Dr. April Samson of the Selah Bamberger Ranch Preserve was the guest speaker at the Sept. 8 meeting of the Rotary Club of Blanco County.

The preserve is located in Blanco County and is one of the best examples of private land preservation and ecological restoration. Samson, who serves as the executive director at the preserve, explained all the work and educational programs that are done there.

J. David Bamberger, who is a very active 92-year-old, purchased 3,000 acres in Blanco County in 1969 and began developing good ecological restoration of the land. Since then, he has added another 2,500 acres to the preserve. Using land management methods as control of native plants as cedar and native grasses, the preserve has demonstrated positive plant growth and water management on Texas lands. Utilizing land management concepts and then sharing that knowledge with land owners and research institutes within the United States has made the Selah Bamberger Ranch Preserve a vital asset to ecological research centers and land owners from all over.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff at the ranch would host over 2,000 Texas school children each year, who in many instances come from urban areas. They traveled to the ranch to go through environmental educational programs about native plants, water conservation, land management and native wild life. Volunteers are trained to help direct the tours for the children.

Dr. Samson talked about and answered questions on cedar control, non-native animals and various other land management ideas.

On Sept. 21, the Rotary Club of Blanco County will host guest speakers from the Science Mill in Johnson City. Dr. Bonnie Baskins and Dr. Robert P. Elde, Science Mill founders, will share their experiences on opening the Science Mill in Johnson City.

Anyone is welcome to attend the zoom meeting. Contact Bob Backle at [email protected] for meeting information. The meeting will start at 6 p.m.