Conservation

Join the Swarm and take part in a week-long campaign of global actions to Save the Bees. Together we will Pester the Pesticide Pushers and Swarm together to BAN Neonicotinoids and other poisonous chemicals. We need to keep the bees alive to pollinate our food!

MONDAY: The Honey Bee Flash Mob Practice Day will be held on the Continental Avenue Pedestrian Bridge. Dance practice, followed by a light display with the North Texas Light Brigade.

Dance and Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpyY9_9y9Qw

Instructional video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrgUXy05KP0&feature=youtu.be.)

We’ll spell out SAVE THE BEES in lights before the beautiful Dallas Skyline and make a video & group photo that you can share with your friends. Come be a “Holder of the Light!”

TUESDAY: Call your legislators today and tell them to ban Neonicotinoids!

WEDNESDAY: We’ll ride the train around DFW in our BEE costumes

THURSDAY: Wear your BEE costume everywhere you go all day.

Do you like short films and documentaries? Intelligent conversation? Great food and cocktails? Check out NTEP’s first Green Screen.

They’ll be showing and discussing a series of short films over a variety of topics, including recycling, waste and water. J.Black's will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the North Texas Emerging Professionals.

Speaker is Lemuel Randolph, director of Arlington Parks & Recreation Department.

Using the experience that he's gained as a director of three other parks agencies, including most recently as the director of Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces in McKinney, Randolph has developed a list of goals for the next year.

Free.

Presentations will cover topics that bluebirders, new and experienced, will find interesting and informative.

Featured Speakers: 

Keith Kridler,author and naturalist - Bluebirds and More 

Jim Varnum,  Texas Master Naturalist -  Native Plant Gardening to Attract Birds and Butterflies 

Other Presentations: Bluebird Basics, House Sparrow Control, and more 

Special Screening: Bluebird Man, a half-hour documentary film about the role of 91-year-old Al Larson in the recovery of the bluebird

Registration:

Standard Advance Registration: $15. Box Lunch and 2 Door prize tickets.    Deadline:  August 9th 

At-the-door Registration: $6. No meal and no door prize tickets. 

Friday Evening Dinner and Social:

Pay-as-you-go dinner at Spring Creek Barbeque, $10 refundable reservation required on registration form.*    

Social immediately after in La Quinta Meeting Room. BYOB (donations for Margaritas).   Deadline: Aug. 9th.

Citizen's Climate Lobby (CCL) is a non-profit nonpartisan organization working on creating the political will for a livable world. CCL's mission is to empower normal citizens, who care about their world, to engage in conversations with their elected officials.

On June 24, five members of the DFW chapter went to Capital Hill in DC and met with Texan congressmen. http://greensourcedfw.org/articles/dfw-citizens-climate-lobby-activists-dc-lobby-congress-carbon-tax. If you care about the environment and want to get involved in getting an effective climate change policy created, come meet us. 

This month, we are meeting to listen to the monthly national call. This month the speaker is Gen. Wesley Clark (ret.), former NATO Supreme Allied Commander. The call starts at noon. 

Info: Shawn Reeder at dallas@citizensclimatelobby.org

The Native Prairies Association of Texas is starting a chapter in Fort Worth. Prairie enthusiasts, master naturalists, bird watchers, landowners, educators and anyone else interested in prairies is welcome. 

Info: Jo Ann Collins, joacollins@gmail.com or 817-689-0098.

Monthly gathering of DFW environmental groups and activists. Items to be discussed.

1)  Denton and the Fracking ban – Learn the blow by blow of Denton City Council that night.  Find out what other cities in Texas are thinking about the same thing.

2)  ALEC – what happened around this Koch-funded group coming to town

3)  Dallas Green Alliance – update

4)  Earth, Wind & Fire Summit – New speakers, the excitement builds. The EarthWindFireSummit.org site is up and running. Register via PAYPAL now!!

5) Your announcements

We are hoping folks from Clean Water Action may also join us to tell us what they are working on.

Info: Rita Beving, Dallas Sierra Club, 214-557-2271 or antiquerita@aol.com.

Workshop includes door prizes, classroom giveaways and every teacher receives a CD with re- sources. Workshop limited to first 30 registrants.

This workshop is for educators with a passion for gardening with children. It will cover the basics of school-year organic gardening, how to connect school curriculum to gardening activities, gather ideas for school garden programs and how to implement a safe habitat for wildlife and pollinators. Learn the links between individual behavior and changes that school gardens inspire and the larger impacts on families, schools and communities. This workshop will cover:

1. Small steps to implement a school garden
2. Native and well adapted plants
3. Pollinators: Special guest the butterflies
4. Gardening with low watering in mind

$25. Info: LDunn@WetlandCenter.com or 972-474-9100.

Project WILD is an interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education program emphasizing wildlife. During this outstanding hands-on workshop, participants will be provided with two curriculum guides filled with more than 150 easy to use educational activities. Incorporate powerful techniques and methods for teaching problem solving and decision-making skills to students. All activities are correlated to state educational standards. 6 hrs CPE available for teachers. Grade Level: K - 12,

$30. Info: LDunn@WetlandCenter.com or 972-474-9100.

Part of the Environmental Education Workshop Series. 

During this workshop, participants will experience the wetland classes taught at the Center. During Wetland Ecology participants will observe and collect data, determining water quality through biotic and abiotic parameters. Plants - Work Horse of the Wetland will give participants the opportunity to identify the key plants of the wetland, collect samples and learn how they function and their unique adaptations. Soil testing will help in determining if plants are doing their job. Each participant will receive a 330 page “Wonders of the Wetland” curriculum guide. Grade Level: 5th - High School. 6 CPE Credits available for teachers.

$30. Info: LDunn@WetlandCenter.com or 972-474-9100.