I'd Rather Be Hiking

09/29/2026

Great news!

About 150 representatives from East Texas counties, cities and agencies assembled Thursday in Nacogdoches for the official launch of the East Texas Water Institute, a new initiative with multiple goals

09/27/2026

An important message. We all belong to the Earth so if we have to do someone else's part, do it for Earth.

I’m Jim Tolstrup. I’ve been the executive director of HPEC for nearly 20 years. When I was a kid, in the 1970’s, we went for a walk in the woods with my Dad. There was trash and b**r cans lying around and Dad started picking them up. “That’s not our trash” we said. I have never forgotten the three words my Dad said next, “it’s our world”.

At HPEC I have picked up mountains of trash, with a small army of volunteers and staff. Trash flows constantly down the irrigation canals, it blows over from adjacent builders, and from the neighbors surrounding us, and it’s thoughtlessly discarded by trail users and fishermen. We’ve collected tires, baby pools, shopping and all kinds of junk. We’ve disentangled birds from fishing line, and managed to save some of them.

Our world didn’t start out degraded, but we make it so. We can also restore it to its original health and vitality, if we care to. Wherever I go I am a land steward. Not because I’m angry or disgusted, but because I was raised well, and I love and respect the natural world.

Today I’m camping by the Missouri River, in South Dakota. We can’t as individuals clean up the whole world, but we can each do our part. And hey, this stretch of road is clean!

09/25/2026

This is our 2nd edition of the sea bean poster. We took suggestions from folks on the first edition and incorporated those where appropriate. We also added about 20 more species over the past several months so that it is even more informative now. We will eventually get this up on our Harte Research Institute website once we finalize it and don't plan on modifying it anymore. But for now, feel free to save and share to use to help you in your sea bean beachcombing adventures.

09/25/2026

09/25/2026

While collecting gulf trawls along the , our Corpus Christi Bay crew caught this tiny, vibrant lesser electric ray! 🌊

Lesser electric rays (Narcine bancroftii) are a demersal, or benthic fish, meaning they dwell and feed at or near the bottom of seafloor beds. They are commonly found partially buried along sandy shorelines, seagrass, and sometimes near coral reefs, from the surf zone up to about 200 feet. They range from North Carolina to at least the north coast of South America, and are locally common in the Gulf and Caribbean Sea.

These marine critters are nocturnal, remaining motionless during the day and foraging for food in the substrate at night. They enjoy a diet of short-length snake eels, small bony fish, different species of crustaceans, and sea anemones. The lesser electric ray uses its pectoral fins to guide the food to its mouth, which is located under its body.

09/24/2026

More from our visit to Meridian State Park today. Founded in 1935, it has held up well with many improvements & opportunities to bird, hike, swim, camp & relax in a quiet getaway along the upper Balcones Escarpment. We highly recommend!