Master Naturalist program opens
Register by Saturday, Feb. 1, classes start Thursday, Feb. 13
If you love nature and want to get trained to know how to make it relevant to your kids, your family and friends, join the Texas Master Naturalist program.
Established by Texas Agrilife Extension and Texas Parks and Wildlife, the program offers certification to folks who would like to not just make nature a significant part of their own lives but to help make nature part of other people’s lives too.
Video by Adam Olson for the Fort Clark Springs Association
The program has several chapters across the state. Kinney County belongs to the Brush y Canyons chapter, which is led by training coordinator Mickey Redus. The Brush y Canyons chapter also covers Uvalde and Medina counties.
Cost for the certification program is $160, which includes a textbook, membership dues and a t-shirt. Class size is limited to 35 participants.
Classes run from Feb. 13 to May 22 and are held every other Thursday, alternating with every other Saturday. Classes are held primarily in Uvalde County but do vary, including El Progreso Memorial Library, Uvalde National Fish Hatchery, Uvalde County Fairplex, the Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension Center, Garner State Park and at private ranches and properties around the chapter’s three service counties.
Click here for the website and scroll to the Brush y Canyons chapter for information:
https://txmn.tamu.edu/blog/2025-basic-training-classes/
Certification requirements include taking 40 hours of instruction in the classroom and in the field, plus eight hours of advanced training that is focused on a specific subject, for example, studying birds of prey online combined with field study.
Classroom study covers subjects such as bugs, reptiles, birds, furry creatures, plants and more.
Also, students perform 40 hours of service a year, which can be anything from river cleanup to teaching a fishing class. Students might collect data for scientific projects, say, bird calls or animal counts, or help with wildscaping or trail access.
The Brush y Canyons chapter started in 2019 but the Covid pandemic interfered. However, the chapter started up again and as of November 2024, had 31 members, 14 of whom are certified Master Naturalists.
Chapter projects include collecting rainfall data, finding horned lizards and downloading photos onto the iNaturalist website, dark sky projects, banding birds and more.
Brush y Canyons partner organizations include Garner State Park, Kickapoo Cavern State Park, Fort Clark Springs, El Progreso Memorial Library, Uvalde National Fish Hatchery and the Nueces River Authority.
The Master Naturalist program welcomes your participation even if you don’t want to become certified.
For more nature-related talk, watch “Confessions of an Urban Biologist” here:
Video by Adam Olson for the Fort Clark Springs Association