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Beaumont: Texas with a little something extra

Here's a great holiday gift:

Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine

Cardinal Completes 2^nd Year on River

       The Cardinal has completed its second year of public tours and floating classroom programs for teachers and students throughout Southeast Texas.
     Public eco-tours on the Neches have grown in popularity and the Cardinal will be expanding its open public trips to include Sunday afternoons and Tuesday afternoons along with Saturday programs.
     Very popular this year were the Cardinal's Senior Trips sponsored by the Beaumont Junior League. These trips enabled seniors at various assisted living homes to take a cruise on the Neches River.
     An outstanding special event for the boat was "Dinosaurs in the River" sponsored by MobilOil Credit Union. Neches River Adventures joined with the Beaumont Energy Museum to provide for boat rides during Dinosaur Day in Downtown Beaumont.
     The Entergy Corporation's sponsorship enabled hundreds of local school children to participate in our River in your Backyard Program. Teachers received special training and their classes traveled on the floating classroom participating in hands on activity designed to improve performance on Texas Standardized tests.
     Many new specialized programs are planned for 2010. Companies and organizations can learn more about sponsorship opportunities by calling 409-880-8907.

Do you have a group planning a visit to the Big Thicket? Ranger Leslie Dubey says that you should call the Visitors Center for information regarding hiking or paddling trails.
     As schedules permit, the Big Thicket may be able to schedule a Ranger to accompany your group. Call:
         409-951-6725

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.

Happy Holidays from
the Crew of the Cardinal!

New Report Published on the State of Our Nation's Birds

     Birds tell us much about the health of the environment. Human activities and global change have a dramatic effect on our birds.
      A new report just published gives us an update on the status of birds throughout the United States: www.stateofthebirds.org
     More than 800 species of native birds live in US terrestrial, coastal, and ocean habitats. Sixty-seven are federally listed as endangered or threatened. An additional 184 species are of conservational concern because of their small numbers and varying threats.
     Of great concern is that at least 39% of the US birds restricted to ocean habitats are declining. This report is free on the Internet and provides important information to every American. Understanding the message from birds tells us much about how to safeguard our own future.

     Are you familiar with this logo? Parents and teachers should go to this Web site to learn more about efforts to give children more opportunities to interact with nature:

cbf.org/Page.aspx?pid=687

Experiences in Nature Improve Your Health

     It may be possible to achieve more appropriate and sustainable good health if we focus not only on specific health issues such as diet and exercise, but also on our frequent interaction with nature.
     The "Nature Deficit Disorder" is a popular phrase coined by Richard Louv in his 2005 book, Last Child in the Woods. Richard cites research saying that we can link many of our children's psychological disorders to their separation from nature.
     The problem goes beyond children. Across the globe we have disengaged from our natural environment largely moving from a rural to urban civilization. Nature influencing the health and well-being of individuals has research emerging from many disciplines.
     Health benefits of nature manifest themselves in our early civilization and an early argument was put forth several decades ago by Edward Wilson with his "biophilia hypothesis." This concept is that an instinctive bond exists between human beings and other livings systems.
     Those interested in exploring his work can find it advanced in his book, Biophilia. This work is promoted and expanded in Bilphile Magazine: www.kfdm.com/

     This is the first in a series of articles on the importance of nature in our lives that we will be including in our newsletters.