I would like to propose a NANFA Weekend to be held Friday, June 14 -Sunday,
June 16, 2002, In a nutshell, I see this as a mini-convention with folks
arriving Friday evening and staying through Sunday noon or whatever their
schedule permits. The Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge would be the site
for most sampling activities. I could make canoes (paddles and lifejackets
too) available to get into some very interesting backwaters along the West
Fork of the Trinity River. Other waters available for sampling would
include other stretches of the various forks of the Trinity River which are
currently the subject of some considerable planning efforts for restoration
(The Trinity River Vision). I may even be able to get hold of the City of
Fort Worth's Environmental Management Department's electroshocker. To help
keep everyone's costs down, participants could camp in the Alice Ashley
Shelter area (a restored prairie site) on the Refuge. I envision putting
together a speaker or two for Saturday evening activities. Participants
could bring their own food or meals could be kind of potluck.
Obviously, any member that wanted to attend and could make the trip would be
invited but I would also like to advertise the event to non-members in the
area in an attempt to recruit new members and to publicize the importance
(existence?) of the lesser known fish species of the area. I would also
like all catches to be recorded so that holes in the Refuge's database of
species information could be filled.
So, I am requesting comments on the following:
1) From those who might be able to attend...does it sound like a good idea?
2) What about the timing?
3) What should be added?
4) Because we would be using a fair amount of Nature Center equipment and I
would have to rent port-o-lets and I would be using a number of my staff,
the powers that be would like to see a break-even fee charged. I would
rather ask for donations to the Nature Center ($5-10 recommended). Would
anyone have a problem with that?
5) Who wants to come?
This idea has been circulating in my head for some time. If I get a good
feeling about it as proposed, I can include it in our 2002 calendar of
events.
Rob Denkhaus
Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge
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