HOUSTON ZOO – SPECTACLED BEAR BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
Date: Sat, Dec 30
Time: 10 am – 3 pm
Location: Houston Zoo; spectacled bear exhibit area
Fee: regular Zoo admission applies if not a member
Contact: www.houstonzoo.org or (713) 533-6500

ARMAND BAYOU NATURE CENTER WINTER CAMP – CREEPY CRITTERS (FOR K-1ST GRADE)
Date: Wed, Dec 27 – Fri, Dec 29
Time: 12:30 – 3:30 pm
Location: Armand Bayou Nature Center, 8500 Bay Area Blvd
Fee: $70 for member, $90 for non-member
Contact: RSVP to (281) 474-2551

Complete Description:
For K-1st Grade. Worms, snails, snakes, and daddy long legs. Spiders, centipedes, and sow bugs. How do these animals contribute to the circle of life? Find out when you comb the prairie for hidden critters. This class includes sweep netting, animal demonstrations and crafts.
Pre-registration and Pre-payment required.

ARMAND BAYOU NATURE CENTER WINTER CAMP – ALONG THE BAYOU (FOR 2ND – 3RD GRADE)
Date: Wed, Dec 27 – Fri, Dec 29
Time: 12:30 – 3:30 pm
Location: Armand Bayou Nature Center, 8500 Bay Area Blvd
Fee: $70 for member, $90 for non-member
Contact: RSVP to (281) 474-2551

Complete Description:
For 2nd – 3rd Grade. This class introduces campers to the lives of the early settlers by using hand tools, creating their own tools, playing games, fishing, and canoeing. A great preparation for Trailblazers and Pathfinders. Visit Armand Bayou aboard the “Bayou Ranger.”
Pre-registration and Pre-payment required.

ARMAND BAYOU NATURE CENTER WINTER CAMP – THE GREAT OUTDOORS (FOR 4TH – 5TH GRADE)
Date: Wed, Dec 27 – Fri, Dec 29
Time: 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Location: Armand Bayou Nature Center, 8500 Bay Area Blvd
Fee: $130 for member, $160 for non-member
Contact: RSVP to (281) 474-2551

Complete Description:
For 4th – 5th Grade. Survive in the wild! Learn first aid skills, weather forecasting, Native American and early settler skills as well as compass work, shelter building, cooking and food gathering as you work as a team to tackle nature in the rough. Visit Armand Bayou aboard the “Bayou Ranger.” Pre-registration and Pre-payment required.

ARMAND BAYOU NATURE CENTER WINTER CAMP – WINGS AND THINGS (FOR 2ND – 3RD GRADE)
Date: Wed, Dec 27 – Fri, Dec 29
Time: 8:30 – 11:30 am
Location: Armand Bayou Nature Center, 8500 Bay Area Blvd
Fee: $70 for member, $90 for non-member
Contact: RSVP to (281) 474-2551

Complete Description:
For 2nd-3rd Grade. Is it an airplane, a helicopter, or a sugar glider? Study animals that fly and how they contribute to our ecosystem. See a mammal demonstration, play migration games, canoe and fish at May’s Pond. Pre-registration and Pre-payment required.

ARMAND BAYOU NATURE CENTER WINTER CAMP – WINTER WONDERLAND (FOR K-1ST GRADE)
Date: Wed, Dec 27 – Fri, Dec 29
Time: 8:30 – 11:30 am
Location: Armand Bayou Nature Center, 8500 Bay Area Blvd
Fee: $70 for member, $90 for non-member
Contact: RSVP to (281) 474-2551

Complete Description:
For K-1st Grade. Poke around in the pond, investigate the quiet of the forest in the winter and see the prairie from a hayride. Discover clues to which animals might be hiding under the cover of winter at the Armand Bayou Nature Center. See live animals. Pre-registration and Pre-payment required.

ARMAND BAYOU NATURE CENTER WINTER CAMP – FROSTY FRIENDS (FOR PRE-K)
Date: Wed, Dec 27 – Fri, Dec 29
Time: 8:30 – 11:30 am
Location: Armand Bayou Nature Center, 8500 Bay Area Blvd
Fee: $70 for member, $90 for non-member
Contact: RSVP to (281) 474-2551

Complete Description:
For Pre-K. View pond life, prairie and forest in the quiet of winter. What sounds, shapes and colors are unique at this time of year? See live animals and hike the trails. A prairie hayride shows the beauty of the grasses in the winter. Pre-registration and Pre-payment required.

ARANSAS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
Date: Wed, Dec 27
Time: 6 am; please call to confirm time
Location: Aransas National Wildlife Refuge; please call for directions
Fee: usually $5 participation fee
Contact: Barbara Bruns at (361) 575-5505 or Aransas NWR HQ at (361) 286-3559

By Ella Tyler

In British countries, the first weekday after Christmas day, generally December 26, is a public holiday called Boxing Day. (more…)

The CEC offices will be closed from Friday, Dec 22, to Tuesday, Jan 2. The next update will be Friday, Jan 5. Happy holidays and best wishes for a wonderful new year!

The Sierra Club’s meeting on Thursday, Jan 4, features “Everyone’s Favorite Slide.” (more…)

The nation will celebrate the 100th birthday of Rachel Carson, America’s pioneer of the modern environmental movement and author of the landmark book, Silent Spring, on May 27, 2007. Texans for Alternatives to Pesticides is organizing a tribute to Miss Carson. (more…)

The Big Thicket Consortium is seeking an individual for a half time position to coordinate and manage the exciting programs ongoing in the Big Thicket. (more…)

The Houston Parks and Recreation Dept. and Hermann Park Conservancy currently have multiple openings for the HPARD/AmeriCorps grant program. (more…)

Grants are available under the TCEQ’s Texas Emissions Reduction Plan program to help clean the air in ozone nonattainment areas. (more…)

FOUR HOUSTON-AREA CHEMICAL PLANTS ACCUSED IN STATE LAWSUIT
Houston Chronicle 12/21/06
Four Houston-area chemical plants could face hundreds of thousands of dollars – if not millions – in penalties for releasing pollutants into the air and failing to properly monitor equipment for leaks.

NEW FLOOD MAPS TO AFFECT 10,000 HARRIS PROPERTIES
Houston Chronicle 12/18/06
Thousands of Harris County property owners whose land will lie within newly configured flood plains have six months to obtain flood insurance at current rates and avoid paying higher premiums required in flood-prone areas.

THIRTEEN STATES SUE US EPA OVER SOOT EMISSIONS
Reuters 12/20/06
PHILADELPHIA – Thirteen US states sued the federal Environmental Protection Agency on Monday for failing to set air quality standards that could save up to 24,000 lives a year.

SUBURBAN SPRAWL MAY CREATE HEAVIER KIDS
Reuters 12/18/06
NEW YORK – US children who live in expansive suburbs may start to pay for it with expansive waistlines, new research suggests.

UH MAKEOVER PLAN INCLUDES NEW SHOPS, HOUSING
Houston Chronicle 12/16/06
The first thing you notice is the sea of striped asphalt. Parking lots – 62 in all – ring the University of Houston, reinforcing its reputation as a commuter school, a place that empties at day’s end.

RICE BLOWS OFF KLEENEX AFTER STUDENTS’ SUGGESTIONS
Houston Chronicle 12/19/06
If you’re looking for a Kleenex on the Rice University campus in the near future, you may be out of luck.

RURAL RESIDENTS LOSE LAWSUIT AGAINST WIND FARM BUILDER
Houston Chronicle 12/20/06
ABILENE – After a two-week trial, a company that built the world’s largest wind farm has won a lawsuit filed by neighboring landowners who said the wind turbines were too loud and devalued their property.

GALVESTON MAN SUED BY FEDS IN PROPERTY DISPUTE
Houston Chronicle 12/20/06
GALVESTON — A property owner accused of illegally filling and dredging in a Galveston bayou and environmentally sensitive wetlands is being sued by the US Attorney’s Office.

RICHMOND GRAPPLES WITH INCREASING WATER DILEMMA
Fort Bend Herald and Texas Coaster 12/19/06
Perplexed city commissioners still haven’t figured out how to provide affordable water to Richmond residents in the coming years, venting their frustration at a specially-called discussion Monday prior to the regular City Commission meeting.

ZONING PETITION TOPS ROSENBERG COUNCIL AGENDA
Fort Bend Herald and Texas Coaster 12/18/06
A petition requesting the adoption of zoning regulations by the city of Rosenberg will be presented to City Council at its meeting Tuesday. The petition will be presented by former economic development director Bill Knesek, and council may take action on the matter.

LAMPSON BROUGHT UP TO SPEED ON FLOODING
Friendswood Journal 12/14/2006
More than 50 local officials from both Pearland and Friendswood attended a luncheon meeting at Las Rosas Mexican Restaurant in Pearland on Monday to bend their new congressman’s ear on the hottest of all local hot-button issues – flooding

WHOOPERS BACK IN TEXAS
Houston Chronicle 12/20/06
This winter, the marshes along the Texas coast are more alive with snowy white whooping cranes than they’ve been in a century.

BIRDERS FIND 232 SPECIES IN ANNUAL COUNT

BOOK PROFILES HISTORICAL COURTHOUSES
Houston Chronicle 12/19/06
WHARTON – When Wharton County Judge W.J. Croom and his commissioners announced plans to build a new courthouse, rancher Able “Shanghai” Pierce raised such a ruckus that the governor called in the Texas Rangers to keep the peace.

HOUSTON AUDUBON SOCIETY – DECEMBER SANCTUARY SEMINAR – OWL PROWL
Date: Tue, Dec 19
Time: 7 pm Program
Location: Sims Bayou Urban Nature Center
Fee: Free; but Reservations required
Contact: RSVP to Mary Anne Weber at (713) 932-1639

Complete Description:
Speaker: Mary Anne Weber
Topic: Owl Prowl