Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop set June 13 in Bay City
Focus on watershed health, feral hogs, livestock and pond management
A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop on the Matagorda Basin Watersheds will be held June 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Bay City.
The event is hosted by the Matagorda County Soil and Water Conservation District No. 316 and will be held at the Bay City Service Center, 2105 Ave. M., Bay City.
Registration is $30 and includes refreshments and a steak lunch. Registration is required no later than June 9 by calling 979-245-1138 Ext. 3 or 361-920-5204.
Five Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education credits — one general, one laws and regulations, and three integrated pest management — are available for pesticide applicators.
This year’s workshop is offered as an educational component of the Matagorda Basin Watersheds Protection plan in collaboration with the Texas Water Resources Institute, TWRI, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, TSSWCB.
Program focus
The workshop will discuss watershed health, water quality and voluntary best-management practices to reduce bacterial contamination in the Matagorda Basin Watersheds, which include Matagorda, Wharton, Calhoun, and Jackson counties.
Presentations will focus on feral hog management, best management practices for livestock grazing and pond management. A member of the Texas Department of Public Safety will also provide updates on public safety geared toward agriculture producers.
“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, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Bryan-College Station. “The aim is to increase awareness of non-point source pollution, provide educational materials to Texas producers and landowners, and encourage implementation.”
Topics and speakers
The program will include the following topics and speakers:
- Feral hog management and trapping demonstration — Jay Long, Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute project coordinator, Bryan-College Station.
- Pond management — Brittany Chesser, AgriLife Extension aquatic vegetation program specialist and lead diagnostic scientist at AgriLife Extension’s Aquatic Diagnostics Laboratory, Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, Bryan-College Station.
- Grazing livestock best management practices — Wiley.
- Department of Public Safety update for agriculture producers, Sgt. Steven Yaden, Texas Department of Public Safety.
- Matagorda Basin Watershed update — Matt Stellbauer, research specialist and watershed coordinator, TWRI, Bryan-College Station.
Funding for this effort is provided through a Clean Water Act Section 319(h) nonpoint source grant administered by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Partial sponsorship is provided by Helena Agri-Enterprises in East Bernard.
For more information, contact Wiley at 979-321-5950 or [email protected]; Stellbauer at 979-314-8115 or [email protected]; or Greg Baker, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent, Matagorda County, at 979-245-4100 or [email protected].
