Volunteers are a very important part of the City of San Antonio's Natural Areas' management and care. Contact Peggy Spring by email or by phone (210) 564-6402 for information on ways to contribute to the Natural Area's programs and projects.
Medina River natural Area Viva voluntarios!
8 am to Noon. Help beautify your natural area! Join us on the last Saturday morning of each month.We will plant native plants and remove non-native plants, pick up trash, remove weeds and spread mulch. We will meet near the kiosk by the parking lot. Please bring gloves and a water bottle! Call 624-2575 for details & to sign up!
2010 Schedule
January 30
May 22
February 27
September 25
March 27 - Basura Bash!
October 30
Training: We provide the training and equipment necessary for the volunteer projects. If you have gloves and a water bottle, please bring them. For the ecological surveys, we may provide training on how to use a GPS, topographical maps, and/or learn more about local vegetation. This is a good chance to get hands on experience while doing important work.
Equipment: Most equipment will be provided for you. If you have a GPS instrument and a compass, they can be useful. In some cases, a backpack would be useful to help carry equipment. Be sure to bring plenty of water.
Clothing: Because we must hike in rugged terrain where there may be poison ivy, mosquitoes and ticks, we recommend folks wear long sleeve lightweight shirts, long pants, a hat, sunscreen, and comfortable hiking shoes or boots.
Weekend Projects: For those only available on weekends, we have several Saturday programs. Medina River Natural Area has beautification projects on the last Saturday of the month. There are invasive plant removal and woody species control projects as well as vegetative survey project, too.
Special Programs: Throughout the year, we have special programs with partner groups such as Texas Public Radio, church and civic groups, corporate workdays and military groups. Check this website for announcements and watch for flyers posted in the parks, in various media and newsletters.
Biological Research
In accordance with the Management Plan for San Antonio's Natural Areas, we conduct biological and geological surveys on all Natural Area Preserves. This information helps us in the management of these lands and protection of the resources. If you are interested in helping with these activities, you may contact Jayne Neal by email or by phone at (210) 372-9124.
Thanks to all of you who have helped us this year we have:
collected all our cave cricket data (cricket count numbers this year were lower than in previous years and we wonder if this might be a drought effect);
completed vegetation richness and invasive species cover assessments for all of Rancho Diana and Cedar Creek (information that we have used to locate and eradicate woody invasive exotic species);
gathered baseline Golden-cheeked Warbler (GCW) population data for Woodland Hills (data we hope to use to understand better Bexar County GCW habitat and how it compares to GCW habitat in other parts of Texas).
The above are just some of the essential projects with which you have assisted. Moreover, you have impressed us with your steadfast commitment (even as gas prices soared), and challenged us with your excellent questions. We appreciate you and all those family members who have made it possible for you to help us!
January — the name comes from Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings. How appropriate for the first month of the year! Many of us associate January with New Year’s resolutions—new things we want to begin and old things we want to end. Endings and beginnings are happening in nature as well. It’s pretty easy to find things ending—it is, after all, winter. But if one looks or listens closely, one can observe beginnings too, like wildflower rosettes hugging the ground and great-horned owls nesting.
Our wildflowers are superbly well adapted. By altering the sugar concentration in their leaf cells, the relatively recently germinated wildflowers avoid freezing. Moreover, because the above ground parts of so many other plants have died, wildflower rosettes have less competition for winter sunlight.
As for the great-horned owls, they breed in January and February making them among the earliest birds to breed in North America. I remember hearing great-horned owls calling to each other in October. Who would have believed that by December they would have chosen a mate and be about to start nesting?
I hope your New Year’s resolutions include plans to spend time in nature, feeling restored and encouraged by beginnings in the midst of winter.
Below is our calendar of activities. If you have any questions, please contact Jayne Neal (210-372-9124, jayne.neal@sanantonio.gov) or Wendy Cooley Leonard (210-372-9124, wendy.leonard@sanantonio.gov).
Thurs., Jan. 7 8:30am-12:30pm Winter Naturalist Hike, Woodland Hills West. Meet at the Woodland Hills West gate on Heuermann, just southwest of Friedrich Wilderness Park. Wendy and Jayne will take you on a hike to observe nature and apply observations to land management. This is a great way to get oriented to the Natural Areas and learn a little about what we do. Bring binoculars and any favorite field guides. We may lop a few junipers as well, so bring work gloves if you have them.
Thurs., Jan 14 8:30am-12:30 pm Golden-cheeked warbler habitat restoration at Woodland Hills West. Meet at the Woodland Hills West gate on Heuermann, just southwest of Friedrich Wilderness Park. Please bring work gloves if you have them.
Thurs., Jan. 21 8:30am-12:30pm Golden-cheeked warbler habitat restoration at Woodland Hills West. Meet at the Woodland Hills West gate on Heuermann, just southwest of Friedrich Wilderness Park. Please bring work gloves if you have them.
Thurs., Jan. 28 8:30am-12:30pm Golden-cheeked warbler habitat restoration at Woodland Hills West. Meet at the Woodland Hills West gate on Heuermann, just southwest of Friedrich Wilderness Park. Please bring work gloves if you have them.
