Pease Spray Ground Sign

Wow!

Mending Fences at Bull Creek Greenbelt

George, Jerry and Skip repaired portions of cedar (ashe juniper) fence at the northern end of Bull Creek Greenbelt.  Great work you guys!

West Bouldin Creek Greenbelt Workday Sat @ 8:30

One more West Bouldin Creek Greenbelt Workday on Sat, 5/22 @ 8:30 am.  Join the parks committee and other volunteers and pull out a few more invasive trees and plants before summer really sets in….

West Bouldin Creek Volunteer Workday

West Bouldin Creek Greenbelt – S. 6th St entrance Help the Bouldin Creek Parks Committee remove invasive species, plant native trees and plants and spread mulch. Meet at South 6th Street entrance to the greenbelt. We usually work from 8:30am to 1pm T…

May 22, 2010 8:30AM

Demo Restoration Plots at Pease Park Photos

In the fall of 2007/winter of 2008, the Austin Parks Foundation established a series of demonstration restoration plots in portions of Pease Park – tilling areas, applying dillo dirt and liquid compost and then planting a great mix of wildflower and grass seeds.  Of course, we then experienced two years of drought, but some flowers and grasses did appear each of the two springs.  Well, thanks to rains this fall, winter and spring, our plots along Kingsbury are looking good – here’s a few photos from yesterday.  (we also planted 35 trees in this area and they are doing well thanks to irrigation installed at the same time.)

Keep Austin Weird 5K and Festival June 26!

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve been selected as the benefiting organization for the Keep Austin Weird Festival & 5K on June 26th.  Our thanks to Michelle and Kate at Bounce Events • Marketing • PR for working with this to offer participants a chance to donate to the Austin Parks Foundation when they register for the 5k and festival.  We’ll be looking for volunteers to help with the event as well, but for now, plan on being at the South First Street Bridge from 2 to 10 pm on Saturday, June 26, 2010!

Volunteer for National Trails Day at Barton Creek – 6/5 9 am to noon

This year, we’ll be focusing much of our activity on the trail that begins at Zilker Access, located in Zilker Park next to the Zilker Hillside Theatre and Barton Springs Pool.  We will have additional volunteer projects at the Gus Fruh and Homedale access trails as well.

The primary focus will be trail surface work along portions of the first mile of the trail helping prepare portions of the trail for regrading and rereouting.  In several sections, we’re looking for experienced volunteers to help us preserve “rock gardens” in the trail while providing an accessible route as well.  We do have some invasive removal efforts (weed wrench and shovel work) and there’s always trash pickup, especially working in the expected to be dried up barton creek-bed.

We are looking for experienced trail volunteers and project leaders to lead each of the 19 different projects as well as between 15 and 25 volunteers for each project.  You can view descriptions of the projects and sign up for the volunteer online at http://www.austinparks.org.  We’ll provide tools, gloves, water, and cool tee shirts from REI and Austin Parks Foundation. After the work is done, stick around for boxed lunches and free swimming at Barton Springs Pool!

For all projects, plan on wearing long pants and closed shoes. Bring a refillable water bottle. If you have a pick, mattock, rock bar, weed wrench, or wheel barrow, bring it along! Be sure to label it clearly with your name and phone number.

Last year, the Hill Country Conservancy, working with the The City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department, the Austin Parks Foundation, and American Youthworks Environmental Corps hosted over 380 volunteers along the greenbelt and the event was such a success, we decided to make it an annual event.  We hope to see you out at Barton Creek Greenbelt on Sat, June 5 @ 9 am.

Zilker Hillside Theatre Working Progressing

Thanks to volunteers leadership of John Faulk, Zilker Theatre Productions, The City of Austin Parks and Recreation Dept and funding from a number of donors, including, yes, the Austin Parks Foundation’s park grants program. the Hillside Theatre is going to be a lot more friendly with better accessible sidewalks and seating areas in front of the stage.  Still more work to do, but here’s a few photos showing the progress so far!