Bamberger Ranch News
Drought Continues
Standing in the once flowing Miller Creek creek bed, this view of Madrone Lake depicts the severity of the continued drought. From November 2005 to November 2006, we accumulated less than 19” of rain and none of those were prolonged or heavy enough to infiltrate our “perched aquifer” system. Unseasonably warm winters and hot summers have exacerbated the problem as we watch our stock tanks and ponds continue to evaporate. JDavid described this as the worst he’s ever seen it in the 37 years he has owned Selah.
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.
Mr. Bamberger Honored by The Living Desert at 35th Anniversary Fundraiser
J. David Bamberger recently won the Palm Desert, CA's Living Desert Zoo and Garden's 4th annual "Tracks in the Sand Conservation Award". He was presented the award during their 35th anniversary gala event. The award recognized the 20+ years worth of work the Bamberger Ranch Preserve has done with the species survival program for the Scimitar Horned Oryx. Local volunteer and artist, Kathleen Marie Wilson, contributed to the event by donating one of her beautiful Oryx prints to their silent auction.
Visit The Living Desert site for the complete announcement
Dedication to the Stars
Unveiling the newly designated star gazing area was part of our January 2006 Volunteer Appreciation Party. More than 60 people attended and participated in our memorial dedication for long-time volunteer, Earl Carls. Earl was lovingly referred to as our "star aggie" at the ranch, as he shared his joy and his passion for the night sky with countless school children during their visits to Selah. Earl passed away in December 2005, and he will be dearly missed. The star gazing area is located near the Center and will be used for future educational programs. Volunteers with the Austin Astronomical Society have continued offering star gazing opportunities at Selah, and they add a valuable component to our educational programs.
In Memoriam
The staff of the Bamberger Ranch would like to say a warm good-bye to our dear friend, Mr. George Beere, who departed this world on July 5, 2005.
Mr. Beere lived a long, happy and fulfilled life, and started a wonderful friendship with Selah two years ago. In 2004 he was our largest donor to the Bamberger Ranch Preserve. But more importantly, he visited every month, sharing stories, poems and smiles with the Bambergers and the Selah Family.
In April of 2005, we dedicated our new greenhouse to Mr. Beere. Among his many lifetime accomplishments, he started two successful nursery businesses in San Antonio, the Rainbow Nurseries. We built our new greenhouse in order to better facilitate our reintroduction program of the federally listed endangered species of tree, the Texas Snowbell, and we could think of no better way to honor such a great man. Vaya Con Dios, Mr. Beere, we will miss you.
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.