Tag Archives: Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

May 5, 2013 · 5:38 pm

Commander Ben Celebrates Earth Day at St. Edward’s University

Commander Ben joins St Edward's Earth Week celebrations

Commander Ben joins St Edward’s Earth Week celebrations

I’ve had an exciting last few weeks that I look forward to talking with you about, but I first want to catch up on some of the great events that I had a chance to be part of in April.

Last year, I was invited to St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, to give a talk about Commander Ben and the Invasive Hunter Academy as part of St. Edward’s 2012 Earth Day events. I had a great time and was honored to be invited to bring the Invasive Hunter Academy back on Monday, April 22, to St. Edward’s 2013 Earth Day celebrations.

Commander Ben and the Invasive Hunter Academy at St. Edward's University

Commander Ben and the Invasive Hunter Academy at St. Edward’s University

It was a beautiful sunny day and turnout for the event was great. Along with my Invasive Hunter Academy display and poster board about my invasive species nemesis, the Giant Reed (Arundo donax), there were lots of great people there with all sorts of Earth Day activities and information. I enjoyed visiting all the tables and meeting some very interesting folks.

Some of the groups I had a chance to speak with on Earth Day included:

Agana Rainwater at St. Edward's Earth Week celebrations

Agana Rainwater at St. Edward’s Earth Week celebrations

Car2Go at St. Edward's Earth Week celebrations

Car2Go at St. Edward’s Earth Week celebrations

Johnson's Backyard Garden at St. Edward's Earth Week celebrations

Johnson’s Backyard Garden at St. Edward’s Earth Week celebrations

Sustainable Food Center at St. Edward's Earth Week celebrations

Sustainable Food Center at St. Edward’s Earth Week celebrations

I want to thank all the people at St. Edward’s for another great Earth Day celebration, and a special thank you to Mr. Mitch Robinson, Education and Land Management Coordinator for Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, and Ms. Cristina Bordin, Special Assistant to the President and Sustainability Coordinator for St. Edward’s University, who invited me to be a part of this great event.

Commander Ben and Mitch Robinson at St. Edward's Earth Week celebrations

Commander Ben and Mitch Robinson at St. Edward’s Earth Week celebrations

I’ll have more posts coming up about my other April adventures. Talk with you again soon! 🙂

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under Agana rainwater, Arundo donax, Car2Go, Christina Bordin, Earth Day, Giant Reed, Invasive Hunter, Invasive Hunter Academy, Invasive Species, Johnson's Backyard Garden, Mitch Robinson, St Edward's University, Sustainable Food Center, Uncategorized, Wild Basin Preserve, Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

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April 17, 2013 · 6:43 pm

Invasive Hunter Academy Returns to St. Edward’s University for Earth Day

Join the Invasive Hunter Academy and be one of the few. The proud. The fighting naturalists!

Join the Invasive Hunter Academy and be one of the few. The proud. The fighting naturalists!

I had a lot of great experiences the last few weeks and have a number of blog posts to get caught up on, but I wanted to tell you that I’m bringing the Invasive Hunter Academy to St. Edward’s University for Earth Day on Monday, April 22, as part of the university’s Earth Week 2013 program. I even created a new logo for the event, which is at the top of this post and is also on the St. Edward’s Earth Week 2013 web page. Hope you like the logo!

I was at St. Edward’s University last year, and I had a great time speaking to students, faculty, and members of the community about my fight against invasive species and how I developed the Commander Ben blog, videos, and the Invasive Hunter Academy.

There are lots of great activities going on at St. Edward’s this week and next week too, so be sure to check out the festivities:

Many thanks to Mr. Mitch Robinson, Education and Land Management Coordinator for Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, and Ms. Cristina Bordin, Special Assistant to the President and Sustainability Coordinator for St. Edward’s University, for inviting me to be part of their Earth Day 2013 celebrations.

Hope to see you there!

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under Christina Bordin, Earth Day, Invasive Hunter, Invasive Hunter Academy, Invasive Species, Mitch Robinson, St Edward's University, Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

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July 8, 2012 · 4:41 pm

Kids Learn about Invasive Species and Become Invasive Hunters at the Wildflower Center

Commander Ben with future Invasive Hunters during Nature Nights at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

On July 5, I brought the Invasive Hunter Academy to the Power of Plants event during Nature Nights at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Here are some great pictures of the night’s event.

Pictures from the Invasive Hunter Academy

Commander Ben and Ms. Alice Nance with the Invasive Hunter Academy at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Here I am before the start of the Nature Nights event with Ms. Alice Nance, Wildflower Center Education Manager. She and Ms. Julie Graham made me feel very welcome. They gave me a great location to set up with lots of room for the future Invasive Hunters to practice their moves to take down invasives.

After the event started, there were so many kids enrolled in the academy that they had to get me another table so the kids could have room to create their action diorama.

Kids learning about Elephant Ear (Colocasia esculenta), an invasive species, with the Invasive Hunter Academy at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Here I am teaching kids about invasive species. The first part of the academy is learning about your enemy, and I’m showing a picture of Elephant Ear to this future Invasive Hunter.

Learn more about Elephant Ear with my In an Ecesis Far, Far Away video, part of the Battles with Invasive Species video series.

Kids learning how to take down the Giant Reed, an invasive species, with the Invasive Hunter Academy at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Here I’m teaching future Invasive Hunters the swallow hand stalk strike move. It’s to take down the Giant Reed (Arundo donax). As the Giant Reed attacks, block with one hand above your head and strike with the other.

Learn more about the Giant Reed with my Invasive Hunter Academy launches during National Invasive Species Awareness Week video, part of the Battles with Invasive Species video series.

Example of an action diorama that kids can create with the Invasive Hunter Academy

Here’s an example one of the action dioramas that the kids can make as part of the academy. This is a great craft 🙂 because it really gets the kids thinking about invasives as they make their action scene. They got to pick one of three invasives species to battle: Elephant Ear, English Ivy, or Giant Reed.

I noticed that when the boys made their action scene, it really looked like a real battle was going on…very messy, like my own diorama! When the girls created their dioramas, they were perfectly done. There were no scissor marks, no glue smears, and the people were perfectly drawn, but I’m sure there was a great battle against invasives going on there too!

Window on a Texas Wildscape with Mrs. Sheryl Smith-Rodgers

Commander Ben and Mrs. Sheryl Smith-Rodgers and her husband James, during Nature Nights at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

I met Mrs. Sheryl Smith-Rodgers and her husband James at Nature Nights. They are very nice people, and they love nature. Mrs. Smith-Rodgers is a wonderful writer. Thanks for mentioning me on your great blog, Window on a Texas Wildscape.

Nature crafts with the Teenage Ecowarriors

Commander Ben and the Teenage Ecowarriors during Nature Nights at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

I finally got the chance to meet the Teenage Ecowarriors. They help kids create art treasures from recyclables. At the Butterflies event, they helped kids make a butterfly sock puppet. At the Power of Plants event, they helped kids make a newspaper flower. They’ll be coming back to the Bats event on July 19, so be sure to go see them when you’re there.

Wood shingles with JC Pollard

Commander Ben and Mr. JC Pollard during Nature Nights at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

I was happy to meet Mr. JC Pollard again at Nature Nights. I met Mr. Pollard last year for Flintknapping and Great Nature Activities at the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve.

Mr. Pollard was helping kids make wood shingles by breaking off pieces of wood from a tree ring. I didn’t get a chance to create a shingle, but it looked really fun. I saw the shingles that kids made when they came to the Invasive Hunter Academy, and one boy gave me one.

Thanks Future Invasive Hunters!

Thanks to all the enthusiastic kids who enrolled in the Invasive Hunter Academy! Together, we’re helping to stop the spread of invasives. Education and awareness is very important. I really enjoy these events, because I feel that I’m helping to give back to our community by educating people about invasive species.

I look forward to bringing the Invasive Hunter Academy to more events in the future!

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under Battles with Invasive Species, Elephant Ear, English Ivy, Giant Reed, Invasive Hunter, Invasive Hunter Academy, Invasive Species, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Mr. JC Pollard, Ms. Alice Nance, Ms. Julie Graham, Ms. Sheryl Smith-Rodgers, Nature Nights, Power of Plants, Teenage Ecowarriors, Wildflower center

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May 6, 2012 · 8:11 pm

Commander Ben Joins Earth Week Activities at St. Edward’s University


At last year’s Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Conference, I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Mitch Robinson, Education and Land Management Coordinator for Wild Basin Preserve.

He talked with me about how Wild Basin Preserve fends off invasive species, and I was very impressed by his passion for protecting the preserve’s native ecosystem.

We’ve kept in touch since then, and he was so nice to invite me to be part of the Earth Week activities at St. Edward’s University, which were also broadcast on Google+ Hangouts. He was giving a presentation about invasive species on April 19, and he asked me to join him to talk about my experiences battling invasives and teaching others about them.

On the guard against invasives

Mr. Robinson started the event by giving an excellent presentation about invasives including several examples and how they affect our environment. I was especially intrigued by the Giant African Land Snail. Why? Because it’s giant and eats houses!

Actually, it eats the stucco off houses, but that’s close enough. They can grow up to 8 inches, and eat other snails and over 500 species of plants. They were brought into Florida as pets, but were released in the late 1960s, and Florida State University had to spend millions of dollars to battle them back.

It’s a menace to Western Civilization!

Native Plant Avengers movie trailer shown at St. Edwards

Afterwards, Mr. Robertson introduced me by first playing my latest video, Native Plant Avengers. When I saw my video played on a big screen in front of an audience, I had a great feeling of happiness because that’s why I make the videos–to help educate people about invasives and for my audience to have fun at the same time.


After my video, I talked about how I got started learning about invasives and teaching others. I also took questions from the audience and talked about my Invasive Hunter Academy as part of Kid’s Day during National Invasive Species Awareness Week at the US Botanic Garden.

Thank you so much Mr. Robinson and St. Edwards for inviting me to be part of your Earth Day events! It was a lot of fun! Down with invasives!


Your friend,
Ben

Update: Invasive Hunter Academy Returns to St. Edward’s University for Earth Day 2013

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Filed under 2011 Texas Invasive Plant Conference, Earth Day, Environmental, Giant African Land Snail, Googe+ Hangouts, Invasive Hunter Academy, Invasive Species, Mitch Robinson, National Invasive Species Awareness Week, Native Plant Avengers, St Edward's University, U.S. Botanic Garden, Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

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November 21, 2011 · 8:24 pm

Flintknapping and Great Nature Activities at the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

Commander Ben joins flintknapping craftsman JC Pollard and Kim Johnson at the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

Earlier this month, I had a great time at the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, learning all about flintknapping from JC Pollard, a talented craftsman.

He taught our group how to create an arrowhead from flint and talked about how heat treating a piece of flint in a kiln makes it easier to flake pieces of the flint off and shape your arrowhead. He also warned us not to put a piece of flint directly in a fire since it would just pop and break apart.

I created two arrowheads from larger pieces of flint. Mr. Pollard let us borrow his tools, and Kim Johnson, who is the volunteer and administrative coordinator at the preserve, also let us use safety glasses for the activity. Mr. Pollard said that copper is much better to use than other flintknapping tools since it is similar in density to a deer antler, which is what the native Indian tribes would have used.

Thanks, Mr. Pollard, for the wonderful experience! With my spearpoint, now I’m armed and ready for those invasives!

A nature jewel in the Texas Hill Country under siege by invasive species

The preserve helps to keep a wonderful part of Austin undeveloped and available for habitat and enjoyment. It’s part of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve (BCP), but it too is under siege by invasive species.

Mr. Mitch Robinson talked with me about how the preserve was being invaded by ornamentals that are not native to Texas. The invasive plants are moving in from properties surrounding the preserve, and these invasives crowd out native species, create dense monocultures, and present a fire hazard.

Fortunately, he’s helping to teach neighbors to the preserve about the harm that invasive species bring to our ecosystem and to encourage them to plant native species. A dedicated team of volunteers also come out during land management workdays each month to help remove invasive species. That’s great!

During the 2011 Texas invasives conference, I had an opportunity to talk with Mr. Robinson and found out which easy-to-grow ornamental is his least favorite invasive plant.

Many great activities at the preserve

I remember one of my first visits to the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve many years ago. My Dad and Mom drove down a dirt road from loop 360 in Austin to the main house at the preserve, and I spent the afternoon with a crowd of kids learning about insects. The entire open area was filled with different insect exhibits.

I think I remember touching a hissing cockroach. (There were a lot of bugs to look at or handle there!) I remember a bee keeper talking about the loss of bees because of a mite or some environmental problems which lead to the collapse of many bee colonies.

I’d encourage you to visit the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve and be a part of one of the many upcoming activities. I loved flintknapping, and in the future, I’m looking forward to stargazing on the preserve (which is hosted by the Austin Astronomical Society), removing invasives, and learning more about the wonder and beauty of our environment.

Commander Ben signing off…

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Filed under 2011 Texas Invasive Plant Conference, Austin Astronomical Society, Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, Flintknapping, Mitch Robinson, Ms. Kim Johnson, Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

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