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November 12, 2017 by admin

Water Leak Exposes Historic Wharf

On Friday, November 3, a visitor to Port Jefferson History & Nature Center reported a water leak near the Live Hive honeybee house below the trail a few feet from the base of the levee. Once the City crew went into action on Monday, the 6 inch leaking culprit was exposed for patching. As the repair process proceeded, a large gully was cut between the pipe and the bayou by the high pressure water stream. The resulting cut reached the depth of the 1872 public wharf just above the current water line.

The large wooden plank from Jefferson’s 1872 wharf which was exposed by the water leak

The John Judd built 1872 wharf replaced and extended the dilapidated 1854 wharf from Walnut Street to the east side of the alley between Soda and Washington streets. It was 590 feet long and 20 feet wide with a slope of 1.5 – 2 inches per foot. This wharf was only used for a couple of years because of the coming of the railroad to the immediate area. Both sediment from floods and fill from City hired contractors covered the wharf.

Filed Under: news, port jefferson nature center

November 8, 2017 by admin

Making a Difference at Lake O’the Pines

The wind was high and the temperature was dropping, but it didn’t stop a group of determined East Texans from gathering at the Brushy Creek area of Lake O’the Pines to celebrate National Make a Difference Day. Staff members of the US Army Corps of Engineers, Collin’s Academy, Cypress Basin Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists, and Jefferson High School students from the Horticulture Class partnered in a day of native seed planting on a four acre plot prepared by the Corps staff. The seeds included over 40 plant species that will bloom throughout the growing season beginning in spring. The blooms will serve as a food source for pollinators and other wildlife species, plus make for an attractive area for visitors to the lake to view.

Make A Difference Day was started in 1992 by USA today, as a way to encourage individuals and organizations to help improve their community. It is the largest day of community service in the U.S.

Jonathan Bush, Civil Engineering Technician for the Corps, who prepared the land, said that “the Corp partnership with Collins Academy is a really good thing. We enjoy being involved with volunteer programs, especially those that involve young people, many of whom haven’t had the opportunity to work in the forest and learn about the importance of forestry management and how to improve habitat for wildlife and pollinators.”

Ricky Maxey, who is a Natural Resource Specialist for the Corps said, “the area will help provide a food source for butterflies and bees, whose numbers have dwindled. If we can do anything to help pollinators, we have truly made a difference. This is the first time the Corps has participated in Make a Difference Day, but it will not be the last. We are planning to run water to the area, and install signage. Resident volunteers for the lake along with Corps Staff will be caretakers of the area.”

Ryne Sikes, Agriculture instructor at Jefferson High School brought 13 members of the Horticulture Class to cast about fifty pounds of native seeds, along with seed balls made by the Jefferson Primary and Queen City Middle School students. The Horticulture students, no strangers to working on community service projects with Sikes, were excited to be helping cast the seeds, and all agreed that they would return to see the area when the seeds sprout. Dee Hill, a junior, was complimentary of all the people involved, especially the Corps members. Comparing the plot they were working on, with the overgrown fields beside them, he said, “They really did a lot of work, and I want to thank them for all they did to prepare the plot for us to work on. He said he would be bringing his family to Brushy Creek Campground to see the flowers when they bloom. C.J. Woods, a sophomore said “that he and his class members appreciate Mr. Sikes. Because of his dedication, and the help of Collins Academy, our community looks better, and instead of being strangers, we are more like a family. We are giving back to our planet through natural resources. We are helping the bees, butterflies and our environment and we are making a difference”.

Gary Endsley, Director of Collins Academy said there would be an-other work day in February to cast more seeds and invited anyone interested in participating to contact him by phone at (903) 665-2900 or by e-mail at info@collinsacademy.com.

Filed Under: CNHA, news, port jefferson nature center

October 3, 2017 by admin

Giving Back

   Phyllis Wilson, a member of the Texas Master Naturalist of Cypress Basin made the drive from her home in Longview to help rehabilitate the pollinator garden at the Jefferson Primary School. While Diane Mabus and Kay Lowery, both Master Gardeners, made the drive from Linden, garden gloves and clippers in hand. All determined to help make a difference in the overgrown butterfly garden at the Jefferson Primary School campus.
Ms. Wilson stated, “This is a wonderful mentoring opportunity between the high school and primary school students, Collins Academy staff and volunteers. For a small town like Jefferson, to have an organization like Collins Academy, the project organizer, is wonderful. We don’t have anything like this in Longview”. She said, “I am here for the kids, a sentiment echoed by all the participants. “I want to see them get interested and excited about the outdoors. Having the students involved in this project will give them a sense of ownership and something to admire, that they played a part in, she concluded.”
And, the students were involved. Members of the Jefferson High School Horticulture Class, guided by Agriculture Instructor Ryne Sikes went to work at the school, pulling weeds, digging and pruning the overgrown garden. But it didn’t stop there. The students, as they do throughout the school year, had grown and tended the plants that would be planted after the prep work was completed. The plants, fresh from the high school greenhouse included, verbena, mealy blue sage and milkweed, all certain to attract butterflies, honeybees and hummingbirds to the area.
Fifty Primary students, filed out in orderly lines anxious to see the progress being made on their garden. The High School students serving as mentors, placed plants in tiny hands and helped them dig holes for the plants.

(L-R) ) Yannira Gonzalez, Cody Woods Jr., Amy Williams, Cullen Mosley, Garrett Huntington, Ryan Sikes Instructor, Madilyn Singleton, Allison Rogers, Salard Sajel.

Mr. Sikes, a DeKalb native new to Jefferson, was delighted with the
participation by his students. He said, “It is great to see the older students teaming up guiding the young ones. Of the project, Sikes said, I want to inspire the kids and teach them life skills. Something they can use and be proud of as they get older. We couldn’t do this sort of thing without the help of Collins Academy, they are always willing to step in, be it providing seeds, soil or supplies. We really appreciate them.” Sikes said he plans to bring his horticulture students back to the primary school to help maintain the pollinator garden throughout the school year. In addition, his class will help primary students make seed balls for dispersal at Brushy Creek at Lake O’the Pines as part of a habitat remediation project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In this way, the younger children can participate with the high school students in a larger, remote project.

C.J. Woods, a 10th grader at Jefferson High School, who is considering becoming a veterinarian, said, “I love to garden, I’ve done it since I was a kid. It teaches life skills and responsibility. It is great being here with the kids today to help reclaim the pollinator garden for them.”
Madilyn Singleton, also a 10th grader said she loves the Horticulture Class. “It is a great experience for us to be able to go to other locations and help them with their gardens.” While Yannira Gonzales, said, “This project is pretty cool, coming out to help the kids is great”. Of the Horticulture Class, “we are like family, we have each other’s backs, and we enjoy helping with community projects, she said.”

Expect to see Jefferson ISD students and Mr. Sikes working with Tony and Marsha Jones on the pocket park across from the Jefferson Post Office and at Port Jefferson History & Nature Center with Collins Academy staff in the near future.

Filed Under: CNHA, news, port jefferson nature center

September 11, 2017 by admin

An Endangered Rose Mallow By Any Other Name, Will It Be Protected?

An essential challenge facing Conservation Biology today is the accurate identification of species that need protection. One example is the Neches River Rose Mallow (Hibiscus dasycalyx), found only in Texas, and listed by NatureServe Conservation Status as globally critically imperiled (G1). This means there are fewer than 3,000 individual plants known to exist in the wild.

Hibiscus dasycalyx

This imperiled plant is a focus of ongoing conservation efforts at Collins Academy, where our work has helped to raise seedlings of this plant, which have been used by local schools and public parks and private landowners for conservation efforts. Collins Academy also maintains several Neches River Rose Mallow in the gardens at the Port Jefferson History and Nature Center.

One problem with species identification in plants is the potential for hybridization and crossbreeding. Hibiscus. dasycalyx co-ocurs with two other closely related plants in the same genera (H. moscheutos and H. laevis, known as congenerics). There are less than 10 naturally occurring populations of Hibiscus dasycalyx in the entire world. The geographically widespread and non-threatened congenerics H. moscheutos and H. laevis have overlapping ranges with H. dasycalyx, and sometimes even co-occur within locations.

Hibiscus laevis

How to tell these three species apart? It is not always possible with the naked eye, but some morphological characteristics stand out: H. moscheutos has large, heart-shaped leaves that are grayish-green above and hairy-white below; H. laevis and H. dasycalyx both have hairless and pointed leaves, making it difficult to tell them apart from each other with morphology alone. 

Morphological variants in the field, as well as experimental crossings in the lab, suggest that these three species are capable of interbreeding with one another, but the extent of admixture, which occurs when two or more previously isolated populations begin interbreeding and results in the introduction of new genetic lineages into a population, is not currently known. 

Hibiscus moscheutos

Previous studies by Joshua Banta, Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Tyler used genetic sequences and phylogenetic analyses to help resolve the taxonomic status of this federally threatened east Texas endemic wildflower. Genetic analysis was conducted on the gene for granule-bound starch synthase (GBSSI or waxy gene), which exists in a single copy in nearly all plants. The GBSSI gene is a low-copy nuclear gene used for phylogenetic analyse of plants because highly repetitive genes such as those commonly used are limited in number.

Dr. Banta showed that H. dasycalyx individuals share genetic similarities with one another, but there were misidentified specimens and advanced-generation hybrids (admixture) that were also identified in the dataset. Removing these, the sequence divergence between H. laevis and H. dasycalyx increased but remained low and the relationships between these species in the phylogenetic analysis remain poorly resolved. Based on this information, Dr. Banta hypothesized that H. dasycalyx may be a subspecies of H. laevis rather than a separate species. More genetic analyses based on additional genes will be necessary to confirm this result. This study highlights the need to understand species based on modern scientific methods, combined with traditional morphological observations.

Come visit Collins Academy and take a tour of the gardens at the Port Jefferson History and Nature Center to see the rare Neches River Mallow (Hibiscus dasycalyx) up close and in bloom.

Filed Under: CNHA, news, port jefferson nature center

January 16, 2014 by admin

Using Technology to Engage Students and Enhance Outdoor Learning

outdoor-tour

During a recent visit to the Port Jefferson History & Nature Center, a group of students were able to clearly hear instructor Gary Endsley as he lead them on an outdoor learning tour in recognition of Make a Difference Day.

With the use of the Smart Bug Broadcast System, tour guides can lead groups from up to half a mile away.
[ view the slideshow ]

OutdoorLearningTour

About Outdoor Learning Tours

Filed Under: port jefferson nature center

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