Bamberger Ranch News
Lone Star Land Stewards Regional Award
New board of director and long-time educational volunteer, Ann Cook holds the award while Executive Director, Colleen Gardner (left) and J.David's personal assistant, Lois Sturm (far right) celebrate with J.David. The Bamberger Ranch Preserve was honored, along with other regional private landowners, for excellent land stewardship at a May 2008 banquet.
Snowbells and Selah Getting Help from Local Artist
Local artist, Lotus McElfish has created a Limited Edition Giclée Print of the Texas Snowbells. It comes in two sizes and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the prints will be donated to help conservation efforts at Bamberger Ranch Preserve. The original painting will be in a national traveling exhibition "Endangered Species: Flora and Fauna in Peril" until 2009."
Catch Up on Your Reading
Look for recent articles about Selah's work with the Texas snowbell recovery
project. One was in the most recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine and
the other appeared in the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's quarterly
magazine the "Wildflower". Both articles were written by Melissa Gaskill,
who reported on David Bamberger's 10 years' worth of efforts to work with
private landowners to recover this endangered plant. Neither article
mentions, however, and it is important to note that because of its federal
status as endangered, it is not possible to purchase Texas Snowbell plants
or seeds commercially. The Bamberger Ranch has strict restrictions about
collecting seeds in their native watersheds out in West Texas along the
Nueces and Devils Rivers and then planting those saplings back in to the
watersheds from which the seeds came. A close cousin and uncommon but not
endangered alternative for folks wishing to have beautiful snowbell blooms
in April is the Sycamore Leaf Snowbell. The Bamberger Ranch has been
supplying some seedlings to a few local nurseries like Moyer Tree Farm in
Bulverde and Watson's Tree Farm in Stonewall, and we will have many
available for sale at our May 4th family picnic fundraiser!
Selah Staff Addition
Learn about Justin Duke on the Meet the Staff page.
Solar Reading Room
Our most recent newsletter challenged readers to guess what this was while
it was under construction. Clues were given that it saved water and was good
for the environment. Thanks to a very generous grant from the Still Water
Foundation, this Solar Toilet was installed at Selah in the fall of 2007 and
the building construction was completed in January 2008. Southwest Septic
Loo, Inc. is out of Elgin, Texas, providing this sustainable product that,
unlike a traditional composting toilet, does not need water or electricity
to work - just a little sunlight each day to evaporate waste. The
"unveiling" of our new addition took place at our annual Volunteer
Appreciation Party. In this picture, JDavid had just cut the "ribbon" of
toilet paper and was surprised to open the door and find Margaret hiding
inside! Selah staff hopes this will be another good educational tool for
landowners building in the hill country and wishing to use sustainable
products as well as help conserve water at the ranch.
"Celebrity" Portrait
Selah was selected to be the location for an advertising photo shoot for Paul Mitchell Hair Systems and the talented photographer taking the photographs was none other than world-reknowned Annie Leibovitz. Thirty five make up artists, wardrobe assistants, photography assistants and catering personnel headquartered out of the Hes' Country Store. The "Wildlife Preserve" grassland pasture served as a backdrop for John Paul Dejoria, wife Eloise, son John Anthony and golden retriever Jake. On a very cold morning before school, as a special treat, Annie photographed the Grote family who stood in for lighting and positioning tests. Willow and Grey shared little nature treasures of turkey feathers, deer antlers and a rattlesnake rattle for Annie to take home to her 6-year old daughter in New York. View a larger image.
Silence of the Bees
Members of Selah staff are often asked to give presentations to clubs and meetings on a variety of topics, and community outreach is an important component to Selah's mission. Due to recent and heavy media attention on the disappearance of honeybees and its devastating impact on agricultural pollination, Assistant Director and staff beekeeper, Colleen Gardner has been asked frequently this year to talk on her perspective on beekeeping.
The ranch maintains honeybee hives and this winter, half of its six managed hives were lost. Colleen attributes this loss more to last year's drought - she believes her bees starved, rather than having been afflicted with some mysterious virus. Heavy rains in the spring did not appear to help, as the remaining three hives continued to struggle with honey supplies. However, it was noticed that there were many more native bees this year, most noticeably the bumblebee.
Recently there was an excellent PBS documentary, "The Silence of the Bees" that explained the possible causes of the national decline of honeybees. Visit PBS.org to see a list of things you can do to help honeybees and other vital pollinators in your neighborhood.
Chiroptorium Update
Late this summer, Selah completed its third year of participation in Boston University’s bat population census research with their infrared camera equipment as their grant funding came to an end. However, the research team wishes to continue on their own, and we anticipate population studies to continue into next year. At last count in September, the bat population in the Chiroptorium totaled 121,000, the highest ever documented number since the cave was populated.
The first two "public bat viewings" were offered at Selah in August, which enjoyed good turn-out. Summer 2008 viewing opportunities will be posted on our website next spring.
Public Bat Emergence Viewings
For the first time in its 9 year history, the Chiroptorium is now ready to host a public event for bat emergence viewings!
More than 38,000 bats were counted in late June and now that the babies are flying, the numbers are higher. The emergence itself seems to last about 20 minutes! Ranch staff will be on hand to interpret the show and talk about the ecology and significance of the Mexican Free-tailed bat. Transportation will be on the Bluebonnet and space is limited to 40 adults. Please use the Registration Form to reserve your spot. The emergence times will be announced when we mail you a confirmation letter and map, but plan to be at the parking area near the ranch entrance around 8:15 p.m. for check-in. Cost per person: $5.
Book Update
"Water From Stone" is scheduled for second edition printing in the spring of
2008. Along with new hard-back copies, the book will also be available in
paper back as many schools and volunteer organizations have requested a more
affordable version that can be more widely distributed.
2007 Interns
This year we host Blaine Carnes (pictured Center) who just completed his junior year at Austin College as an environmental studies major with a minor in biology. Also with us this summer is Kimberly Kennard (left) from the University of Tennessee. She is completing her masters under bat biologist, Dr. Gary McCracken. Kim has been a great addition to our interpretive tours and programs about bats and the Chiroptorium. Also pictured is Josh Ruder (right) who has volunteered at Selah for several years. You may have met him at past fundraiser events with his brother, Chance, and their live animals that they happily share and talk about. Josh was a camp counselor this summer at Camp Selah and returned a few days later to help with physical work around the ranch, such as baling hay and helping to eradicate this non-native thistle shown in the photo.
The staff of the Bamberger Ranch Preserve would like to express a warm
"thank you" to Ryan Kingsbery, who spent several months with us as an intern
in much of 2007 and January 2008. A talented naturalist, whose main
interests lie in ornithology, Ryan was a valuable component to our
educational programs. He gained experience leading tours and helping with
school groups while with us, and we wish him the very best as he goes on to
pursue a masters degree and a career in the environmental arena. We miss
you, Ryan, good luck!
Although the Bamberger Ranch does not have a specific internship program, we do have an agreement with Austin College in Sherman, Texas to host a 4-6 week internship experience for an environmental studies undergraduate during the summer months. Occasionally, as was the case with Ryan and with Kim Kennard from the University of Tennessee last summer, we are able to offer time on the ranch to enthusiastic young people who are interested in gaining experience in "people ranching" at Selah.
Drought Recovery
Drought conditions have lessened in the first 4 months of 2007, with the ranch reporting more than 15 inches of rain. Madrone Lake and Miller Creek are full and flowing once again, with beautiful spring wildflowers abundant.
From Selah to Saturn
This photo of Saturn was taken at the ranch in November by Hervé
Lapuente. The picture shows more or less what you see when you
look through a medium sized telescope. Even though Saturn is about 980 million miles away from Earth, it’s giant size and its majestic rings are one of the most beautiful objects in the night sky. Note the tiny dark circle in the middle of its ring called the Cassini
division; a gap that separates its ring structure. Click the image for a bigger view.
Welcome New Directors
Selah is happy to announce three new members to our board
of directors:
They are: Dodge Bamberger, Dr. Robert Cocke and Max Scoular.
All Directors who serve on our board are volunteers and work very hard to promote our mission. At the last board meeting, the directors were challenged by J. David to begin the process of raising endowment money.
Images of Conservation Fund Photo Contest
The Bamberger Ranch Preserve was teamed up in a random lottery drawing with professional nature photographer, Jeremy Woodhouse. Jeremy and the Bamberger Ranch staff were faced with the challenge of creating a 75-image nature photography portfolio to be submitted in a contest of 18 other landowner/photographer teams. The contest began on April 1 and ended April 30th. Teams competeed for cash prizes, but ultimately the non-profit organization, Images for Conservation Fund (ICF) hopes to create an industry that incentivizes land owners to manage open space for wildlife.
The Bamberger Ranch Preserve/Jeremy Woodhouse Team tied for 8 and 9th place! Please enjoy the beautiful photographs that Jeremy captured during his month at Selah.
Texas Environmental Excellence Award!
We are very proud to announce that we won this year’s Texas Environmental Excellence Award in the category of Education. This award is sponsored by the TEEA program of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality agency. Staff accepted the award at a TCEQ banquet on May 10. BRP was judged by criteria such as "Do we encourage other environmental efforts?" and "Do we serve as a model for other efforts?" We believe that we are not only leading by example but also prioritizing education of conservation of natural resources - and changing lives in the process. We are honored by this recognition.
Watch the KEYE News Austin story featuring Selah.
Art for the Oryx
Artist Kathleen Marie has created a Limited Edition fine art print of the Oryx and 50% of the profits from the purchase of this print go to help fund the Bamberger Ranch Species Survival Program.
Seeing Bats in a New Light
Dr. Tom Kunz of Boston University (left) and Dr. Gary McCracken from University
of Tennessee (right) demonstrate the infrared camera equipment used to
help count bats at the Chiroptorium in July 2004. On the color spectrum,
blue is the coolest, and white is the warmest. Note that Dr. Kunz’ nose
is the warmest object in the photo! Staff Colleen Gardner and her husband
Scott are in the background. Coming soon: infrared image of bat emergence.
Read more about the Bat Cave.