SMGA
Update for October 20, 2008
In
This Issue...
For
Your Calendar
Seeking Committee Members
Who is John Griffis?
Invasives in Ringtail
SMGA & TX State
In the News & Other Tidbits
FOR
YOUR CALENDAR
View
calendar of events
TRAIL
BUILDING:
THURSDAYS 10/23, 10/30 * LOCATION TBA * 7:15-8:30 AM
THURSDAYS IN NOVEMBER * LOCATION TBA * 6:45-8:30
SATURDAYS 10/25, 11/8 * LOCATION TBA * 8:30-10:30 AM (8:00
FIRST TIMERS)
Email alliance@smgreenbelt.org
to receive location, directions, and last-minute weather cancellations.
Gloves, hard shoes, eyewear required. Water bottle, long pants,
hat recommended. We supply tools and bug repellent.
WEDNESDAY,
10/22 * SMGA BOARD MEETING * 6:30-8:00 pm
SMGA board meeting at the San Marcos Nature Center. Members
welcome; let us know you’re coming and we will get a
meeting packet to you.
FRIDAY
10/24 * LAST CHANCE TO SUBMIT PARKS SURVEY
You have until 10/24 to complete the Parks & Recreation
User Survey designed to gather input on
local parks and the open space master plan. Pick up a survey
at the San Marcos Library or
download an electronic copy here, add and save your comments,
and email the completed survey
to David Beyer at dbeyer@landdesignpartners.com.
SATURDAY
10/25 * SMGA BENEFIT: WORLD DANCE FEST * PRICE CENTER * 7:00-9:00
PM
SMGA is one of three organizations that will receive proceeds
from the World Dance Festival at the Price Center, 222 W San
Antonio St. in San Marcos. Tickets $5. Thanks to Jamie Shelton
of the Blue Goat Café for organizing this event! Download
a pdf with festival photos.
SATURDAY
10/25 * INVASIVE PLANT REMOVAL AQUARENA CENTER * 8:00/9:00-11:00
AM
Meet at Aquarena Center at the far end of the long parking
area. Email wassenich@grandecom.net
for more information.
10/20-27,
11/4 * VOTE!
Don't forget to vote. Find dates, times, and locations
here.
THURSDAY
10/30 * CONSERVATION EASEMENTS * HAYS CTY EXT. OFFICE * 6:30
PM
Join the Hays County Master Naturalists for a panel discussion
on land conservation and conservation easements with current
and former representatives from Texas Parks and Wildlife,
Texas Land Trust Council, Trust for Public Lands, and The
Nature Conservancy. The Hays County Extension Office is at
1253 Civic Center Loop in San Marcos. Email snenney@yahoo.com
for more info.
FRIDAY
11/14 * FULL-MOON SOCIAL * RINGTAIL RIDGE * ANY TIME AFTER
5:00 PM
Join us for a Full Moon Friday at Ringtail get together. For
those who have had a busy week and would just like to sit
and relax and chat while the moon rises. We will provide the
parking and parkland, sodas, ice, cups, picnic ware and a
fire pit for focus. Feel to bring marshmallows or hot dogs
or anything else you can cook on an open fire. Food, other
beverages and seating is up to you. The whole family is invited.
We will be setting up at 5 pm and won't leave until the moon
clears the trees or…who knows. If you want to strum
a guitar, that's okay too. If you can, RSVP to alliance@smgreenbelt.org
so we can notify you of any changes due to weather.
SATURDAY
11/15 * HIKE * UPPER PURGATORY * 8:00-10:00 AM
SMGA will lead a hike for the San Marcos Parks and Recreation
Department (PARD) on the new connecting trail in Upper Purgatory.
PARD representatives may accompany hikers to evaluate the
trail prior to its official opening. The trails are rugged,
so be sure to wear long pants and closed, strong shoes. Water,
hat, sunscreen and camera are a good idea. For
directions click here.
OCTOBER
* COLLECT CANS FOR CANTOBER AND CONSERVE WATER
Join Cantober, a nationwide contest that challenges cities
across the country to collect recyclable aluminum beverage
cans and promoting recycling. Drop your cans off at the hazardous
waste collection on Saturday, 10/18, at Farmer Fred’s
Carnival on Saturday, 10/25, or anytime at Green Guy Recycling
or the City of San Marcos Public Works office. More info here.
Also,
our friends at SMRF tell us that the water flow in the San
Marcos River was down to 109 cubic feet per second last week,
a critically low flow that illustrates how desperately this
area needs rain. It is a record low for this year, and it's
been years since we've seen it this low. Please do all you
can to conserve water.
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SEEKING
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
SMGA
volunteers benefit from rewarding relationships with other
SMGA members and from the knowledge that they are helping
to protect a few of our Earth’s natural safe havens.
In addition to help with trail building and maintenance, we
are currently seeking:
- Help
with posting photos to a Naturescapes Flickr site.
- Communications
committee members to provide input on various outreach projects,
including our newsletter, web site, and print materials.
- Help
with event coordination.
Email
alliance@smgreenbelt.org
to explore the possibilities.
WHO
IS JOHN GRIFFIS
John
Griffis is young, burly and tough. Not the type you would
expect to gently relocate a shirt-exploring insect to a nearby
leaf, but that’s just what I saw him do one day at Upper
Purgatory. That simple act impressed me almost as much as
his selfless work with troubled teens and his spirit of volunteerism.
John
works for the Hays County Juvenile Justice Center (HCJC) and
has been bringing students out six at time for over a year
to build and maintain trails. John’s kids picked 47
bags of trash out of the Sessom Greenbelt, built roughly
75-80% of the new trail in Upper Purgatory, and spent five
long, hot days last summer assisting grant-funded contractors
at Ringtail Ridge, which cut down on the overhead of that
project.
John
writes:
The
kids work very hard for a chance to get outside the walls
of our facility. This is about the greatest reward I can
offer them...
Most
of these kids are from the inner cities and have not been
off the pavement much. Considering the natural beauty of
this area it's a treasured experience for them to get out
in the green spaces. Occasionally we come across hikers
while we're doing trail work and the kids really appreciate
the "thank you's" they receive. It's not something
most of them have heard a lot of in their lives…
It's
very rewarding for me to see the kids get excited about
working towards improving the world around them. It's something
I hope they take with them when they graduate our program
and go back to their homes.”
Working
with HCJC students can be difficult. But John says, “I
don't have the words to explain how rewarding this is to be
involved with.” Those of us who enjoy San Marcos’
natural areas have John and his students to thank for their
efforts. John is currently looking into grants to reduce HCJC’s
costs. This will allow him to bring his students out every
Sunday so he can build working outdoors into a consistent
part of his rewards program. Contact John at griffis_j_a@yahoo.com
if you can suggest a funding source or assist with this effort.
INVASIVES
IN RINGTAIL
Tom
Watson, a retired biologist from UT, walked with SMGA members
Todd Derkacz and Lance Jones through Ringtail Ridge to consider
some of the options and issues related to a park that has
seen a great deal of abuse: The area now known as Ringtail
Ridge has served over the years as both a slaughterhouse and
a ranch operation. Chinaberry and retama need to be removed
before they get too strong a grab on the site. A long-term
management plan is needed as well that addresses both watershed
protection and recreation, including resources that can be
continuously applied to the plan. Ideally we would bring more
of the site back to healthy grasslands for the sake of the
aquifer, but that would require a serious commitment. David
Bamberger wisely suggests to anyone interested in long-term
stewardship that you never begin what you cannot maintain.
SMGA will keep an eye on the situation at Ringtail and hopes
to work with the City of San Marcos to develop a site restoration
and maintenance plan.
SMGA
AND TX STATE
SMGA
will be working with the Texas State geography and biology
departments and the City of San Marcos to conduct an inventory
of biota at Purgatory Creek Park. (A similar inventory was
conducted last year at Spring Lake Preserve.) An inventory
at Upper and Lower Purgatory comes just in time, since the
number of visitors to Purgatory is increasing. Other impacts
to the area include changing species and the climate.
A geography course on nature and tourism will focus class
projects on SMGA and the Lions Club. Students will select
an aspect of our mission and provide advice and consultation.
Thanks to Jim Kimmel and Amy Kirwin for inviting SMGA to participate.
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IN THE NEWS & OTHER TIDBITS
COUNTY
TO KICK IN $5 MILLION FOR DAHLSTROM CONSERVATION EASEMENT,
10/1/08
http://www.sanmarcosmercury.com/2008/10/county-to-kick-in-5m-for-dahlstrom-conservation-easement/
The Hays County Commissioners Court reached one of its more
satisfying moments Tuesday, agreeing unanimously to complete
negotiations with the Dahlstrom family west of Buda for a
conservation easement, which, commissioners believe, will
stand as the center piece of a successful 2007 parks bond.
The
court agreed, in principal, to pay the Dahlstroms $4.9 million
to conserve 2,200 acres of Dahlstrom Ranch property near the
intersection of FM 1626 and RM 967. The county will spend
another $350,000 to fund trails and enhancements to the property’s
natural features.
DESPITE
MORATORIUM, OFFICIALS APPROVE DRIPPING SPRINGS PARKS GRANT,
10/8/08h
http://www.sanmarcosmercury.com/2008/10/despite-moratorium-commissioners-approve-dripping-springs-parks-grant/
Breaking a self-imposed moratorium on dispensing what’s
left of $30 million in parks and open space bond funds, Hays
County commissioners on Tuesday awarded $266,000 to the Dripping
Springs Youth Sports Association for ball fields.
President:
Todd Derkacz
Treasurer / Trail Crew Lead: Sheila Torres-Blank
Secretary / Conservation Committee Chair: Sherwood
Bishop
Communications Chair / Newsletter Editor: Ann Jensen
Stewardship Committee Chair: Mary Waters
Organization Committee Chair: Maggie Hutchins-Wagner
Grant Coordinator: Chris North
Click
a date below to view past News & Events:
September
17, 2008
August
19 2008
July 16, 2008
June 16 , 2008
May
21, 2008
April
16, 2008
March
25, 2008
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