The Texas Bird Conservation Alliance (TBCA), an ad hoc group of organizations and individuals interested in the conservation of Texas birds, last met in February 2008 in McAllen. That daylong session, held to correspond with the Partners in Flight International Conference, brought together a broad range of conservationists who dedicated the day to discussion Texas bird conservation issues. People left that meeting expecting a quick follow up on the next steps to be taken in the evolution of the TBCA.

Few of us expected to be still waiting, almost one year later. The reasons for the delay are complicated, but the simple truth is that any effort of this sort needs to gather a critical mass of interest and effort in order to move forward. Where we may have interest, in effort we have lagged.

Therefore I have decided to revisit this issue, and to begin to organize this effort in the blogsphere. Of course I have every intention of evolving to a more tangible form, but for the moment this is the perfect medium for pulling together those interest in this issue. With the Texas legislative session underway, and the coast still reeling from Hurricane Ike, the need for the TBCA has never been more acute.

For those interested in being involved, I suggest starting by simply subscribing to this blog. Over time we will build a community of bird conservationists in Texas that will have a physical presence. For now, though, this blog will allow us to jump start the effort and see how we might make up ground toward the promise so vividly exhibited last February.

To that end, I am (finally) making available the podcasts of last year’s sessions. There may be accessed by simply clicking on the links below. Thanks for your patience and understanding, and I look forward to seeing how far we might push this effort together.

Ted Eubanks

February 2009 TBCA Conference
McAllen, Texas

Podcast 1
TBCA Introduction – Ted Eubanks

Podcast 2
Questions for Ted Eubanks

Podcast 3
GCBO – Cecilia Riley
ABA – Dr. Richard Payne
Audubon Texas – Andy Kasner
Houston Audubon – Winnie Burkett

Podcast 4
TNC – Rich Kostecke
TPWD and BBS – Brent Ortego
eBird – CLO (Chris Wood)

Podcast 5
Valley Nature Center – Martin Hagne
Future of TBCA Discussion