Volunteer Opportunity: Texas 2014-2015

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chris_mcmartin
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Joined: June 9th, 2010, 12:13 am
Location: Greater Houston TX Area
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Volunteer Opportunity: Texas 2014-2015

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Passing this along in case someone can help, either by volunteering or by arranging for private land to be surveyed:
On an unrelated note, part of my dissertation research involves conducting surveys for reptiles in the Great Plains – including a big chunk of western Texas. I’d like to get access to some private rangelands if that is something your group members could help with? I also would like to have volunteers conduct surveys (following a fairly simple survey protocol) in 2014-15. If you have any ideas about how SWCHR could help promote this, I’d be happy to have any input you’re willing to provide! Thanks for considering this and please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have questions about the project.

. . .

Definitely feel free to pass my e-mail address along to anyone who may have questions about my dissertation work or who is interested in helping out. Much of the Great Plains is privately-owned, which is one reason why I wanted to test this survey in the region. Land access even on public lands can be an issue. The only species in west Texas that is currently proposed to be listed under ESA is the Massasauga, and we honestly didn’t detect any of those this summer during surveys. Listing decision last I heard won’t happen until 2016. Having grown up in Kansas and worked with private landowners in Colorado and Kansas over the years, I have always said that ranchers who don’t take good care of their rangeland won’t be in business very long. If they have good rangeland, there will be wildlife as long as the wildlife aren’t harassed. Most ranchers I’ve met are the best land stewards out there.

One other point I should make here is that if private landowners don’t feel comfortable letting volunteer surveyors on, they can just let me know and we’ll just have the paid survey crew survey the property. One thing that has come up with landowners here: no, we won’t kill rattlesnakes on private property. The point of the survey is to get an idea of where reptiles exist currently, and thus we don’t want to potentially alter populations by removing individuals. I don’t usually bring this up unless asked about it though. If you want me to pull together a 1-page list of talking points that could be sent directly to landowners, I could have something ready next week if you think it would help.

Thanks again for your interest and any help you can provide!

Best regards,

Danny Martin – Ph.D. Student, Ecology
[email protected]
(970) 219-8029 cell, (970) 491-3151 office
Natural Resources Ecology Lab / Colorado State University
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