3rd Wildlife Viewing & Nature Tourism Academy

Texas Tech University Llano River Field Station in Junction, Texas lies and serves as a destination for scientific land/water research, nature and ecotourism, watershed management, and education programs. In 2011, LRFS developed 3.2 miles of land trails bordering a 4-mile paddle trail that highlight different habitats of the Hill Country. The Discovery Point Trail, in partnership with National Park Service's RTCA, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, public/private stakeholder groups, is an interpretive experience: 1) through demonstrations of BMPs: native plant gardens, brush control, wildlife guzzlers, invasive-species management, riparian restoration and renewable energy technologies; 2) integrating K-12 watershed education with research programs at LRFS; and 3) educating about plants, bird, wildlife, invasive and trust species in the context of BMPs and demonstration projects. Future projects are prescribed burn and plant restoration/succession areas, riparian improvement projects and butterfly/Monarch gardens. The trail benefits state/federal staff, NGOs, teachers/students and ranchers, as LRFS hosts training workshops and scientific/educational conferences. New additions to our programming include a Texas Youth Deer Hunt, a spring birding festival with the South Llano River State Park, bird blinds, an updated web page, game cameras and our Outdoor School Curriculum Units that use the trail – benefitting more than 2,000 students and teachers a year. Learning objectives include: 1) nature trails facilitate ecotourism and environmental education; 2) principles of partnership science and engaged learning multiplier effects; 3) how broader impacts of research are embedded into public engagement; 4) how informal/formal STEM education is incorporated into trails; and 5) how interpretative nature trails provide rural-urban connections to cope with Nature Deficit Disorder.