It's been quite a year for SMGA. We've tackled 12-foot tall thistle (well maybe not THAT tall) and worked with the city to incorporate the greenbelt concept map into the San Marcos Parks Master Plan. We have the highest number of paying SMGA members in our history and past president and long-time San Marcos natural area advocate Todd Derkacz received the Outstanding Service Award from the Geography Department at Texas State. We worked with the city to block damaging vehicle traffic on the sensitive riverbanks at Blanco Shoals and enjoyed the water in the ponds at Ringtail Ridge (and the dragonflies and turtles that came with it). We worked with Trust for Public Land to get Hays County funding for the Purgatory Creek Expansion while celebrating the opening of the Wonder World extension and the re-connection of the upper and lower Purgatory Creek Natural Area trails.
Whew! And, we have many more goals ahead of us, the most exciting of which is that we're finalizing a presentation to give to community organizations to bring awareness of SMGA and the greenbelt concept to a broader audience. It's been an exhilarating year for us and we look forward to seeing what 2011 has to bring (and what we can bring to 2011).
By Maggie Hutchins-Wagner, SMGA President
