2021 TWA VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR

Article by David Brimager Photos by David Smith

Each year, the Texas Wildlife Association staff recognizes someone from one of the three areas of our mission. This year, TWA recognized a volunteer from both the Texas Youth Hunting Program as well as Conservation Legacy program.

Volunteers of the Year Texas Youth Hunting Program

Gary and Kathy Glass accept the TWA Volunteer of the Year Award from TWA CEO David Yeates at WildLife 2021.

Our 2021 TWA Volunteers of the Year representing the Texas Youth Hunting Program are Gary and Kathy Glass. Gary and Kathy have been TYHP volunteers for 13 years and Area Coordinators for 9 years. As Area Coordinators, they were responsible for an area of the state that includes over 20 counties. In the 2019-2020 season, Kathy and Gary were involved in 12 hunts as Lead Huntmasters, cook or guide. And, in the 2020-2021 season, they were involved in five hunts. To put that into perspective, that is almost every weekend of the hunting season in 2019-2020.

Gary and Kathy run excellent hunts and they are involved from the very beginning of the new hunter recruiting process. Both Gary and Kathy are longtime Hunter Education instructors. They hold some of the largest Hunter Education classes in the state. Both have had numerous classes over a hundred students. They are legends in the Concho valley; it is likely that if you took Hunter Education in the last 15 years in the San Angelo and surrounding counties, Gary and Kathy were your instructors. Based on the points awarded by TPWD Gary’s next level of recognition is the Hunter Education Hall of Fame and Kathy is only two levels away from her Hall of Fame Award. The Hall of Fame is the highest level of recognition offered by TPWD Hunter Education.

For the past five years, every June, Kathy has also run the “Bring Your Daughter to the Range” event, a Kathy Glass initiative. Since its beginning, it has never had less than 100 young women in attendance. Congratulations Kathy and Gary as the 2021 TYHP Volunteers of the Year!

Volunteers of the Year Conservation Legacy

(L-R) Iliana Peña, Mary Pearl Meuth, Tamara Trail and Kassi Scheffer. Meuth and Trail were named TWA Volunteers of the Year at WildLife 2021.

This year, the CL program had two people who stood out and have shown true dedication, a real commitment of their valuable time and a willingness to share their knowledge and experience to the benefit of this organization. The first awardee was Tamara Trail, a landowner and conservation advocate. Tamara’s work experience ranges from endangered species issues and hands-on range management to program development and nonprofit management.

She gained her appreciation for conservation education while working for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in partnership with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. She then joined the staff of the Texas Wildlife Association and spearheaded the development of its Conservation Legacy program. Tamara served as the Vice President of Conservation Legacy until 2008 and then transitioned her support as a consultant, allowing her the time to raise her family and engage with other organizations.

The second awardee was Mary Pearl Meuth, a passionate steward of the land. Mary Pearl worked briefly for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Bell County prior to joining TWA in 2011 as the first L.A.N.D.S. Educator. Based in the Houston area, Mary Pearl was instrumental in developing the Wildlife by Design program, our bird Discovery Trunk and one-day teacher workshops. She also served the Brenham Community as the L.A.N.D.S. Intensive Educator.

She is currently serving as Program Coordinator for the Texas Master Naturalist Program. Along with coordinating the over 8,000 statewide Master Naturalist volunteers, Mary Pearl and State Master Naturalist Coordinator Michelle Haggerty compiled edited and publishing the Texas Master Naturalist Statewide Curriculum which contains 24 units including subjects such as geology, ornithology and wetland ecology. We cannot thank them enough for making the future of Conservation Legacy a passion project.