JCWMA - Greetings

My thanks to our past president, Keith Reeves, for his fine leadership during the past two years and to Tricia Reeves for keeping up with the Association’s membership, minutes and money as Secretary/Treasurer. Keith brought several excellent programs to our meetings. I must say I wasn’t really interested in Purple Martins until I heard our speakers at the last meeting!

I am retired, although my cows and the deer on my property may not say I’m really retired. I hope to be able to find excellent programs for our meetings, continuing Keith’s legacy of bringing knowledgeable and talented speakers.

Meeting dates and location
JCWMA meetings are quarterly, but the actual date is flexible. This is because we arrange the date to meet the featured speaker’s availability. My goal is to make speaker or program arrangements as early as I can to send the meeting information to you so that you can plan to attend the meeting. I am also looking for a location that will be at no cost to the organization, as we have limited funds which are best used to support our cause of wildlife management and help our youth foster an appreciation for wildlife and hunting.

Texas Brigades
Speaking of young people, JCWMA sponsors one youth to the Texas Brigade. This is a very worthwhile cause that, with your support, we will continue our involvement. The Texas Brigades is a wildlife-focused leadership development program for high school youth (ages 13-17). There are four different camps: Bobwhite Brigade, Buckskin Brigade, Feathered Forces, and Bass Brigade. Students are introduced to habitat management, hone their communication skills, and develop a land ethic. Top wildlife professionals and resource managers serve as instructors and mentors. Each camp is 4 ½ days long. The camps are held on private ranches and at environmental camps in different areas of the state. In addition to learning animal anatomy and behavior, botany, nutrition, habitat management, population dynamics, etc., students learn valuable leadership skills. They write news releases, practice public speaking, and find out how to handle radio and television interviews. Communicating the message is an important overall aspect of wildlife management.

New Officers
I look forward to working with the following officers who were elected during our February meeting:

Vice President – Phillip Wells
Secretary/Treasurer – Pat Kneblick

Directors:
SW Quadrant - Tom O. Nethery
NE Quadrant - Mike Campsey
NW Quadrant - Tim Detten
SE Quadrant - Rod Heltzel

NIXLE
I encourage you, if you haven’t already, to sign up for NIXLE, Jack County Department of Emergency Management (DEM) new Community Notification Service. As described during the last JCWMA meeting, the system provides a quick, efficient, and secure way to get neighborhood-level information out to community members who subscribe to the system. Through www.nixle.com, the department will be able to send text message (SMS) and e-mail alerts to subscribers in a specific area, down to .25 miles. The 2009 wildfires are a reminder to us of the need for this information.

Website
Jack County Extension Agent Heath Lusty regularly adds up-to-date information to our website. Additionally, we have a forum where we can discuss issues of concern, or you can ask questions for which we can find answers and provide a learning experience for all. I encourage you to check out the many resources available on the website.