Michael D. White was born in Austin, Texas, but spent half of his life overseas. He still splits his time between the US and the UK, where he has family. He has a cat, two dogs, and a lot of musical instruments in varying degrees of operation. He enjoys all things coffee, music, and bicycle related. He helps work with central Texas musicians as half of the San Marcos-based AndBops team, alongside Daniel Reinhuber, which has partnered with Hays Free Fridge Project, Free Range Farmer’s Market, San Marcos Civics Club, Mothership Studios, Middleton Brewery, and Wake the Dead Coffeehouse to combine local talent showcasing while focusing on community awareness and mutual aid. He is currently seeking an M.S. degree with a major in Geography, in which he’s looking at how to help people get where they need to go without cars and how to develop processes for planning urban green/blue spaces.
What do you see as the value of natural areas?
Valuable brainstorming time! I like the ritual of getting the dogs out on the trail and letting them do their thing while I clear my mind. Having access to natural areas for all communities provides a therapeutic opportunity to take a pause from the noise that the daily can create while also just serving as a safe place for people to spend time out in nature.
Who or what most influenced your view of the natural world?
When I moved back to Texas around the age of thirteen or so, the friends I ended up making were really into camping and visiting Texas State Parks and really imparted that love of the outdoors with me. Pedernales, Inks Lake, and Enchanted Rock were my most visited natural areas at that time. Living in Austin I started going to the Bull Creek and Barton Springs Greenbelt areas all the time so when I moved to San Marcos, I found that the accessibility of the river and natural areas was a huge plus of relocating. In a full circle sort of way, I have now interned with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and am studying urban green-blue space connectivity at Texas State University as a graduate student.
What attracted you to the Greenbelt Alliance?
I spent years serving coffee at Wake the Dead Coffeehouse to the SMGA Trail Crew members and applauding the work done as a consistent user of the trails. Eventually I was able to get some Thursdays off to go out and give back to the community by becoming a volunteer.
What do you most enjoy doing in support of SMGA?
When I can, Trail Crew and trail maintenance! I love getting active in the morning and learning from the other SMGA Trail Crew members’ experiences, whether that be rainwater runoff management, plant identification, or just spending time with my community over coffee and tacos. I also enjoy the opportunities I get to network with conservationists, land stewards, citizen scientists, and others at the annual SMGA meetings, where I am usually serving coffee in partnership with Wake the Dead Coffeehouse.
What is your favorite trail? What do you like about it?
Ringtail Ridge Natural Area! It is a short drive from my house, and I find that it’s a great area to get in a good short hike with both my dogs. I have too many pictures of my dogs amongst the prickly pear cacti.
What do you most enjoy doing when you visit the Greenbelt?
Definitely dog walking, finding viewpoints for picture time, and checking out the wildflowers. 🤧😊
What recommendations would you give new users of the trail?
Know your resources! SMGA and the City of San Marcos provide great interactive maps for trail users to explore, pre-plan outdoor recreation time and know how big each trail system is.
