Film Showing- Green Fire - February 25 at Refuge

“We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.”
- Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949

The impact of his own gunshot from a rimrock in Arizona changed Aldo Leopold’s own thinking, leading to the key insight that was the culmination of his life’s work: a responsibility for its health. Join us as we trace Leopold’s personal journey and follow the threads that connect to his legacy today. (From the Aldo Leopold Foundation website)

On Saturday, 25 February at 2 pm, the Friends of Hagerman and Austin College will host a free screening of a new film called Green Fire, the first full-length, high definition documentary film ever made about legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold. The film explores Aldo Leopold’s life in the early part of the twentieth century and the many ways his land ethic idea continues to be applied all over the world today.

Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time is a production of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, the US Forest Service, and the Center for Humans and Nature. The film shares highlights from Leopold’s life and extraordinary career, explaining how he shaped conservation in the twentieth century and still inspires people today. Although probably best known as the author of the conservation classic A Sand County Almanac, Leopold is also renowned for his work as an educator, philosopher, forester, ecologist, and wilderness advocate.

Dr. Jason Luscier, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at Austin College, will introduce the film by talking briefly about Aldo Leopold and reading excerpts from Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac”.

“Aldo Leopold’s legacy lives on today in the work of people and organizations across the nation and around the world,” said Aldo Leopold Foundation Executive Director Buddy Huffaker. “What is exciting about Green Fire is that it is more than just a documentary about Aldo Leopold; it also explores the influence his ideas have had in shaping the conservation movement as we know it today by highlighting some really inspiring people and organizations doing great work to connect people and the natural world in ways that even Leopold might not have imagined.”

Green Fire illustrates Leopold’s continuing influence by exploring current projects that connect people and land at the local level. Viewers will meet urban children in Chicago learning about local foods and ecological restoration. They’ll learn about ranchers in Arizona and New Mexico who maintain healthy landscapes by working on their own properties and with their neighbors, in cooperative community conservation efforts. They’ll meet wildlife biologists who are bringing back threatened and endangered species, from cranes to Mexican wolves, to the landscapes where they once thrived. The Green Fire film portrays how Leopold’s vision of a community that cares about both people and land—his call for a land ethic—ties all of these modern conservation stories together and offers inspiration and insight for the future.

The film will be shown in the Multi-purpose Meeting Room in the Visitor Center at the Refuge. Hagerman NWR is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, TX, 75092. The event is free of charge and open to the public. For direction or more information, call the Refuge, 903 786 2826, or see www.friendsofhagerman.com.

At the Refuge - Week of November 6 – 12, 2011

Beginning this week, all visitors to the Refuge Office, Visitor Center and FOH Center (Audio Visual Classroom, etc.) at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge will enter via the main gateway. The road leading to the FOH Center and maintenance area is being gated off. To reach the FOH Center, just follow the road from the Visitor Center parking on through the maintenance area.

On November 11, Veterans Day, the Refuge Office will be closed and there will be no official business conducted. The Visitor Center and Nature Nook will be open from 10 am – 3 pm that day.

Hagerman NWR and the Friends of Hagerman will offer several programs at the Refuge on Second Saturday, November 12.

Activities will begin with a guided nature walk, led by Dr. Jason Luscier, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at Austin College. Participants will note that recent rains have greened up the Refuge, just as of this week there is a little autumn color and the fall migration is still underway. Walkers will meet at 8 am at the Visitor Center and should dress for the weather. Bring your binoculars and field guides or use our loaners. The walk will end in time for the 10 am programs, and will be cancelled in case of rain.

From 9 – 10 am complimentary coffee will be served in the FOH Center.

At 10 am, Ross Anderson will speak on Tree Swallow Reproductive Success and Site Fidelity at Red Slough Wildlife Management Area, Oklahoma, in the meeting room of the Visitor Center. Tree Swallows are a nearctic-nearctic migrant and their range has expanded southward in the last three decades. This swallow is a cavity nester and readily accepted nest boxes placed at Red Slough Wildlife Management Area (WMA). At Red Slough WMA a network of nest boxes was established and the occupying swallows were monitored. Over two field seasons, Anderson banded 346 Tree Swallows and recaptured 40% of the adults and 5% of the previous year’s nestlings.

Anderson is a graduate student from Southeastern Oklahoma State University under the guidance of Dr. Doug Wood. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Conservation at SOSU and has completed the coursework for a Masters in Conservation at Southeastern. He is working on completing his thesis. Anderson currently resides in Tushka, Oklahoma, where he owns an archery shop.

Also at 10 am, the Second Saturday for Youth topic will be “Talking Turkey”, with Katie Palmer. This program is full, for Nov. 12, thanks.

The Friends Nature Photo Club will also meet in the Visitor Center on Nov. 12. A photo presentation from the October photo safari will be shown from noon until 12:30 pm, and then the meeting will begin. For details on sharing photos for the meeting, please contact fohphotoclub@gmail.com.

All of these activities are free of charge and open to the public. Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, Texas, 75092. Visitors may enjoy outdoor activities at the Refuge from sunrise until sunset daily, with no admission charge.