Saturday, July 27, 2024
AZLE — Opportunities to learn abound!
Azle Memorial Library hosted a free Eagle Mountain Watershed riparian and stream ecosystem training from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 14. Instructors for the workshop were experts from the Tarrant Regional Water District, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Texas A&M Forest Service and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. The workshop allowed attendees to receive a certification and continuing education units upon completion. Individuals from across North Texas came to Azle to learn more about the local ecosystem and what role rivers play in many facets of life. The day-long seminar covered the role of forests and trees in watershed protection, wild pig management, riparian vegetation and much more.
Joy Douglas, an environmental development planner with the North Central Texas Council of Government in Arlington was one of several dozen attendees at the event. “I just started working at NCTCOG seven weeks ago and I love it there,” Douglas said. “Prior to this workshop I did not really have a vast understanding of what a riparian area is considering where I went to school (Oklahoma City). My educational background didn’t really talk about things of this nature, but since being in Texas and working with the Trinity River through a lot of the projects that I do through my job and at NCTCOG and our partnerships with TCEQ and such I’ve had to learn a lot about the river. It has helped me understand best management practices and I can take a lot of this information back with me and put it into practice with some of the programs that we do specifically with the TCEQ. That’s pretty cool.”
To stay aware of similar upcoming workshops and events, prospective citizen scientists can join the North Texas Blue-Green Infrastructure Network’s contact list at https://denton-bgi-pmaps-tx.hub.arcgis.com/.
