Jan. 14, 2013

Julie's Green Light is a new, regular feature in Green Source DFW. This week Assistant Editor Julie Thibodeaux reports • Frack Attack Coming to Dallas • Austin mayor Will Wynn in Fort Worth • Update on the Dallas Historic Tree Coalition   Send your green news items to Julie@greensourcedfw.org

Talking Fracking

Local anti-gas drilling activists are fired up about the upcoming Frack Attack National Summit that’s set for Mar. 2-4 in Dallas. The event is still in the planning stages but organizers say it will feature speakers, training sessions and possibly a road trip to Austin for a rally. This is the second major event planned by Stop the Frack Attack, a coalition of national and local environmental groups, spearheaded by Earthworks. Last summer, the group held an anti-gas drilling rally in Washington D.C. that drew 5,000 supporters. Dewayne Quertermous of the Greater Fort Worth Sierra Club and Sharon Wilson, an Earthworks activist, both attended the DC rally and are helping to organize the upcoming summit. Wilson said Texas is a logical place to gather, since it was where fracking took off in the 2000s.  “We feel like it was important to come to Texas because this is the belly of the beast,” said Wilson. See http://www.stopthefrackattack.org/

Green Guru on Tap

 Will Wynn, former mayor of Austin, will bring some of his Austin mojo to North Texas this month. Wynn will be making “The Business Case for Sustainabiity” at the Live Oak Lounge in Fort Worth on Jan. 23 from 5:30-7:30 pm. Tickets are $20 for the event hosted by EARTH-NT . Organizer Brandy O’Quinn said some North Texas cities have been slow to adopt sustainable practices but she said they must in order to recruit and retain young professionals and the creative class. “It is how that demographic defines quality of life and where they decide to raise their families.” She said Wynn knows how to drive economic development while creating a world-class city. “He was instrumental in the marketing campaign 'Keep Austin Weird'. That sums it up.” Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price will kick off the evening.  FOR MORE INFORMATION

This Old Tree

The Dallas Historic Tree Coalition aims to document a part of Texas history that’s written in the trees -- before it’s erased. Mary Graves, president of the nonprofit founded in 1995, said the group is stepping up efforts to find the last remaining Indian Marker trees in Texas. The trees were bent as saplings by American Indians that lived in Texas 150 years ago and stayed that way. 

    
Former Indian Marker Tree at Gateway Park in Dallas. Photo by  Doug Taylor.

Forming rainbow shapes or featuring 90-degree bends, the irregular-shaped trees marked trails, campsites, low-water crossings, springs and other significant natural features. To certify that tree is a true Indian sign post, DHTC collaborates with tree experts, historians, archeologists and anthropologists to collect evidence to support each case before presenting it to the Commanche Tribal Elder Council for final approval.
     Steve Houser, an arborist and founding member of DHTC, said so far the group has achieved only one official designation with more than 100 cases across Texas still pending investigation. He said time is running out as the trees age and development spreads. “The true Indian marker trees are living witnesses to a significant part of our history and we’re losing them,” said Houser. Learn more on Jan. 26 at 10 a.m., when Dennis Downes, author of “Native American Trail Marker Trees,” speaks at the Trinity River Audubon Center in Dallas. More info here. 

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