| April 2023 Mission: promote using mountain cedars and other nature-based solutions to regenerate degraded Texas limestone karst country. WHAT'S NEW? Presentation Feedback Has Begun! We recently started handing out surveys following our Powerpoint presentations. Out of 135 total attendees so far, we received a 36% response rate. Responses have been overwhelmingly positive, with 99 percent ranking presentations as excellent. We will continue to conduct the surveys to maintain a metric of success. Our favorite comment from a teenage girl who came with her mother: I'm a 14 year old girl and usually don't like presentations let alone about trees but [the speaker] did very well; make sure you don't dry out your soil! Landowner Regrets As Project Bedrock continues to spread the message to teach the benefits of mountain cedars, too many landowners are still being told to clear out their mountain cedars by neighbors, consultants, real estate agents, and government agencies. We hear stories of regret all the time. For instance, after learning the benefits of mountain cedars at a presentation, one landowner sadly admitted, “I destroyed the soil on my property by clear cutting.” Another story came from a landowner with 2000 acres in NW Bexar County during a Hill Country Alliance riparian workshop. When I parked, two Leakey landowners rushed over to say hello and began chatting about their mountain cedars. The Bexar landowner stood and listened. He then asked, “Aren’t we supposed to be getting rid of these trees?” I said no and explained that much of what we’ve been told was a incorrect. I continued to educate him on our walk to the river. He finally stopped, glanced at the ground and shuffled his foot, then told me with great sadness in his voice that he had just finished clearing out all the cedars. including a large old-growth cedar forest. Landowners are depressed, frustrated, and getting angry that there hasn't been a stronger push to get the facts straight. We Need Your Help to Go Bigger One idea: partner with larger, more established groups to increase strength and exposure. We need a group that’s not afraid to push the narrative that mountain cedars are acting as nature-based solutions. We have initiated communications with the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and Kiss the Ground. Another group that might help is the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment. If you have other ideas and inside contacts, please send them to Elizabeth. We also need to write an article for the magazine that twice bashed mountain cedars: The Texas Monthly. The article needs to repudiate previous anti-cedar accusations and showcase their benefits. Please contact Elizabeth if you have journalism expertise to help with brainstorming and editing (this can be via Zoom, so don’t worry about where you live). VISIT OUR WEBSITE |
Mission: promote using mountain cedars and other nature-based solutions to regenerate degraded Texas limestone karst country. | |
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Presentation Feedback Has Begun!
We recently started handing out surveys following our Powerpoint presentations. Out of 135 total attendees so far, we received a 36% response rate. Responses have been overwhelmingly positive, with 99 percent ranking presentations as excellent. We will continue to conduct the surveys to maintain a metric of success.
Our favorite comment from a teenage girl who came with her mother:
I'm a 14 year old girl and usually don't like presentations let alone about trees but [the speaker] did very well; make sure you don't dry out your soil!
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Landowner Regrets
As Project Bedrock continues to spread the message to teach the benefits of mountain cedars, too many landowners are still being told to clear out their mountain cedars by neighbors, consultants, real estate agents, and government agencies.
We hear stories of regret all the time. For instance, after learning the benefits of mountain cedars at a presentation, one landowner sadly admitted, “I destroyed the soil on my property by clear cutting.” Another story came from a landowner with 2000 acres in NW Bexar County during a Hill Country Alliance riparian workshop. When I parked, two Leakey landowners rushed over to say hello and began chatting about their mountain cedars. The Bexar landowner stood and listened. He then asked, “Aren’t we supposed to be getting rid of these trees?” I said no and explained that much of what we’ve been told was a incorrect. I continued to educate him on our walk to the river. He finally stopped, glanced at the ground and shuffled his foot, then told me with great sadness in his voice that he had just finished clearing out all the cedars. including a large old-growth cedar forest.
Landowners are depressed, frustrated, and getting angry that there hasn't been a stronger push to get the facts straight.
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We Need Your Help to Go Bigger
One idea: partner with larger, more established groups to increase strength and exposure. We need a group that’s not afraid to push the narrative that mountain cedars are acting as nature-based solutions. We have initiated communications with the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and Kiss the Ground. Another group that might help is the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment. If you have other ideas and inside contacts, please send them to Elizabeth.
We also need to write an article for the magazine that twice bashed mountain cedars: The Texas Monthly. The article needs to repudiate previous anti-cedar accusations and showcase their benefits. Please contact Elizabeth if you have journalism expertise to help with brainstorming and editing (this can be via Zoom, so don’t worry about where you live).
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