People enjoy and are grateful for our natural areas for so many different reasons: recreation, ecological, aesthetic, economic, flood safety, water quality. The list is long when you compile what each person appreciates about their relationship with these magnificent places or the benefits they yield. The volunteers at SMGA are always on the lookout for opportunities to grow our natural areas and to interconnect them.
We believe strongly that our community is so much better served when we conserve and care for those natural places that are best left alone. Our understanding of our complete dependence on the living world should be reflected in the way we build our city. Mixing our built environment with living landscapes is good for people and good for nature.
Our community has made good progress so far. In fact, we are becoming the envy of our neighboring cities as they realize they failed to save the natural resources and places that make cities livable. Good job San Marcos! But there is much more to do because this city is growing rapidly.
SMGA pursues its mission with volunteers, membership dues and donations.
We need your help to get the resources we need to keep up. We know there are many causes that pull at our conscience for financial help or a bit of our time. But please consider that joining SMGA or making a donation will literally change the landscape forever and that many, many people will benefit over time.
If you like clean cool water, if you enjoy fresh cooler air, if you delight in seeing wildlife or wildflowers, if you benefit from the visitors who come to be in our natural areas, if you take comfort in knowing you are a short walk away from a natural area then please consider becoming a regular member of the San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance.
For many of us the beauty of the river and the landscape was part of our decision to call this home. We are the key to the quality of life in San Marcos, of people and nature growing together. Let’s save those places while we can. Be part of the landscape with your tax deductible contribution by following this link.
- Todd Derkacz, SMGA President
Healthy City Task Force, Green Belt Alliance Promote Wellness
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| Healthy City Task Force, Green Belt Alliance Promote Wellness |
City of San Marcos NEWS
630 E. Hopkins
San Marcos, Texas 78666
November 8, 2013
Contact: Trey Hatt, Communications Specialist, 512.393.8242 ghatt@sanmarcostx.gov
Melissa Millecam, Director of Communications/ Intergovernmental Relations
512.393.8105 mmillecam@sanmarcostx.gov
Healthy City Task Force, Green Belt Alliance Promote Wellness
A unique collaboration between the Healthy City Task Force and the San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance has resulted in Fitscription, a program to promote wellness and physical activity opportunities using outdoor green space and natural areas in San Marcos.
With the participation of local doctors, nurses, therapists and the like, community members of all ages and abilities will be provided a Fitscription Plan indicating the type of activity, number of minutes per day, and number of days per week. The Fitscription Plan includes a map of the San Marcos parks and natural areas.
Various organizations and individuals have been involved in planning this initiative, which was initially presented to the Healthy City Task Force by the San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance. The idea was modified for San Marcos and to mesh with the Healthy City Task Force mission to promote fitness and nutrition for a healthy San Marcos.
The Healthy City Task Force was formed in January 2010 by the San Marcos City Council to address the overweight and obesity issue in the youth of San Marcos. Today, the Healthy City Task Force includes 15 member organizations, and many more individuals interested in forward momentum toward a healthier community.
630 E. Hopkins
San Marcos, Texas 78666
November 8, 2013
Contact: Trey Hatt, Communications Specialist, 512.393.8242 ghatt@sanmarcostx.gov
Melissa Millecam, Director of Communications/ Intergovernmental Relations
512.393.8105 mmillecam@sanmarcostx.gov
Healthy City Task Force, Green Belt Alliance Promote Wellness
A unique collaboration between the Healthy City Task Force and the San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance has resulted in Fitscription, a program to promote wellness and physical activity opportunities using outdoor green space and natural areas in San Marcos.
With the participation of local doctors, nurses, therapists and the like, community members of all ages and abilities will be provided a Fitscription Plan indicating the type of activity, number of minutes per day, and number of days per week. The Fitscription Plan includes a map of the San Marcos parks and natural areas.
Various organizations and individuals have been involved in planning this initiative, which was initially presented to the Healthy City Task Force by the San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance. The idea was modified for San Marcos and to mesh with the Healthy City Task Force mission to promote fitness and nutrition for a healthy San Marcos.
The Healthy City Task Force was formed in January 2010 by the San Marcos City Council to address the overweight and obesity issue in the youth of San Marcos. Today, the Healthy City Task Force includes 15 member organizations, and many more individuals interested in forward momentum toward a healthier community.
SMHS Rattler Ridge Trail: New Programs and Construction Update
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| April 2013 Trail Work Day at Rattler Ridge |
This coming spring the SMHS Mountain Bike Team takes to the trails on our campus and in the greenspaces of San Marcos in preparation to compete in five races throughout Texas. Members of the team will learn not only proper mountain bike riding techniques but also trail etiquette and environmental stewardship. We want to thank you for providing trails in the San Marcos natural areas for the students to practice on and for your continued support.
For more information on the SMHS Mountain Biking Team or Rattler Ridge Trail, contact Adam Wagner at adam.wagner@smcisd.net.
Mountain Biking Video at PCNA
Our Fall 2013 intern, Kevin Kutras shared this video on Facebook. If you haven't had a chance to enjoy it, take a couple of minutes to watch the video of Cody Ard biking through Prospect Park and Purgatory.
Trail Etiquette: Keep Dogs on a Leash
You may have had the experience of walking along trail and being met by a dog. This kind of encounter occurs in a variety of ways. Small children are sometimes jolted into terror as a large four-legged creature friskily rounds the bend and lopes on over to get a sniff and maybe a lick. Scaling the child's experience so adults can understand what it might be like requires us to imagine a dog about 7 feet tall galloping toward us with unclear intentions.
Sometimes we hear or see the otherwise well behaved pet running at full speed through the brush and woods in pursuit of some of the wildlife, madly sticking its snout into a scent that will guide it to the instinctual prey. Domestic animals are usually ill-equipped to be in nature and so they are often surprised by dangers like snakes, belligerent wildlife, thorns or some other hazard. Some pets have been killed by the hazards.
But, all too often, they get lost.
Losing a dog in our natural areas is very common. In almost every case the owners will tell you their dog normally always stays close by. But dogs are easily tempted. It is not uncommon to hear an owner shouting out the name of their best friend over and over as the sun seeks the horizon. The next day a poster appears on the kiosk. The requirement by the city, the strong suggestion by SMGA, to have your dog always on a leash is not just to keep them from terrorizing children and wildlife, but to protect them from the hazards and keep them from losing their way.
I came upon a small dog marching down Dante. It politely passed me as if either leading its master who was too slow to keep up or trying to catch up. I never a saw an owner pass, but I was not about to interfere. It came past me again aiming for Grandma’s Oak only this time it would not go any farther than a line of sight on me, waiting until I caught up then moving again. Clearly it was lost and looking for its master. I tried to get it to come and exchange salutations and share some water but it would have none of that. It eventually turned right on Paraiso, I was going straight on Dante. Eventually I heard the sing song of an owner calling for Penny. I facilitated the reuniting. The owner was a bit embarrassed. Penny was pleased to be thrown over the owner’s shoulder. Penny’s master assured me she always stays close, but it looks like a leash will be needed from now on. A close call.
Please keep your dog, big or small, on leash, whether you are a regular visitor or occasional, whether you are a runner or a slow hiker, on a short walk or long. Take water for your friend and yourself and know how to find your way in and out of our magnificent Nature.
Picking up after your pet? That's another story...t.o.d.
Sometimes we hear or see the otherwise well behaved pet running at full speed through the brush and woods in pursuit of some of the wildlife, madly sticking its snout into a scent that will guide it to the instinctual prey. Domestic animals are usually ill-equipped to be in nature and so they are often surprised by dangers like snakes, belligerent wildlife, thorns or some other hazard. Some pets have been killed by the hazards.
But, all too often, they get lost.
Losing a dog in our natural areas is very common. In almost every case the owners will tell you their dog normally always stays close by. But dogs are easily tempted. It is not uncommon to hear an owner shouting out the name of their best friend over and over as the sun seeks the horizon. The next day a poster appears on the kiosk. The requirement by the city, the strong suggestion by SMGA, to have your dog always on a leash is not just to keep them from terrorizing children and wildlife, but to protect them from the hazards and keep them from losing their way.
I came upon a small dog marching down Dante. It politely passed me as if either leading its master who was too slow to keep up or trying to catch up. I never a saw an owner pass, but I was not about to interfere. It came past me again aiming for Grandma’s Oak only this time it would not go any farther than a line of sight on me, waiting until I caught up then moving again. Clearly it was lost and looking for its master. I tried to get it to come and exchange salutations and share some water but it would have none of that. It eventually turned right on Paraiso, I was going straight on Dante. Eventually I heard the sing song of an owner calling for Penny. I facilitated the reuniting. The owner was a bit embarrassed. Penny was pleased to be thrown over the owner’s shoulder. Penny’s master assured me she always stays close, but it looks like a leash will be needed from now on. A close call.
Please keep your dog, big or small, on leash, whether you are a regular visitor or occasional, whether you are a runner or a slow hiker, on a short walk or long. Take water for your friend and yourself and know how to find your way in and out of our magnificent Nature.
Picking up after your pet? That's another story...t.o.d.
Birding at Blanco Shoals natural area
The sun was just rising as Stephen Ramirez led six of us on one of our most productive birding hikes on November 2, 2013. The Blanco River had flooded two days earlier and it was still quite muddy. Tree limbs and other debris clung to the barbed wire fencing and lower limbs of the pecan trees.
We walked to the river and immediately saw woodpeckers flitting about and a red-tailed hawk perched high in a dead tree. There were many of the expected species for Central Texas: white-winged dove, mourning dove, great-tailed grackle, house finch, lesser goldfinch, European starling, Eastern phoebe, rock dove, blue jay, northern cardinal, northern mockingbird, black vulture, red-winged blackbird, black-crested titmouse and Carolina wren, many in abundance. We were also treated with no tricks, twice, to seeing a wood duck flying along the river, a green kingfisher, a ruby-crowned kinglet and an orange-crowned warbler in the trees.
Woodpeckers were out in abundance with sightings of red-bellied woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker and the yellow shafted northern flicker most common. Hawks made their appearance by standing vigil high in the trees. We all got see a juvenile red-shouldered hawk, a red-tailed hawk and an American kestrel through the spotting scope that Stephen provided.
A large owl flew past but too briefly to get a proper identification. We also saw a large number of mosquitoes but they did not seem to bite, simply annoy.
In addition to the downed trees and limbs we saw a river otter in the Blanco and recent evidence of feral hogs in the park.
The birding hikes take place on the first Saturday of each month. Stephen has been leading a dozen or so to birding sites around San Marcos. He can be contacted at BirdsIview.org. Blanco Shoals natural area is a City of San Marcos property at the end of River Ridge Parkway. There are no trails or amenities at the present time. Read a full description on the San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance website under the 'Natural Areas' tab.
--LJ
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| Viewing across the Blanco River at one of the several hawks we saw. |
Woodpeckers were out in abundance with sightings of red-bellied woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker and the yellow shafted northern flicker most common. Hawks made their appearance by standing vigil high in the trees. We all got see a juvenile red-shouldered hawk, a red-tailed hawk and an American kestrel through the spotting scope that Stephen provided.
A large owl flew past but too briefly to get a proper identification. We also saw a large number of mosquitoes but they did not seem to bite, simply annoy.
In addition to the downed trees and limbs we saw a river otter in the Blanco and recent evidence of feral hogs in the park.
The birding hikes take place on the first Saturday of each month. Stephen has been leading a dozen or so to birding sites around San Marcos. He can be contacted at BirdsIview.org. Blanco Shoals natural area is a City of San Marcos property at the end of River Ridge Parkway. There are no trails or amenities at the present time. Read a full description on the San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance website under the 'Natural Areas' tab.
--LJ
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