SPORTS + OUTDOORS

Buffalo Bayou Partnership presents Wetland Planting at Harris County Precinct 2 Buffalo Bend Nature Park  two Wednesdays, June 17 and June 24, 9am-noon.

Buffalo Bayou Partnership is is looking for heat-tolerant, enthusiastic volunteers who are available on Wednesday mornings to "play in the mud" at the newly created wetlands at Buffalo Bend Nature Park along the bayou's east sector. There are 9,000 wetland plants that will need to be placed this month as the first Phase of design plans near completion.

The planting schedule
9am: Gather at the site, planting instruction and demo.
9:30-11:30: Planting of wetland plants in designated areas.
Noon: Round-up tools, supplies.

What you need to bring
Water, sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, clothes that breathe and closed-toed shoes that can get muddy (we do not recommend rubber boots or shoes that can sink into the mud).

If you can attend or if you have questions, please contact Jessalyn Ballard, our volunteer and outreach coordinator, at jballard@buffalobayou.org  or 713.752.0314 ext. 4.

About Buffalo Bend Nature Park

Buffalo Bend Wetland Park, a new ten-acre park, is currently under construction in Houston's East End neighborhood The parkis being built in two phases to create both ecological and passive recreation infrastructure. Phase I work is currently underway and will be complete by June 30th, including site grading to form a series of wetland ponds, a lookout mound and amphitheater, riprap walls and weirs, and wetland planting! Abandoned industrial culverts were used to create special wetland habitat and construct a cistern. Dust is flying and the park will be a wonderful addition for the East End!

For the past thirty years, the Buffalo Bend property has been used to store fill from storm drain construction around the Houston area. The fill now covers most of the historical topography, including a small tributary. While the site has no permanent structures or significant environmental problems to, the property needs significant topographic reshaping and restoration work for it to reach its potential as a sustainable ecological park. Phase One of the project creates the ecological features that will define the character of the park. A series of three upland freshwater wetlands ponds will store and cleanse stormwater before releasing into Buffalo Bayou. Phase Two of the project will create facilitiesthat will make the park accessible to the public. Infrastructure will include a parking lot, hike and bike trails, wetland boardwalk, observation deck and wetland overlook (to be completed in Phase II). The park is a direct response to feedback from area workshops in which residents asked for a multi-generational, passive use, outdoor education facility within their neighborhood.

Special thanks to project funders including Trust for Public Land, Harris County Flood Control District, Texas Parks and Wildlife Coastal Management Program Funding, SEP Funding (Harris County District Attorney's Office - Environmental Crimes Division, Robert W. & Pearl Wallis Knox Foundation, Magnolia Charitable Trust, and Apache Foundation.

Buffalo Bayou Partnership is the Houston focused non-profit organization that is revitalizing and transforming our city's most significant natural resource.