Some of the volunteers at the Nov 17 planting event at Fort Travis Park.
Liability Waiver: We now ask volunteers to sign a liability waiver for all work days which they can either sign and FAX back to us, or sign on site when they arrive.
High Island Work Day - March 13
February Report: Friday, 2/19/10 we had a work day at High Island with 45 volunteers from ERM. They pulled privet for 3 hours opening up areas around native trees and shrubs and making space for more native trees and shrubs which they planted. Houston Audubon volunteers came down to be crew leaders. Aaron Stoley tended the privet-eating fire and Mike Stelling, Don Verser and Julia Garrett taught the ERM volunteers privet pulling techniques and plant identification. Houston Audubon staff members Flo, Andrew and Nate also pulled and supervised. Andrew and Nate cooked their dinner on the coals. A great time was had by all, but there are surely some sore muscles out there. THANKS, VOLUNTEERS!!!!
Next Work Day March 13. High Island work days this winter will focus on habitat restoration efforts, which means attacking privet and planting native trees and shrubs. It is rewarding to see how well previously planted trees and shrubs are growing. We work from 8:30 AM to 2 PM, but volunteers are welcome whenever they show up. Houston Audubon supplies lunch, water, and some tools. If you have favorite tools, please bring them along, and please remember to let us know if you plan to come. To sign up, contact Andrew Beck or call 713-932-1639.
Calling All Kiosk Volunteers!
The sales kiosk at High Island will be open March 24 through May 2. The birds and the birders make this an exceptional experience for everyone. We are also looking for people willing to be on a back-up list. Please consider volunteering this spring! To sign up, contact Juanita Perkins, telephone 713-932-1639.
Grow Out Native Plants for Houston Audubon
by Flo Hannah, Sr. Sanctuary Steward
Houston Audubon and the Coastal Prairie Partnership (CPP) are involved in native plant restoration projects at several locations, Houston Audubon's land outside of the Ft. Travis Seashore Park in Port Bolivar, and a CPP project at Hermann Park (Project Blazing Star).
Partners include the NRCS, several Master
Naturalists chapters, a Together Green grant
sponsored by National Audubon and Toyota,
and the Apache Tree Foundation.
The biggest roadblock to coastal prairie
restoration is the lack of available native plant
material specific to the Upper Texas Coast. We
have collected native seed all summer and fall
and are asking individuals to propagate the
seed at home for restoration projects in early
spring 2010.
American Basketflower, one of the native plants available for propagation
I hope you will join in this fun,
important wildlife enhancement project. I will
mail you the native plant seed along with a
photo of the native plant you are growing. Full
instructions on native plant germination are
available at the Coastal Prairie Partnership website. Jaime Gonzalez has prepared a Coastal Prairie Plant Growers' Handbook,
available on that site, which explains everything
about seed collecting and propagating.
Once your plants germinate, and are hardy
enough to bump-up to 4" or 1-gallon
containers, you can join us at a potting-up work
day, or drop off the seedlings and we will do the
rest. The plants will be used in one of our many
restoration projects. We encourage you to
retain some of the native plant material for your
own backyard, helping to create a wildlife
corridor throughout the Houston-Galveston
region.
If you're not able to propagate plants but
would still like to participate, other
ways to help are by joining us on one of our
work days or assisting with a donation.
If you would like to help us grow seedlings, please contact me at fhannah@houstonaudubon.org. We have prepared a Secure Online Form for you to donate to this program.
