Category Archives: Fermata

Retrospective

Fermata, , , , , , , , , ,

Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you…Satchel Paige

Looking back is a luxury that we can rarely afford. Fermata is a consultancy; we live from contract to contract. The good news is that we stay busy. The bad news is that we rarely get the opportunity to look back over our accomplishments.

Monument Rocks, Kansas, by Ted Lee Eubanks
With the year’s end approaching, perhaps we should take the time to consider our work. For example, I am currently helping Kansas develop an ecotourism strategy. Governor Brownback and Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KWPT) Secretary Robin Jennison brought me into the project to facilitate the development of the strategy. This coincides with our work on interpretive plans for the 11 Kansas byways, as well as the writing of an interpretive plan for the state byways as a whole.

This is not our first project where we have worked directly with the governor. Several years ago we developed the Maine ecotourism strategy for then-Governor Baldacci. In Pennsylvania we worked with Governor Tom Ridge, then continued with Governor Ed Rendell. The results of that decade-long collaboration were the Pennsylvania Wilds and another 4 Conservation Landscape Initiatives (CLIs). We began the birding trail craze in Texas with Governor Ann Richards.

Jamaican tody (Todus todus), Windsor Research Centre, Jamaica, by Ted Lee Eubanks
We are also completing the final draft of an interpretive plan for the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway in Nebraska. Our work in Nebraska dates back to the 1990s when we looked at socio-economic benefits of the Platte River for the EPA. Even then I spent time in the Sandhills, one of the iconic American landscapes.

Our interpretive work for the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) has extended across the Caribbean as well. Recently I completed an interpretive strategy for Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Grenada. Last week I worked in Jamaica with the Windsor Research Centre, conducting a workshop on sustainable recreation and tourism as a development alternative. We hope to continue our work on the Caribbean Bird Trail this next year, extending its reach throughout the Basin.

Aguas Blancas, Dominican Republic, by Ted Lee Eubanks
We have also continued our work with URS on the San Antonio River. In the next few months we will look at the value of the lower river as a wildlife corridor that connects the Texas Hill Country with the Gulf of Mexico. The San Antonio River Authority (SARA) is the client, and we are excited to be able to continue our work in this fascinating and little-known region of Texas.

When I started Fermata in 1992 I thought that I would focus on birds and nature. Little did I know where the trail would lead. Now we work in cultural and historical landscapes as much as with nature. Our services now span the interpretive range from planning to products. Yet one trait ties all of these disparate parts together. We are still driven by curiosity, by a simple need to reveal “beautiful truths.”

Ted Lee Eubanks
Founder & President

The Caribbean Birding Trail

Birds, Byways, Nature, , , , , , , , ,

Red-billed Streamertail, the national bird of Jamaica, by Ted Lee Eubanks
The Caribbean Birding Trail is a project of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) and its partner organizations. The Trail is being developed to help residents as well as travelers connect to the rich cultural and natural history of the Caribbean islands through birds. The Trail will aid visitors in enjoying the Caribbean birds, nature, history, and people along the entire expanse from Bermuda to Trinidad and Tobago.

Fermata is writing interpretive plans for the first two countries on the Trail, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Ted Eubanks, along with Lisa Sorenson and Holly Robertson of the SCSCB, spent nearly a month in the two countries this summer. Our visits focused on five Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in these two countries: Sierra Bahoruco Oriental, Sierra Bahoruco, and Parque Nactional Valle Nuevo in the DR, and the Cockpit and Portland Bight regions of Jamaica. In October the team will travel to Grenada to complete this summer’s field work.

Kansas Byways

Byways, , , ,

Monument Rocks by Ted Lee Eubanks
Kansas is Oz. Kansas is flat. Kansas is boring. Not. Kansas’ 11 scenic byways lead visitors to what the state is, not what the state is said to be. These byways wend through the backroads of the Kansas experience. For the curious, for those not willing to limit their knowledge of the world to a television show or a cartoon, travel these byways and get a sense of the real Kansas. Fermata is currently developing interpretive plans for each of the 11 Kansas byways, and one for the state byways as a whole.

The Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway

Byways, , ,

Sandhills, Nebraska by Ted Lee Eubanks
The Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway stretches along Highway 2 from Grand Island to Alliance, Nebraska. The byway begins east of the 98th Meredian, at the edge of the humid, forested east. The byway ends west of the 100th Meredian, in the arid, treeless grasslands of the west. With each mile a different sentence in the great American story is inscribed. The Sandhills is an iconic American landscape, a land that fundamentally changed the way Americans view the country and themselves. Fermata is honored to be developing an interpretive strategy for this byway.

Ted’s San Antonio River Photo To Be Used In Witte Museum Exhibit

Fermata, , , ,

San Antonio River by Ted Lee Eubanks
The Witte Museum is one of San Antonio’s premiere museums hosting and producing history and science exhibits for the community. Over 400,000 people visit the Witte Museum annually. The museum and the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) are presenting an exhibit titled If the River Could Talk: 12,000 Years of Life on the San Antonio River, June 12-August 31, 2012.

This exhibition focuses on excavated archaeological finds from the San Antonio River never before seen by the public, and explores the natural and cultural resources that sustained communities overtime. SARA is celebrating 75 years of overseeing the water resources of the San Antonio River coursing through Bexar County and the surrounding areas.

Be sure to take advantage of this unique opportunity! The photo is part of a collection from Fermata’s work with URS on a SARA watershed plan for the lower stretch of the river. Thanks to all (particularly Jeff Irvin) for including us in the wonderful project.