Adventures in Southeast Texas Vol.3 No. 2 Summer 2010
Explore the Neches River with us !
Teacher Professional Development
ELRC Partners
Beaumont: Texas with a little something extra
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Teach
Volunteers are needed to help us with our children's programs. Learn to facilitare classes that help encourage the restoration and preservation of our natural world.
Call: 409-880-8907
A lone brown pelican found his way off the Neches River
up Brakes Bayou in the city of Beaumont.
Special
Trips
For Your Group
Cardinal River Adventures has a limited number of special programs at reduced cost to qualifying student and senior groups. If you are a teacher or work with a seniors group, call for information-409-880-8907.
Neches River
Water Quality
By: Kim Cessac and Debbie Loftus
Water is the most endangered resource on the planet, yet we in the Southeast Texas region are fortunate to have abundant quantity and good water quality of water.
The Neches, Sabine, and Trinity rivers provide Southeast Texas with abundant supply. And, though most people don’t realize it, our water is relatively clean and supports a healthy aquatic community.
We know this because volunteers test various bodies of water in the Neches and Sabine watersheds monthly for an organization known as Texas Stream Team. Texas Stream Team (formerly Texas Watch) is a network of trained volunteers and partners that was established in 1991 with the purpose of gathering information about Texas water resources and making it available to all Texas residents through a public database.
The Lower Neches Valley Authority has been an active partner with Texas Stream Team since 2009, and currently has five stations in the Neches and Sabine watersheds where monitors collect water samples. Volunteers are trained by the LNVA to monitor water quality for core parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, water quality, and E. coli counts. Data gathered by volunteers statewide helps the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and river authorities in their monitoring efforts. If interested in training opportunities with Texas Stream Team, please contact Kimberly Huch with the Lower Neches Valley Authority at
Kim.cessac@LNVA.net
or phone number 409.898.0561 extension 3. Also, the Texas Stream
Team website can be viewed at
http://txstreamteam.rivers.txstate.edu/.
Hmmmm.....
A research group on sea mammals captured a rather odd porpoise on one of its trips. Its peculiarity was thatit had feet. After they had photographed and measured the poor thing, they prepared to set it free.
"Wait a minute," said one of the researchers, "Wouldn't it be a kindness if our ship's doctor here were to amputate the feet so that it would be like other porpoises?"
"Not on your life," exclaimed the doctor, "That would be
defeeting the porpoise.
CREDIT: auxesis/Flickr
Big Foot Exists !
Or not...unless you are talking about the extinct Gigantopithecus pictured above.
There is probably no truth to reported sightings of Big Foot in East Texas or the Big Thicket, but it's fun to fantasize about the existence of this creature in Texas. In fact, you can find stories of sightings of these harry creatures today.
Bigfoot like creatures were real apes that roamed the forests of Asia as recently as 300,000 years ago.
Gigantopithecus was the largest ape that ever lived, standing up to 10 feet tall and weighing well over 1,000 pounds. Some scientists think that Gigantopithecus was bipedal.
Fossil remains of Gigantopithecus verify that there could have been some truth to the myth of the Yeti. Other researchers believe it's possible populations of the creature may have persisted into recent times, giving root to the Bigfoot legend.
The No Child Left Inside® Coalition is composed of environmental, educational, and public health organizations, businesses, civic organizations and other public enterprises, all dedicated to ensuring a comprehensive education for all.
Going Green
Has Greater
Meaning
Today, much attention is given to the preservation and restoration of our natural environment. “Going Green” is becoming an overused phrase to describe any activity that even remotely relates to our natural surroundings.
Not enough attention has been given to the potential nature has to improve your health and maintain your emotional well-being. Living things and our natural surrounding tend to make most people feel good.
Nature takes its place in history as being a source of health and wellness. The stars and planets provided physical and spiritual direction to early humans. Shamans found plants to have healing powers for human illness and injuries. Our natural origins provide us with a strong link to nature.
Back as far as Florence Nightingale, medical professions recognized the natural environment as restorative. Early medical prescriptions often included the recommendation of a trip to the country to convalesce. It is not unusual to have doctors tell their patients to get away for a few days. Go fishing or down to the beach.
Just relax in the great outdoors and forget your problems. Just focus on the wonders of nature and enjoying yourself.
This is third article in a series of articles by Richard Thomas Bothel on the importance
of nature in our lives.
http://outdoorstudies.com
Visit Our
Web Site:
http://nechesriveradventures. org
and Tuesdays 6:00 PM
Trips leave from Riverfront Park in Downtown Beaumont Call 409-880-8907 for Advanced Tickets and Information