Conservation & Education: Stewards of the Wild B/CS

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By Shelbi LeMeilleur

Texans are generally very proud to be Texans. Their pride is deeply rooted in the history of the state and easily passed down from one generation to the next. One organization in Bryan College Station is looking to ensure our community continues to take care of this great state. Stewards of the Wild B/CS is the newest chapter of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation organization aiming to educate and engage the community in the great outdoors.

Stewards of the Wild B/CS Chair Brandon Cozart helped kick start the organization last fall when the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation Wild Film Tour came through town. “Around that time I had been looking for organizations like this and I landed on Stewards of the Wild,” says Cozart. “I had seen that there were chapters in mostly the big cities of the state at that time, so I reached out to Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.” Coincidentally, the Wild Film Tour had come through College Station to gauge interest in bringing Stewards of the Wild to B/CS.

Stewards of the Wild B/CS Vice Chair Amy Hale was also in attendance at the film tour and knew the organization would be a great addition to the community.

“They had a handful of meetings to gauge interest and it just seemed from the get go like the right fit,” explains Hale. She says seeing what the other chapters have done and the opportunities they’re allowed to experience concerning education and conservation piqued her interest.

As an organization through the TPWF, Stewards of the Wild directly supports the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and its missions — Steward, Conserve, Lead, and Engage.

“We, as Stewards of the Wild, we’re that education arm,” Hale says. “We’re not here to find the people with the money, but we’re here to find the people with the heart and who have the time and want to get outdoors and spread their stories to other people. … We’re a big part of the education components, and education through your typical education, but also education through posting photos and storytelling — that other type of education is vital.”

Educating the community can come in many forms, including fishing workshops, conservation efforts, clinics, and more, according to Cozart. Stewards of the Wild B/CS is also in the unique position of having Texas A&M University as a close ally and resource.

“The connections we have with the University here, we feel like we are in a position where we can offer a wide range of opportunities with education and service,” says Cozart. “We can bring in people from the University, and they can talk about the really high-level, technical aspects of wildlife and fisheries and parks and recreation and all that kind of thing. But then we can also for the community have little clinics. So, teaching kids how to set up a tent, or how to start a fire, or bait a line or something like that. We want to be broad in what we offer for the community.”

Only five percent of the land in Texas is public, according to Cozart, which is an outlier among larger states in the country compared to other states like Utah, where a majority of their land is public. Hale says she believes education and conservation are important to help preserve public lands.

“While Texas doesn’t have a lot of public lands, percentage wise based off of other states, we’re very proud of the parks that we do have and the beautiful sights and sceneries that we do have,” Hale says. “Texans should be fighting as much as they can to be preserving the few percent of public lands that we actually do have. … We really need to be aware of what we can do to help out and keep them the way they are for future generations.”

Stewards of the Wild B/CS will offer a wide-range of local and statewide trips and service opportunities. Some events will be open to the public; others are members only. There are three tiers of membership levels — student ($45), single ($85), and co-member ($150 for two people).

While the group is aimed toward the young professional demographic, all ages and backgrounds are welcome.

“I pretty much grew up a city girl so I have very little experience hunting and fishing, but I have over the years begun to do more camping and hiking,” explains Lauren Edgar, Stewards of the Wild B/CS communications co-chair. “This looked like an opportunity to get with likeminded people who are trying to get people outdoors and an opportunity for me to learn more about the hunting/fishing side of it and how that impacts conservation and vice versa.” Cozart echoes this: “Anyone who is interested in the outdoors has a place in the Stewards.”

For those wanting a taste of what is included in a membership, join the Stewards of the Wild B/CS during their Texas Tuesday Get Together on the second Tuesday of each month, follow Stewards of the Wild B/CS on Instagram and Facebook, or visit www.tpwf.org/sotw/bcs.

“Texans are very proud of Texas and we love what we have,” says Hale. “If you love it that much then you have to be willing to stand up for it and save it so that future generations can love it as much as we love it.”