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SMGA
Update for April 16, 2008
In
This Issue...
For
Your Calendar
Annual Meeting
Bobcat Build
12 Easy Ways To Be Green
More Green Tips
In The News
FOR
YOUR CALENDAR
View
calendar of events
Every
day’s a good day to take pictures for the 4th
Annual Naturescapes Content & Exhibition
Submissions may be on line starting May 1.
More at http://www.smgreenbelt.org/PhotoContest.htm
Every
Thursday: Trail Shaping – Upper Purgatory –
7:00 to 8:30 a.m.
ALL TRAIL BUILDERS MUST WEAR GLOVES, HARD SHOES AND
EYEWEAR.
Water bottle, long pants, and hat highly recommended.
We supply tools and bug repellent.
To join our trail crew list, email alliance@smgreenbelt.org
(weather or other conditions may prompt last minute
changes, and only those on our email list will be notified).
Get directions to Upper Purgatory at http://www.smgreenbelt.org/SMNaturalAreas.htm.
Every
1st and 3rd Wednesdays: Elephant Ear Removal –
Aquarena Center – 4:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Meet at Aquarena Center at the far end of the long parking
area. Gloves, supplies, and instruction provided.
Saturday
April 19: Full Moon Hike - Ringtail Ridge – 6:00
p.m.
Stay after the hike and watch the moon rise, weather
permitting. You bring chairs, conversation, and your
favorite beverage; SMGA will have ice, cups, water,
various sodas, chips and salsa, and bug spray should
it become necessary. If you can’t make the hike,
swing by for some sky watching and social time: moonrise
at 7:40, sunset at 8:02.
Sunday,
April 20: 2nd Annual Earth Day Festival - Aquarena Center
- 12 to 7 p.m.
Todd Derkacz will be leading a hike at 2:00. Bring a
recyclable item and receive a free glass-bottom boat
ride. The event is free and will include educational
activities for all ages; recycling and green building
displays; live music entertainment; food and vendor
booths; nature-based entertainment; and blessing of
the Springs. SMGA will have a booth at this event; email
alliance@smgreenbelt.org
if you can help in the booth for an hour or two. Program
of events available at
http://www.aquarena.txstate.edu/Side-Bar/calendar-of-events.html
Friday
April 25: Big Broom Clean Up – meet at Tantra
Coffee House – 10:30 a.m.
The goal of Big Broom San Marcos is to establish a collective
effort to keep our public spaces clean. Local artists,
musicians and supporters will walk from areas along
IH-35 into town and pick up trash and debris, ending
at Tantra Coffeehouse. Once the trash is sorted and
properly disposed of, there will be a celebration with
food and musical performances. Wear gloves and bring
bags.
Contact Dieter Geisler at sketchfly@gmail.com
for more details.
Saturday,
April 26: SMRF water hyacinth removal - Aquarena Center
- 9 a.m. to 12 noon
Thursday,
May 1: 4th Annual Naturescapes Content opens
Details available at http://www.smgreenbelt.org/PhotoContest.htm
Saturday,
May 10 & 17: Trail Shaping - Upper Purgatory - 8:30
to 10:30 a.m. (8:00 for newbies)
See notes above for Thursday trail shaping.
ANNUAL
MEETING
Attendees
at SMGA’s annual membership meeting on Friday
March 28 sampled an array of food and drink, including
delicious bread and pizza from Phoenix Rising bakery,
and several members went home with door prizes. A light
rain kept us from using the lawn, but the inside of
the Price Center was perfect for the meeting. SMGA members
voted in two new board members, Mary Waters and Sherwood
Bishop, and thanked departing board members Mike Narvaiz,
Annette Paulin, and Bob Wilson. Board president Todd
Derkacz recognized and thanked SMGA donors, including
the Hobby Foundation, Randall Morris, Bill and Celeste
Healy, David and Lane Jones, and noted that several
additional donors wish to remain anonymous.
Todd
also honored Richard Salmon with a special walking stick
and book in thanks for his grant-writing skills and
dedication to increasing and protecting natural areas.
Chris North noted that it was Richard who suggested
to her years ago that a greenbelt group be formed.
SMGA plans to focus on two areas in the coming year:
protecting areas that provide a connection along streams
to rivers and communities and maintaining existing natural
areas through the work of its all-volunteer stewardship
committee.
BOBCAT
BUILD

Sunny
skies, bird song, and comfortable temperatures invigorated
Bobcat volunteers as they built trails at Upper Purgatory
on Saturday April 5th. A hearty thanks goes out to students
from Susan Hanson’s literature course and a handful
of SMGA trail crew members for building trails for three
productive hours. The group safely wielded an array
of tools thanks to Todd Derkacz’s trail building
instruction prior to the effort. (Work continues on
a trail that will connect Upper to Lower Purgatory ahead
of the Wonderworld Drive Extension construction, which
will likely temporarily divide the natural area.)
Meanwhile,
another group that included members of the National
Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP)
assisted the city’s watershed protection manager,
Melani Howard, with efforts to undo damaged done by
some well intended but unauthorized trail building that
had taken a bite out of one of the ponds in this aquifer
recharge area to make jumps and other elements. Bobcat
volunteers replaced the dirt while others assisted SMGA
board member Murry Holley in surveying the site’s
concrete slabs for possible removal or improvement using
a grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife.
12
EASY WAYS TO BE GREEN
We
talk a lot about how access to green spaces can keep
us psychologically, physically, and spiritually healthy.
There’s an obvious connection between the health
of our natural areas and our impact on the Earth, so
we think it’s important to be green year round,
not just on Earth Day. See how many of these green behaviors
you've done. If we’ve missed one you think is
particularly important, email it to alliance@smgreenbelt.org.
-
I’ve replaced one or more incandescent bulbs
with compact fluorescent bulbs.
- I
pull weeds instead of using herbicide.
-
I clean with earth-friendly products (e.g., vinegar,
biodegradable laundry soap).
-
I bag my groceries in reusable bags.
-
When feasible, I ride a bike or walk to my destination.
-
I grow my own or purchase locally grown vegetables.
-
I drink from a reusable bottle or cup instead of from
disposable bottles.
-
I avoid using paper plates and disposable tableware.
-
I scrape instead of rinse my dishes before washing
them.
-
I run my dishwasher only when it’s full and
use the air dry setting OR
I hand wash my dishes using as little water as possible.
-
I turn off the shower to save water when soaping up.
-
I turn off the water when brushing my teeth.
MORE
GREEN TIPS
Recycle
your packaging peanuts
Remember to reuse or drop off your packaging peanuts
to be recycled at Pak Mail, 102 Wonder World Drive,
Suite 304.
How
green is your candidate?
Find out how green the Democratic and Republican presidential
candidates are at http://www.grist.org/feature/2007/07/06/candidates/
Recyle
your athletic shoes
According to Reuse-A-Shoe at http://letmeplay.com/reuseashoe/program,
you can take your worn out athletic shoes (of any brand)
to the nearest Reuse-A-Shoe drop-off location. We’re
lucky to have one close by at Prime Outlet, Suite 798,
512 353-8500 (call ahead if you have more than 10 pairs
of shoes to donate). Your shoes will be shipped to a
processing facility in Oregon (there’s another
in Belgium) and ground up and separated into three useful
“Nike-Grind” materials: rubber from the
outsole, foam from the midsole, and fabric from the
upper. Nike partners with industry-leading surfacing
companies to incorporate Nike Grind into their playground
and sport surfaces.
Ten
ways to a greener kitchen
...While politicians throughout the world debate global
warming, there is a growing sense of a crucial need
to hold ourselves accountable not only as individuals,
but as part of our greater community. A meaningful way
to have a positive effect on the environment is by greening
up our kitchens and our eating habits, because these
actions affect us all.
http://www.austin360.com/search/content/food_drink/stories/2008/01/0116greenkitchen.html
IN
THE NEWS
Habitat
– City Council set to OK fund to protect endangered
warbler
4/12/08. Everyone agrees that the stretch of land across
which the Wonder World Drive Extension will be built
crosses some spectacular property...According to a survey
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the roadway construction
area contains approximately 24 acres of potential habitat
for the warbler. And the City Council of course has
taken notice. On Tuesday, council members will consider
adopting a resolution to approve $149,969.31 to go to
the Nature Conservancy “for mitigation of harm
to Golden Cheeked Warbler habitat related to the Wonder
World Drive Extension Project” and declaring an
effective date.
http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/local/local_story_103163220.html
True
Ranch
4/10/08. Negotiations between Hays County and the developer
of a proposed subdivision in Wimberley have already
progressed beyond the “worst case scenario,”
Commissioner Pct. 2 Will Conley says. “The idea
of drilling residential wells on all those lots is off
that table. That’s significant,” Conley
said of True Ranch, which would be located on 675 acres
off FM 3235.
http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/local/local_story_101123816.html?keyword=secondarystory
Christmas
Mountains Get Open(er)
4/10/08. Another little motion on the biggest argument
in years for the General Land Office: Land Commissioner
Jerry Patterson has granted a permanent easement between
Big Bend National Park and the Christmas Mountains Range.
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Blogs/News?oid=oid%3A611166
Senate
OKs Massive Public Lands Bill
4/10/08. The Senate on Thursday approved a massive bill
designating federal wilderness protection in Washington
state, creating heritage areas in Illinois and New York
and approving water projects across the country. The
bill, approved 91-4, combines 62 proposals related to
public lands from coast to coast.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/04/10/ap4878071.html
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