Civic Club plans for Halloween and Wildlife Conservation

For their October meeting, Richards Civic Club featured Mason Conely, Wildlife Biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. Conely serves Leon, Grimes and Madison counties, taking in a range of studies from wildlife development to soil conservation studies.

During the meeting Conely discussed the importance of knowing the needs of wildlife in the area and which programs offered by TWD would best fit those needs. He also introduced both the Managed Lands Deer Program or MLD and the Pastures for Upland Birds Program or PUB. Both programs focus on cost effective ways to manage the needs of wildlife in the area as well as study them for education purposes. The Managed Lands Deer Program is “intended to foster and support sound” deer managementwhich can be needed when hunters in the area take too many of one type of deer or do not delegate any efforts to support for the local deer during all seasons.

“The MLD is geared towards good management practices in the community, we build tailored recommendations for lands based on studies. The program can also extend the season from its normal length to allow for additional information to be collected”, explained Conely. Conely also fielded questions from local attendees on how to manage nuisance wildlife like feral hogs and explained that while some species can wreak havoc on native animals, others like coyotes are native and focus their hunts in a “boom or bust’ fashionhunting more when there is adequate prey in certain areas. Both the Managed Lands Deer and Pastureland Development programs are available to anyone locally with 20 or more acres. For more information, please contact Mason Conley, 936-241-2313 or nason.conley @tpwd.texas.gov

The Civic club is gearing up for their own ghoulish Halloween activities, the group voted in favor of participating in the Grimes County Historical Commission Fall Festival, taking place Saturday, Oct. 23, as well as finalizing plans for their own Mainstreet Halloween activities. In both community events, the Civic Club will feature a dessert walk for anyone to participate and win desserts ranging in various sizes. Jill Foster Treasurer and Program Manager for the Food Pantry with the Civic Club also reported that the group served 13 families from the community- 4 of which are new families to receive services. “Our pantry is solid, we are slowly growing with consistent services” Foster discussed with the group in attendance. The Civic Club will be taking donations of desserts and candy for the Halloween activities, as well as staple food items for the food pantry. For more information, please contact Don Brame, 936-900-9095

Upcoming Events:

Oct. 21- 7 p.m.: RISD School Board Meeting, Cafeteria 7 p.m.

Oct. 23- 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.: GCHC Fall Festival at Historic Anderson Park.

Oct. 30- 1 p.m. – 7p.m.: Richards Mainstreet Halloween.

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