Dear Stewards,
Your local chapter leaders and the Statewide Conservation Committee (SCC) have been hard at work putting together some opportunities to experience some of the most beautiful and critically important natural habitats of Texas! In June, visit the beautiful Gulf Coast: Spend a weekend in the Port O'Connor area with the SCC or join the Annual Matagorda Fishing Tournament. In September, visit the Hill Country and North Central Texas: Join day trips to Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve or the Kerr WMA, and join us for the Annual All-Stewards Dove Hunt in Albany. And in October, visit far West Texas: Join us at the Caldwell Ranch for our annual West Texas Weekend (registration begins May 1). If you're looking for a volunteer opportunity in May, please consider participating in the Gulf Trust's Trash Free Gulf Campaign. With cleanups scheduled across the state, everyone can help collect trash in our waterways, prevent that trash from reaching the Gulf, and add to the first Texas litter database, which will help support the great work of so many conservation organizations. Watch our most recent Lunch & Learn (linked below) to learn more about coastal conservation and keep reading for more information about the Gulf Trust and the Trash Free Gulf Campaign.
If you're interested in getting more involved with Stewards of the Wild (SOTW) at the statewide level and want to help spread the word about Texas conservation issues and initiatives, consider joining the SCC! To learn more, ask questions, or let us know you're interested, fill out this form. We're also always looking for individuals to help lead our local chapters. If you're interested in getting more involved with your chapter, please let me or your local chapter leaders know.
Thank you to our gold level 2024-2025 SOTW program supporters Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, L'Aiglon Foundation, Republic Ranches, Sitka Gear, Trinity Prairie Co., Williams Companies, and Yampa Capital Partners. The Stewards of the Wild program would not be possible without the steadfast support of our partners.
Also in this issue:
- Check out upcoming SOTW events
- Meet BCS Co-Chair Haley Kokel
- Read about our last mentored hunt of the season
- Learn about the organization the San Antonio Chapter is supporting
- Learn about the incredible the Trash Free Gulf Campaign
- Read TPW Magazine's April feature story For the Love of the Land
Cheers,
Katie
P.S. Have you checked on the status of your SOTW membership lately? Only current members will receive the SCC newsletter and communications, have access to the Conservation Connections webpage, and be able to register for SCC events! If you need to renew, sign into your Wild Apricot account or visit stewardsofthewild.org/become-a-member.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Upcoming Stewards of the Wild Events |
*Trash Free Gulf event. This May, SOTW chapters are collaborating with the Gulf Trust and various organizations to conserve our Texas watersheds. Learn more about the Trash Free Gulf Campaign in the "TPWF Updates" section of this newsletter.
|
|
|
|
|
Stewards of the Wild Highlights & News |
Meet BCS Co-Chair Haley Kokel
If you ask Haley Kokel about her path into conservation, she won’t talk about a single “aha” moment. Instead, she’ll tell you about a lifetime of steady steps—starting across the road from her childhood home in tiny Waldeck, Texas, where a Fayette County 4-H fishing camp sparked her love for the outdoors. That passion only grew, and today, Haley’s entire life—work, family, volunteer service—is rooted in a deep commitment to conservation. |
|
|
She owns and operates Fish On Aquatic Plants, a native aquatic plant nursery based in College Station. From planting pond edges to restoring lakeshores, Haley’s work helps support fish and waterfowl habitat, reduce erosion, and improve water quality. It’s hands-on, ecologically important, and a natural fit for someone with her background.
But launching the business wasn’t always part of the plan.
After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M, Haley worked for both the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Missouri Department of Conservation. Her career took her from classroom instruction to fish sampling to aquatic plant propagation, all while growing a reputation as someone with considerable expertise in native vegetation.
When she moved back to Texas in 2019, she started attending conferences to get a feel for job opportunities near her. The advice she got was consistent: Start your own nursery.
“After the fourth person said it, my husband and I had a serious conversation,” she says. “We started the nursery on our three-quarter-acre lot in Aledo, and it took off from there.”
|
|
|
Now in College Station, Haley has expanded her business and client base. Whether she’s collecting cuttings, mapping planting zones, or helping landowners design better fish habitat, she’s combining science and practicality to support healthy ecosystems across the state.
That same instinct to connect people with conservation brought her to Stewards of the Wild, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation’s conservation leadership program for young adults. She first joined the Fort Worth Chapter in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic paused in-person gatherings. When she and her family moved to College Station in 2022, she jumped into the Bryan-College Station Chapter and quickly found her place—eventually becoming chapter chair in July 2023.
|
|
|
Stewards of the Wild Mentored Turkey Hunt Recap
The 2024-2025 Mentored Hunting season has officially come to an end. We spent the weekend of April 11 at a beautiful property in Bosque County where four mentees participated in our only mentored turkey hunt of the season. On Friday afternoon, mentees practiced shotgun patterning, the art of turkey calling, and learned tips and tricks for successful turkey hunting. That evening, they headed out to the field with their incredible mentors to scout and returned later that night with four beautiful turkeys! Our hunters learned through hands-on experience the most effective way to break down their birds. Though no more turkeys were harvested on Saturday or Sunday, our newest turkey hunters, mentors, and volunteers alike headed home on Sunday dreaming of delicious wild game-focused meals, new SOTW friends, and a newfound appreciation for the art of turkey hunting. |
|
|
Our mentored hunting program would not be possible without our partnership with Texas Wildlife Association. We are incredibly grateful to SITKA Gear for its ongoing support of the program, our gracious landowners for allowing us to hunt on their properties, and our mentors and volunteers who continue to come back, dedicating countless hours to their own education and that of new hunters. Additionally, we would like to thank Houston Safari Club Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Weatherby Foundation International for their support of the program. Without these generous supporters, we would not be able to help cultivate a lifelong appreciation for hunting and Texas conservation among so many Stewards of the Wild members. |
|
|
|
|
San Antonio Stewards Raises $2,500 for City Kids Adventures The San Antonio Chapter raised $2,500 for City Kids Adventures (CKA) at its annual Wild Game Sausage Showdown on April 6. City Kids Adventures is a local San Antonio non profit led by Leon McNeil, an avid outdoorsman, TPWF Ambassador, teacher, and South Texas quail hunting guide. The organization's mission is to change the life of a child one child at a time through meaningful outdoor recreational opportunities, education, and service projects. Over the last 28 years, CKA has hosted 175 adventures and impacted more than 1,500 kids. |
|
|
|
|
Statewide Conservation Committee Hosts Coastal Lunch & Learn with Jay Kleberg During our second SCC Lunch & Learn on April 17, Gulf Trust Executive Director Jay Kleberg discussed the importance of the Gulf and the Texas Coast, pressing coastal issues and current conservation initiatives, what the Gulf Trust is working on, and how SOTW members can get more involved. Watch and share the recording using the link below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation Updates |
TPWF is Supporting the Gulf Trust's Trash Free Gulf Campaign
TPWF is excited to share that the Gulf Trust is launching its first-ever Trash Free Gulf campaign, which is bringing together thousands of volunteers across Texas to protect our precious watersheds!
This landmark cleanup event, presented by H-E-B’s Our Texas, Our Future, will span every major watershed and stretch of coastline in Texas. The Gulf Trust has partnered with H-E-B’s Our Texas, Our Future, Mender, TPWF, Keep Texas Beautiful, YETI, and over 40 local organizations to launch this unprecedented effort. |
|
|
Cleanups will take place across the state in April and May, from Amarillo to our north, South Padre Island to our south, Port Arthur to our east, El Paso to our west, and so many waterways in between. TPWF employees will join the effort by rolling up their sleeves on May 17 for a local cleanup along White Rock Lake in Dallas. You, too, can be a part of this historic movement to support our watersheds - from Texas streams to the Gulf. Volunteer registration is now open, so find a cleanup near you. We encourage all Texans to join us! We can turn the tide together by keeping our waters clean—for Texas and beyond. |
|
|
For the Love of the Land by Lydia Saldaña featured in TPW Magazine A Texas rancher spent decades restoring his property. Now it's a TPWD wildlife management area.
This is the tale of the acquisition of a new wildlife management area for Texas that will forever protect precious wildlife habitat for the wild things that call it home. |
|
|
It is a story grounded in a shared love for the land, and the people motivated to conserve it. The people in this story are the landowner, who along with his wife made the decision to entrust his family's land legacy to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), the TPWD wildlife biologist who met the landowner in 2009, and the veteran land conservation professional who pulled it together with a real estate transaction in 2023 - a collaboration that culminated in what is now known as the Paul and Toni Fox Burns Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The new WMA contains 2,178 acres near Brownwood. Adjacent to the Muse WMA, the Paul and Toni Fox Burns Wildlife Management Area is now part of TPWD's Cross Timbers and Prairies Ecosystem Management Project. Thanks to decades of careful stewardship, the land is in beautiful shape, with flowing springs that support a diversity of species from pollinators to white-tailed deer. In 2012, the ranch was awarded TPWD's prestigious Lone Star Land Steward Award. |
|
|
What else has TPWF been up to?
|
|
|
Want more? Check out these interesting articles and resources:
|
|
|
Thank you to our statewide program sponsor! |
|
|
The Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville is the leading wildlife research organization in Texas and one of the finest in the nation. Its mission is to provide science-based information for enhancing the conservation and management of wildlife in South Texas and related environments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stewards of the Wild, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation’s conservation leadership program, equips emerging leaders aged 21 to 45 with opportunities to actively participate in the stewardship of Texas’ wild things and wild places by providing education, networking, and outdoor experiences.
|
|
|
Copyright © 2025 Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is: Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation 6220 Gaston Ave. #700 Dallas, Texas 75214 |
|
|
|
.jpg)
