Lost Pines Chapter, Texas Master Naturalist Program

...right here at home... in the Lost Pines

Welcome to the Lost Pines Chapter, Texas Master Naturalist Program! You can learn more about our chapter and the Master Naturalist volunteer program here. Master Naturalist volunteers help manage our local natural resources. If you are interested in joining us, or have questions about our activities, please contact us. Members: please use the contact form to update your address, phone number, or e-mail contact information.

The Lost Pines chapter serves primarily Bastrop and Caldwell Counties of Central Texas. These counties are predominantly in the Post Oak Savannah and Blackland Prairie Ecoregions. In addition, our area includes the unique "island forest" of the Lost Pines, - the western most extension of the loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), separated by about 100 miles from the pine forests of East Texas. Species in the Lost Pines are particularly adapted to the drier conditions here, and provide unique habitat for varied flora and fauna which can be seen in Bastrop State Park and Buescher State Park and other nearby natural areas. You can learn more about what makes these parks so special and see pictures of them by visiting our "Discover the Lost Pines" page; you can also find many links to information about the native plants, animals and ecology of the Lost Pines region on our resources page.

Lost Pines Chapter, Texas Master Naturalist Meetings

Bastrop Nature Fest
LPMN Chapter volunteers assisted with guided hikes as well as informing the public about the Master Naturalist Program at Nature Fest (Pam Hohman photo)
Nature Fest Volunteers

Volunteers Bryan Estes, Joan Baker, Susan Crone and Karen Sterling help with Nature Fest

Beetles of the Lost Pines Lost Pines Beetles

(see story about Mike Quinn's beetle photographs)

Chapter meetings generally alternate between the Bastrop State Park Refectory, Red Rock Community Center, and the Lockhart Extension Office, and are at 6:30 PM on the third Monday of each month. Most meetings feature an educational program (Advanced Training unless otherwise noted), and are open to members, prospective members, and the general public.

Aug 16, 2010; 6:30 P.M., Red Rock Community Center - Rachel Bauer, Bastrop County Extension, will provide an introduction to Agrilife Extension: What they do, and what resources they have available for us as Master Naturalists.

Sept 20, 2010; 6:30 P.M., Lockhart State Park - Steve Box, of Environmental Stewardship, will discuss Water resources and protection planning.

Members: Take Credit For Your Volunteer Hours!

Please report your volunteer and advanced training hours each month, using the new (7/2010) Volunteer Activity reporting form. Send your completed reports to Marsha Elrod.

Three new forms are available:

1. A PDF file for those of you that complete time sheets manually and mail them to Marsha,

2. A Word document in which you can insert your scanned signature, or scan after signing and email to Marsha, and

3. A word document including the statement needed for an electronic signature. If submitting your report electonrically, e-mail back to Marsha. Marsha Elrod. If submitting by regular mail, send to 187 Billingsley Hgts., Cedar Creek, Tx 78612).

Update: Dates and Accommodations for 2010 TMN Annual Meeting and Advanced Training

The 11th Texas Master Naturalist Statewide Annual Meeting & Advanced Training will be held October 22-24, 2010 at T bar M Ranch in New Braunfels. The Lindheimer Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist program will be assisting as hosts of this years conference and together we have already planned many exciting trainings and features for the conference. This year, the overnight accommodations will be separate from the conference registration expense. While the conference registration is not yet available, members may begin reserving their rooms at T bar M now. A block of rooms is available to reserve at the special rate of $85.00 per room per night (plus tax, where applicable). The rooms are extremely nice, hotel style rooms. There are also a limited number of 2 & 3 bedroom condos available at $85 per bedroom as well. Obviously, the more people you care to have in your room, the less of a per person cost there will be to you. The majority of the rooms are double/doubles that may sleep up to 4 individuals. If you are planning to share a room with someone, only one person needs to make the reservation, However, once the conference registration becomes available each person attending the conference will need to register for that. If you live close enough to T bar M to commute, then all you will need to register for is the conference once available. ALL ROOM RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE BY September 27, 2010.

You may make your room reservation at this time on-line. The instructions provided to us are as follows:

UPDATE: It is quite amazing that all of the rooms at T bar M Conference Center have already sold out for our Texas Master Naturalist Statewide Annual Meeting & Advanced Training already!!!

As a result, an overflow contract has been set up with the Courtyard Marriott in New Braunfels and they have agreed to honor the same room rates as what we have negotiated with T bar M.

Courtyard Marriott
750 IH 35 North
New Braunfels, Texas 78130
Phone: 1-830-626-4700

You will need to give them the code of: TPWD-TMN for the $85 base rate per room per night. The Annual Meeting will be held October 22-24th, 2010

Again, the overnight accommodations and the Annual meeting registration will be separate expenses. Look for the Annual meeting Registration to become available in Late July/early August with announcements to go to your chapter leadership and here on the listserve once available.

2010 Master Naturalist Class

We welcome graduates of the 2010 Lost Pines Master Naturalist Training Class. Class members-
Back row: Jeannie Jessup, Carl Altman-Kaough, Ralph Smoot, Bob Crone, John Stock, Drew Williams
Second Row: Alice Attaway, Nancy Parish, Nick Nichols, Ann Smoot, Sydney Gorton, Gayla Stock, Susan Smith, Caroline Easley
Front row: Carole Minnix, Tana Rogers, Lori Baumann, Roxanne Hernandez
Not pictured: Phil Cook, Sherryl King, Scott Moore, Kelly Overdorff, Bob Price, Hudson Smith

In the news...

LPMN members Dale Morrison, Jim Estes and Nick Nichols were featured in an article in the Bastrop Advertiser about volunteering at the Colorado River Refuge. (Click here: 248 kB PDF file)

The Lost Pines Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist Program was featured in a recent article by Denis McGinness in the "Smithville Times". Read the article here.

2010 Lost Pines Chapter Officers

LPMN re-elected officers at the December chapter meeting. Our 2010 officers are:

President, Louise Ridlon
Vice President, Walt Elson
Secretary, Liz Pullman
Treasurer, Carole O'Toole
Past President, Mark McClelland
State Representative, Michal Hubbard

Beetles of the Lost Pines

After teaching the entomology class to our class on May 11, 2009, Mike Quinn set up a mercury vapor light outside the refectory for a couple hours to see what might come in. He recorded about 60 species of beetles plus a few other odds and ends including a pseudoscorpion. Mike's photos are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/entomike/BastropStatePark#

Mike notes that Tabor and Fleenor (Insects of the Lost Pines, 2003) only treat about 70 beetle species in their book on Bastrop State Park. No doubt due to the high diversity of beetles, there was almost NO OVERLAP in what Mike found and what they report.

With the assistance of others such as Dr. Donald S. Chandler, Dr. Charles O'Brien, and Vassili Belov, most of the 60 beetle species Mike photographed have been ID'ed. Some of the more noteworthy species include the following four not previously photographed beetles (at least not as live bugs):

Lignyodes varius - Variegated Weevil: http://bugguide.net/node/view/275291

The above colorful weevil was described by LeConte over 130 years ago and has apparently never been photographed save for the Type specimen in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Acanthinus scitulus - Antlike Flower Beetle: http://bugguide.net/node/view/274990

Mike is apparently the only person to have photographed five of the seven Acanthinus spp. All shot since March 7, 2009. http://bugguide.net/node/view/61254/bgpage

Epuraea umbrosa - Sap-feeding Beetle: http://bugguide.net/node/view/275006

Aulonium ferrugineum - Cylindrical Bark Beetle: http://bugguide.net/node/view/275481

Finally, this cool beetle represents a "life family" for Mike: Hydrocanthus sp. - Burrowing Water Beetle: http://bugguide.net/node/view/275017

On May 16, Mike and Brush Freeman did some collecting at McKinney Roughs, which resulted in another interesting assortment of critters: http://picasaweb. google.com/ entomike/ McKinneyRoughsTX #

Discover the Lost Pines Interpretive Hikes (Spring and Fall)

Lead (or take!) a short interpretive hike through the Lost Pines of Bastrop State Park. Hikes are conducted at 10:00 AM on Saturday mornings, spring and fall. We will begin our Fall Discover the Lost Pines hikes in early October, and need volunteers to lead hikes throughout the fall. For information on volunteering to lead a hike, or just taking a hike, click here.