Dear Greenbelt Fans,

We dodged the winter ice, wind, and freezing weather at our Greenbelt Guardian work day on Saturday, February 10. It was just cold enough to energize the 38 people who came to donate their time and talents to the Homedale Trail. At the beginning of the day there were many fallen trees and branches lying around, due to the summer drought and to the cutting down of the dead standing ligustrum that were girdled last year. It looked like a hurricane had passed through much of the trail.

In a grown-up version of pick-up-sticks, volunteers stacked and arranged those branches and limbs and trunks into windrows. They placed them perpendicular to the steep canyon banks, so that they will disperse and filter flowing storm waters, and reduce the pollution and sediment that would otherwise reach the creek. We got to address our water quality protection goal with this activity.

Trail safety was addressed by setting in large, level stones along steep and slick portions of the trail. And John Cook went out this past week, and secured and extended some lovely rustic cedar rails along a very steep portion of the trail, to steady the way for hikers. The cedar posts were recycled from trees that fell over into the trail after the last ice storm. Also, volunteers pruned back shrub overgrowth into the trail and removed the snagging Greenbriar Vines.

We had an avid and effective team going after the invasive species this time. Since the soil was moist, it was much easier to yank out the Nandina and Ligustrum with the weed wrenches. A whole new Nandina monoculture area was discovered across from Campbell's Hole, far too many to remove. So lots of folks went out with scissors and trash bags and removed the berries, so that at least a whole new crop was prevented. We also tested to see if GPS units can pick up signals in the canyon, to help us create maps to guide the city teams that will be girdling the large Ligustrum trees. One of the units worked, which could be a great help in mapping out, planning, budgeting, and communicating for future Ligustrum removal. At least 200 Ligustrum trees were identified and tagged for girdling this spring. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

The trash collectors bagged the usual bottles, cans, plastic wrappers, metal pipes, pillows, and clothing remains, plus a long, curly blond wig. The kids really enjoyed using the picker-uppers provided by Keep Austin Beautiful. Maria's Tacos and Gatorade kept the energy high, and a common love of place produced a great spirit of conviviality and cooperation.

Thanks so much to all who came out to this quarterly work day. Our group effort yielded 160 hours of productive work, a labor donation value of about $1,720.

Our next work day is scheduled for Saturday, April 14. We will be working both Gus Fruh and Homedale Trail, in honor of the city-wide It's My Park Day! Event, sponsored by the Austin Parks Foundation. Mark your calendar now to join us!

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator