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The Boerne Chapter of the Native Plant Society recently presented Debbie Reid with the SUN Award (Standing Up for Natives Award). Reid has been one of this area’s most innovative and influential stewards of native plants and the general ecosystem.
During the mid 1990s, she was a Naturalist at Friedrich Park in northwestern San Antonio. While there, Debbie conceived of the Master Naturalist program. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department urban biologists Rufus Stephens and Judith Green and others helped her create and implement the Texas Master Naturalist training classes, first held at Friedrich Park. Now there are at least four Master Naturalist programs in the Hill Country and many more around the state. This volunteer program also has spread to over 30 other states and another country. That effort alone is an impressive legacy for Reid.
In 1997, she was hired to be the first and only Arborist for San Antonio when the city adopted its first tree-protection ordinance. To better understand urban development, Reid went back to her alma mater Texas A&M to take a class in heavy machinery. In trying to enforce the tree ordinances in San Antonio, most developers and environmentalists alike found her to be knowledgeable, fair, and willing to work hard to find equitable compromises.
Debbie Reid recently resigned from the San Antonio job to go to Mexico with the Peace Corps. She hopes to work with federal and local government agencies to improve forestry practices in Mexico. Another pioneering adventure for this creative ecologist!
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