Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop set on March 20 in Benavides
Focus on watershed health and best management practices for grazing livestock, nilgai and feral hogs
A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop focusing on Baffin Bay will be held March 20 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Benavides.
The free event, which includes lunch for all attendees, will be held at the Garza Party Barn, 11659 U.S. Highway 339. Registration is available by calling the AgriLife Extension office in Duval County at 361-279-6379.
The workshop is offered as an educational component of the San Fernando and Petronila Creeks Watershed Protection Plan in collaboration with the Bringing Baffin Back initiative, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, TSSWCB.
Program focus
The program will discuss basic watershed function, water quality and voluntary best-management practices to reduce bacterial contamination in the San Fernando and Petronila creeks watershed, including Duval, Jim Wells, Kleberg and Nueces counties.
The program will focus on rangeland management of grazing livestock, nilgai and feral hogs. In addition, technical and financial opportunities will be discussed.
“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 of nonpoint source pollution, provide educational materials to Texas producers and landowners, and encourage implementation.”
Protecting the watershed
AgriLife Extension, Bringing Baffin Back and TSSWCB advocate for best management practices to impact the watershed and Baffin Bay positively.
In addition to the sessions on livestock, nilgai and feral hog management, Athena Frasca, watershed coordinator for Bringing Baffin Back, will share an update on the San Fernando and Petronila Creeks Watershed Protection Plan for Baffin Bay.
Petronila Creek and San Fernando Creek are two of the three major tributaries to Baffin Bay.
To read more about efforts to protect the Baffin Bay watershed, visit bringingbaffinback.org. For more on the Petronila and San Fernando Creeks Watershed Protection Plan, visit baffin.twri.tamu.edu.
For more information on the workshop, contact Wiley at 979-321-5950 or [email protected]; Frasca at 361-825-2129 or [email protected]; or John Barton, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent, Duval County, at 361-279-6379 or [email protected].
