Arkansas Master Naturalists

Annual Awards and Two Short programs highlight and celebrate our NWAMN Chapter Volunteers!

Date: Sunday, March 15
Time: 2-4 pm
Location: Washington County Extension Auditorium, 2536 N McConnell Ave

Awards: In the hall at the entry of the building, be sure to stop and pick up your certification pins. If you cannot attend in person, please make arrangements for a MN friend to pick up your pins for you. Settle in to celebrate recipients of the super special recognition awards for 2025 NWAMN volunteer efforts.

 

Short Programs: Two Master Naturalists volunteered to share their avian interests to keep the volunteer celebration flowing following awards ceremony. Sharing our passions keeps us all learning and inspired!
Robin Buff will share strategies to eliminate bird window strikes.
Karen Garrett creates public programs for Devil's Den SP and will treat us to one she calls " No Glam, No Problem!" which celebrates birds that are more plainly colored but are nonetheless cool.

 

Contact Carebutler@aol.com if you would like to make an announcement to the Chapter before we share snacks and fellowship.

 

March Meeting: The MN Book Lovers Club will meet on Thursday, March 19th at the Shiloh Museum Store in Springdale, 6 pm to 8 pm. The book we will be discussing is Plows, Plagues and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate by William Ruddiman. Everyone is welcome, no need to pre-register. Our book club meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at the Shiloh Museum Store.

Current Events Discussion: At our last book club meeting, we decided to reinstate a former practice of discussing a few articles (to be distributed in this book club notice) that are submitted for discussion. Members are encouraged to submit articles of interest for consideration. Articles that you find interesting, controversial, or timely are welcome. Please submit (to Rose Gergerich, gergeric@uark.edu) a link for your article nomination so that we can send out the article links to members before the meeting.   The two links for our March meeting are: Humanity Heating Planet Faster Than Ever Before, Study Finds:  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/06/humanity-heating-planet-faster-than-ever-before-study-finds and The Nature Cure:  How Time Outdoors Transforms Our Memory, Concentration and Logic, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/nov/27/the-nature-cure-how-time-outdoors-transforms-our-memory-imagination-and-logic

 

Reading List for 2026: The votes are in, and the books we will be reading in 2026 have been selected from a list of 44 titles submitted by our members.  Attached please find the list of titles and the months that we will be reading these books.  Please note that this list may be modified due to severe weather predictions or other issues beyond our control. 

Off the Shelf – a weekly notice from the Awe in Arkansas with Children’s Literature project.

1. Provide books as gifts!
2. Use for programs!
3. Share with nature gift shops!

My Book of Birds by Geraldo Valerio

Age Range: --

 

Describes types and behaviors of many types of birds. Art done by Geraldo provides beautiful illustrations to excite young readers. Variety of eggs in front cover and features in the back. Includes glossary and resources.

 

 

 

Hello Everyone,

Watershed Conservation Resource Center has a lot of volunteer opportunities at our green house or "Hoop House" on the Dead Horse Mountain property. Please click the link below to read more about these volunteer opportunities and sign-up for a shift or several shifts! We will sign off on any volunteer hours needed if the form is provided by the individual.

Through google forms https://forms.gle/2s58FxVi1cFEYq3u8 or through Give Pulse https://givepul.se/nr6vy

Here are some quotes from past volunteers at the "Hoop House"

"Had such a great time doing some Spring cleaning by picking out the weeds and getting them ready for sale. Super easy and fun way to give back to the community. Plus, the staff on site are very welcoming and kind!" --- Ashley

"I enjoyed my time helping to repot gamma grass and chatting with Haden about native plants and WCRC projects. We took a short walk to look at the pond. It's a lovely place!"   
---- Jennifer

Kelley Beth Paul B.S.A.

Watershed Outreach Coordinator
Watershed Conservation Resource Center
909 E. Rolling Hills Ste A
Fayetteville, AR 72703
www.watershedconservation.org

Mark Your Calendars for April 25-26, for our spring convention in Fort Smith! Look for the Call to Meeting around the end of February.

Mark Your Calendars for May 9, which will be the dates of the BirdAR Birdathon! The Birdathon is back! Many thanks to Ragan Sutterfield, the planner-in-chief! He and a planning team are working on a terrific statewide event. Sponsors include Audubon Delta, AAS, ASCA and NWAAS at this point. BirdAR will be in conjunction with the Global Big Day. Both teams and individuals can participate. Registrations will be through Eventbrite with an option for t-shirts. The cost will be nominal to participate. We want this to be a community building activity! During the week following the Big Day there will be a zoom meeting where the winners will be announced. Watch for the details on our website.

 

To help inform a larger audience of NWA Master Naturalists, please add the NWA Events email address to communications sent to project/ committee members.  That way the NWA Communications Committee can accurately post activities happening in our area to the NWAMN's Events Calendar and to the NWAMN Weekly Update.  The cutoff for submissions is end of day Tuesday for Friday membership delivery, assumes no revisions are required. 

nwamnevents@gmail.com