at it’s going to be really cool. And I am so grateful to the community for all they do because it is volunteers that work here and we appreciate them so much.

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TRAVIS LINSCOMB

Travis Linscomb, Upper Guadalupe River Authority natural resource specialist. Interview by Parastoo Nikravesh.

1) Could you explain to me what your roles are at the UGRA and the work the organization sets out to do? Water quality and quantity monitoring, increasing the knowledge of the public on water related issues and investigating water quality concerns.

2) What interested you about this field of work? Having the opportunity to spend a large amount of time in a beautiful work environment and to continue to build my knowledge of the intricate ecological processes going on in the Texas Hill Country.

3) What long term goals do you have working in the environment field? Being in my position allows me to do hands-on work towards my long term goal of helping to restore pieces of God’s wonderful creation so that future generations can enjoy the feeling that I feel when in nature. It also affords me the opportunity to pass my knowledge on to others so that they may, in turn, be good stewards of the land and of the water.

4) What do you like best about nature in The Hill Country? No matter your familiarity with the organisms found here, the likelihood that you will see something that you haven’t seen before is very high, and this is due to the large diversity of species found here.

The Guadalupe River is home to a diverse abundance of aquatic invertebrates. Those are organisms like dragonflies, damselflies, mayflies, hellgrammites and water striders. We can tell a great deal about the quality of the water in the river by looking at the aquatic invertebrates that live there so before you say ‘eww gross, I’m never swimming in the river again,’ remember that if they weren’t there, the river wouldn’t be worth swimming in.

6) Is there anything else you’d like to share? Tara Bushnoe and I have enjoyed working together for over 10 years and being a part of the team at UGRA. We feel blessed to be able to serve our community and help protect the Guadalupe River.

Tara and Travis of the UGRA met us at the River Trail by the Dietert Center the UGRA have been working with local partners to restore the slope adjacent to the river. Their goal is to stabilize the slope by reestablishing native vegetation that will slow down runoff, prevent erosion, and keep pollutants out of the Guadalupe River. The picture is down by the water’s edge in the riparian area of the river. That is the dense band of vegetation along a waterway that helps protect the river and stabilize the bank. The plants the UGRA brought were black willow cuttings and an emory sedge that will be planted in the riparian area as part of this restoration project

TARA BUSHNOE

Tara Bushnoe, Upper Guadalupe River Authority Natural Resources Coordinator. Interview by Parastoo Nikravesh.

1) Could you explain to me what your roles are at the UGRA and the work the organization sets out to do? UGRA is a conservation and reclamation district established by the Texas Legislature. We are a steward of the upper Guadalupe River in Kerr County and we fulfill that role through our programs to promote conservation, preserve water quality and enhance water quantity. We also participate in state water planning processes, increase the knowledge of the public on water related issues, and advocate for the water resource concerns of Kerr County citizens. Travis Linscomb and I work together to carry out our water quality monitoring programs and our outreach and education programs.

2) What interested you about this field of work? I’ve had a lifelong love of the natural world and I always knew I wanted to have a career that focused on preserving the environment. My position at UGRA combines my interests in the scientific and technical side of the field with opportunities to work with children and adults through our education programs.

3) What long term goals do you have working in the environment field? I enjoy working with landowners to encourage practices that are good for the health of the land, and therefore the water. I hope to increase that outreach in the future. Since the vast majority of Texas is privately owned, we can all help preserve the environment for future generations through our actions and activities on our own properties.

4) What do you like best about nature in The Hill Country? I like the extremes we see from year to year. Since we have frequent years of drought, when we do get rain at the right time, nature responds in abundance. For me the spring of 2019 was so astonishing because I saw more plants blooming than I had ever seen before.

5) What is something people might not know about the River? Flooding plays a crucial role in keeping the river ecosystem healthy. For example, the flooding in October 2018 improved habitat for our state fish, the Guadalupe Bass by flushing out areas covered with silt and vegetation. As a result, many more Guadalupe Bass were born in Kerr County in 2019 suggesting improved opportunities for fishing in the years to come.

6) Is there anything else you’d like to share? People who work in careers to preserve nature are not just those working outside and getting their hands dirty. One of our primary roles at UGRA is to monitor the health of the river through routine water testing. The UGRA Environmental Laboratory maintains a national certification and is able to analyze all the samples Travis collects from the Guadalupe River in addition to samples for customers providing drinking water or wastewater services. The lab is an incredible asset and without them we would not be able to get results for over 2,300 parameters on the river like we did in 2019.

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