A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop will be held on Sept. 29 at Gold Hall, 101 Elm St., Hallsville. This is a multi-county event hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service offices in Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Panola, Rusk and Upshur counties.
The conference is offered as a joint effort by AgriLife Extension and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.
The free workshop will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2p.m. with lunch provided. An RSVP is required by Sept. 25 to one of the hosting counties. An RSVP is required by Sept. 25 to one of the hosting counties AgriLife Extension offices.
Three Texas Department of Agriculture integrated pest management continuing education units will be available. Advanced training credits will also be offered to Texas Master Naturalists who attend the event.
Program focus
This workshop will focus on East Texas watersheds and many local efforts to improve water quality. Topics covered will include basic watershed function, water quality and voluntary best-management practices to minimize bacterial contamination originating from grazing livestock and feral hogs.
“The goal of the Lone Star Healthy Streams program is to protect Texas waterways from bacterial contamination originating from livestock, wildlife and invasive species that may pose a serious health risk to Texans,” said Leanne Wiley, AgriLife Extension program specialist and Lone Star Healthy Streams coordinator, Bryan-College Station. “The aim is to increase awareness, provide educational materials to Texas producers and landowners, and encourage implementation.”
Protecting the watershed
In addition to the sessions on livestock, weed management and feral hog management, technical and financial opportunities available from local soil and water conservation districts, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Sabine River Authority will be discussed.
Funding for this effort is provided through a Clean Water Act Section 319 nonpoint source grant administered by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
For more information, contact Wiley at 979-240-8407 or leanne.wiley@ag.tamu.edu; or AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agents Matt Garrett in Harrison County at 903-935-8413 or matt.garrett@ag.tamu.edu, or Shaniqua Davis in Gregg County at 903-236-8428 or shaniqua.davis@ag.tamu.edu.
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