The following announcement comes from the City of Austin's Water department, which is responsible for managing the Water Quality land preserves (often called Prop 2 land, which refers to the ballot option in 2001 that allowed the city to buy up large land tracts, including the one north of Circle C West and just west of our Park West subdivision). This land is roughly 1200 acres that the city commission recommended opening up to the public for horse and hiking trails. The project can start as soon as they have enough volunteers from the neighborhood who will pledge to maintain the park.

This is the first step - come join us!
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February MVP (Monthly Volunteer Project) Description

Date: Saturday, February 5, 2005
Time: Arrive 9:00 a.m., work until 12:00 p.m. or when all trees planted
Location: Water Quality Protection Land (Prop 2 land) ?– Slaughter Creek
Contact: Call Circle C Home Owners Association Office: 288-8663
Who: Office Manager, Deinse Nordstom.

Enter: FM 1826 gate south of the Slaughter Creek crossing.
(aprox 1 south or left on FM 1826 where Slaughter Lane ends)

Task: Revegetation/Restoration

The Details:
The goal is to plant approximately 80 trees along a section of Slaughter Creek. Twenty (20) volunteers are needed. Children are welcome to attend with their parents but must be supervised by their parents at all times.

Type of Activity:
This restoration activity occurs on a Water Quality Protection Land owned by the City of Austin. A previous planting in the area occurred prior to an exceptionally hot and dry spring and summer and experienced a low survival rate. For this planting, an irrigation system will be installed to provide watering as needed in an effort to achieve a better success rate. Participants will be utilizing existing holes from failed trees and possibly digging new ones. Tree sizes will range from 5 to 7 to 10 gallons and be a variety of species recommended for the site. Participants may also be installing T-post supports, using wheelbarrows to move soil short distances, and filling in soil around newly planted trees as needed. The planting area will be a narrow stretch on both sides of a section of Slaughter Creek.

Safety and Considerations:
Participants should be physically able to use a shovel, bend or kneel on the ground, use a wheelbarrow, and walk over small distances. The terrain is relatively flat to gently sloping but rocky in the planting area.
Volunteers may be walking through tall grass near the creek in some places. Participants will be made aware of possible encounters with snakes, spiders, scorpions and other wildlife.
Activity will occur in cloudy or drizzly conditions, but will be cancelled in the event of inclement weather.
Site is remote without indoor or portable bathroom facilities.
Those with allergies to bee stings or fire ants should be prepared as necessary. Nearest medical facility is approximately 10 minutes away. A first aid kit will be available on site.
Participants MUST wear long pants and closed-toe shoes, preferably hiking boots. Participants should wear work- appropriate clothes and dress appropriately for weather conditions. Despite possible cold weather, sun protection may still be necessary.
Gatorade, as well as work gloves, tools, and eye protection will be provided. Participants may want to bring their own water bottle that can be refilled and kept with them as they work.
It is recommended that participants bring/wear hats for sun protection, sunscreen, a water bottle, and a lunch and/or snacks if needed.

Everyone is welcome

Please contact the CCHOA office to volunteer. We do need a head count and AE Martin, one of the CCHOA board members is the offical contact and coordinator for this project.

Everyone is welcome, but we would really like to make this park one that the Circle C Ranch community adopts.

There is a volunteer application form that you an fill out on-line, although, it does have some kind of technical problem. The site also allows you to fill in the form and then just print it off and mail it in to them.

It's really just basic contact information and it asks you for the times you can volunteers and any specific skills you have. If you have any special needs, please let them know. We can accomadate everyone and kids are welcome, too!

For the tree planting, we can drive to the site which has a been setup for picnics. It does have some shad and tables. Tools will be provided, but if you have a good iron bar for busting up limestone rocks, it would be very welcome, I'm sure !

Fliers are now at the Mailcenter

Fliers have been posted at both Park West mail centers.

Come join the fun. There is something to do for everyone and you can bring the kids. We will be replacing trees in an area that was previously planted, but many of those trees died (it was a very hot, dry year).

This time, we are adding a drip irrigation system.

Planting was a success

The Tree Planting event along the Slaughter Creek Water Quality Land was a success.

The good news was that there were 25 adults who showed up and 6 kids! Two city employees were there with shovels and 4 wheel drive vehicles, but almost every chose to hike the 1/2 mile trail to the site. It's at the spot where the gas pipelines (blue signs) cross the creek. There is a low water crossing at that point, which had about 2 inches of water running across it for 30 feet!

There is a rather large picnic site there with a BBQ pit, tables, and several long strings of lights (it used to look like the Salt Lick outdoor seating area). There were 2 and 3 rows of trees planted for about 100 yards downstream, and many of them needed to be dug up and replaced.

We planted about 50 trees in 3 gallon buckets, which were local varieties of native trees (elms, oaks, and red buds) and about 30 saplings. The larger trees went to replace the dead trees, which didn't have good watering. The rains came just in time to insure we have a high survival rate. The city also has a drip irrigation line for the dry season.

Tree People is a Central Texas orgnanization that provide half of the workforce. The rest were a mixture of Austin volunteers.

Every person who shows up is required to sign a waiver, of course, but one once. It's kept on file after that. So, it was pretty easy to pick out the new people (me, my Dad, my sister, and 4 kids we sponsored). But, that helps the caretakers secure the city funding that they need - it's directly tied to the volunteers who turn out.

So, when it's time to start building those trails, we need everyone one we can get. Start talking to your neighbors and commit to sharing a half day with them on a trail section.

In the meantime, I've signed up to work under Ed Scruggs on the Circle C Amenities committee. We will be looking at all the amenities, including the new Recreation Center and Pool facility, which will be just down the street from Park West (also within walking distance).