Outdoor Crew

Do you enjoy working outside, mowing, sprucing up hiking trails, trimming and removing brush and general cleanup? Join the Outdoor Crew at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge.  Much help is needed to restore refuge lands after the flood.  The Outdoor Crew meets on the First Tuesday and Fourth Saturday of every month. Please email friendsofhagerman@gmail.com for details and to join our team. Scouts welcome!

Calling All Gardeners: Volunteers Needed to help with Butterfly Garden

Love to work in the garden?  Come and help us add plants, weed and mulch our beautiful butterfly garden. Join our team that is on call for Wednesday morning gardening.  Provide own tools and gloves.  Minimum age 18, or 16 if accompanied by an adult volunteer. Email for dates, times and details: friendsofhagerman@gmail.com

Butterfly Docent Meeting: Thursday, August 1^st, 10:00am

Do you love butterflies and native plants?  Do you enjoy being outdoors and meeting new people?  If so, then consider joining a group of volunteers who serve as docents in the Butterfly Garden at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge.  A meeting for new and returning docents will be held at the refuge on August 1^st at 10am.  Contact the friendsofhagerman@gmail.com for more information.

Butterfly Garden Walk: Saturday, August 3^rd, 9:00 to 11:00am

Enjoy a stroll through the Butterfly Garden at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge.  Come on your own or bring the family.  Garden docents will be on hand to help you identify the Texas native plants and the butterflies in the garden.  Use our close-focus butterfly binoculars to get a really CLOSE look.  Special activities for families available: scavenger hunts, meet the Metamorphosis Puppet and more. Garden walks are Come and Go or Come and Stay. The garden is free of charge and open to the public during Refuge hours.

Second Saturday:  Ethnobotany With Ian Thompson, Saturday, August 10^th, 10:00am

Ian Thompson is of Choctaw and Euro-American heritage.  At the age of 7, he started learning to chip stone arrow points from his uncle.  This ignited a deep passion for traditional culture that would occupy Ian’s youth.  Ian completed a PhD in anthropology at the University of New Mexico in 2008 with a dissertation designed to assist the wider Choctaw community in revitalizing threatened traditional artforms.  Dr. Thompson has been certified as a Choctaw Community Language and Culture Instructor by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Tribal Council.  He is also a Registered Professional Archaeologist. 

Ian has served the Choctaw Nation in a variety of culture-supporting roles including community language instructor, Tribal Archaeologist, NAGPRA Specialist, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and interim curator for the Choctaw Nation Cultural Center.  He has served on the Repatriation Review Committee for the Smithsonian (NMNH), and as president of the Oklahoma Bison Association.  Recent work has included compiling a database of Choctaw plant names and uses, and efforts to locate and protect Choctaw heirloom seeds.  Ian and his wife, Amy, also manage the Nan Awaya Heritage Farmstead, a bison ranch dedicated to adapting Choctaw traditional culture to the 21^st century in a way that can produce healthy food, heal the land and support the community,

Special Event: Making Arrowheads From Flint Demonstration

After Second Saturday, August 10^th

Wil House will be demonstrating a method of making arrowheads from flint.  It will be done outside the Visitor Center so audience will need to dress in cool clothing and bring water!  The demonstration will last about an hour.

Special Presentation Sponsored by the Bluestem Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists:  The Biology, Behaviors, and Integrated Pest Management of the Emerald Ash Borer

Presented by David Parsons, Sunday, August 11^th, 2:00pm

The Emerald Ash Borer is one of the most significant invasive insects since the introduction of the fire ant and they threaten to wipe out multiple species of ash (Fraxinus spp.) wherever it becomes established.  David Parsons is the Vice President for the Bluestem Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists, a Master Entomologist, and arachnologist. He wants to assure you that spiders do not go out of their way to harm you. He can’t say the same for wasps though.

Refuge Rocks Ages 4-6 and 7-10:  Busy as a Beaver and Overworking Otters

Saturday, August 17^th, 10:00 to 11:30am, Free (Donations Accepted)

Come out and learn about our watery beaver and otter friends living at the refuge.  Note: we’ll have two classes for the separate age groups to provide age-appropriate activities.  To sign up - call the refuge at (903) 786-2826 or visit  www.friendsofhagerman.com/contact. 

Tram Tours