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 vouluntarios!
8 am to Noon. Help beautify your natural area! Join us on the last Saturday morning of each month. 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!
2009 Schedule
January 31st
July 25th
March 7th - Basura Bash!
August 29th
March 28th Appreciation day
Sept. 26th
April - FIESTA San Antonio!
October 31st
May 30th
June 27th
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, and wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.
In November, we are changing to our traditional Fall through Winter start time of 8:30 am and will finish by 12:30 pm. On Thursdays we will work at Crownridge Canyon Natural Area, and we have a Saturday work day scheduled at Rancho Diana.
Another shift we are making is to doing more work related directly to restoration and land management. Some of this work depends on other factors, so we have listed several possibilities (tree recruitment monitoring, vertebrate surveys, savanna restoration) for each of our Thursdays. Tree recruitment monitoring and vertebrate surveys include data collection, while savanna restoration entails removing small junipers and shrubs and possibly applying herbicide to shrub stumps.
If you have any questions or need directions, please contact Jayne Neal (210-372-9124, jayne.neal@sanantonio.gov) or Wendy Cooley (210-372-9124, wendy.cooley@sanantonio.gov).
Thursday, November 6 8:30 am - 12:30 pm Monitoring Tree Recruitment; Vertebrate Survey; or Savanna Restoration. Meet at Crownridge Canyon Natural Area, 7222 Luskey Blvd. We provide hand tools. Please bring work gloves if you have them.
Thursday, November 13 8:30 am -12:30 pm Monitoring Tree Recruitment; Vertebrate Survey; or Savanna Restoration. Meet at Crownridge Canyon Natural Area, 7222 Luskey Blvd. We provide hand tools. Please bring work gloves if you have them.
Saturday, November 15 - 8:30 am-12:30 pm Habitat Restoration. We will remove exotics, lop juniper (cedar), and plant natives. Meet at Rancho Diana. Please contact Wendy (210-372-9124 or wendy.cooley@sanantonio.gov) to sign up for this work day.
Thursday, November 20 - 8:30 am -12:30 Monitoring Tree Recruitment; Vertebrate Survey; or Savanna Restoration Meet at Crownridge Canyon Natural Area, 7222 Luskey Blvd. We provide hand tools. Please bring work gloves if you have them.
Thursday, November 27 - HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Enjoy one of your favorite Natural Area parks before or after you celebrate the holiday!
Rancho Diana Workdays - Fall
Saturday, September 20 - 8:30am-12:30pm Rancho Diana workday. We will be removing exotic species such as Nandina and Pyracantha, in drainage ways where we are trying to restore Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat. No experience necessary. All training and equipment will be provided. Meet at the front gate of 9860 Menchaca Rd., Helotes, TX 78023
Saturday, November 15 - 8:30am-12:30pm. Rancho Diana workday (TENTATIVE!). We will be removing exotic species such as Nandina and Pyracantha, in drainage ways where we are trying to restore Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat. No experience necessary. All training and equipment will be provided. Meet at the front gate of 9860 Menchaca Rd., Helotes, TX 78023
