North Texas Master Naturalist
Buckeye in bloom. Aesculus glabra var. arguta. Photo by Amy Martin
Please join us in re-establishing this beautiful Great Trinity Forest trail to the lovely grove of Texas Buckeyes! Our normal work days are the Second Saturday of the month.
Sign-up not required, but will help us notify you of trail/weather conditions dictate: https://volunteersignup.org/KRDLE
Join Dallas Parks & Recreation, Trinity Coalition, North Texas Master Naturalists (NTMN), Bonton Farms, the Bonton Neighborhood Association and Boy Scouts of America Troop #914.
Ultimate goals:
- Liberate the Texas Buckeye (Aesculus glabra var. arguta) grove from the invasive Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense Lour)
- Involve the Bonton neighborhood and find leaders to join our volunteer team
Following direction from Dallas Parks & Recreation (DPR) and the Trinity Coalition Beautification Agreement:
#1) Reestablish and maintain three segments of the Texas Buckeye trail soft surface loop. The trail is to be three feet wide to eliminate the ragweed and other overgrowth on the trail. DPR’s primary concern is hikers getting lost and calling 911.
#2) Liberate the Texas Buckeye grove from privet. DPR has stated that only Texas Master Naturalists (TMN) may work around the Texas Buckeyes or closely supervise others. The volunteer crew will take the privet to a designated point for city pick-up. The privet is to be cut 6 inches from the ground and tagged. DPR will direct staff to re-cut and treat per city guidelines afterwards.
#3) Find, reestablish and maintain the Bois d’arc Trail.
#4) Eventually find, reestablish, and maintain several other nameless trails in the Blair Park woods.
Part of every step of the above plan is identifying and tagging (yellow biodegradable marker tape) native plants near the trail and remove the invasive plants to create safe trails for the public. We will use and teach the free app, iNaturalist for this project.
Other plans: Signage, nature walks and educating the community with NTMN’s Nature Trunks.
Location: 6915 Bexar St., Dallas 75215, near Bonton Farms. If the cul-de-sac is full, park along Bexar. On work days, we meet at the circle concrete trail head over the levees.
Important Notes: All volunteers must sign a waiver from the City of Dallas to work on city property. Per DPR, only hand tools are allowed for use by volunteers.
May 2021: Results of first work day on soft surface loop entrance. Approximately 200 feet of trail was widened to 3 feet per DPR in eight people hours. The trail was not visible before the work began. Photo by Kristi Kerr Leonard
Cjabriel “CJ” Reed (NTMN) and Micheal Wilson (Bonton Farms employee) learning about Swamp Privet, Texas Privet Forestiera acuminata Oleaceae Photo by Kristi Kerr Leonard
Cjabriel “CJ” Reed (NTMN) with one of the new Mcleod tools. Photo by Kristi Kerr Leonard
2nd Saturday dates for trail work from 10a-12:30p
Two leaders needed per work day:
• Trail Leader (must be Texas Master Naturalist who knows plant ID): Mark native plants in advance, Collect tools & Direct volunteers on daily tasks
• Safety/Admin Leader: Sign-up sheet, City of Dallas waivers, Safety briefing, First aid kit handling
Eastern Wahoo (Euonymus atropurpureus) carefully tagged with yellow bio-degradable tape. Photo by Kristi Kerr Leonard
June 2021: Second work day with new the Mcloud tools purchased by Trinity Coalition. Volunteers this day were Trinity Coalition & NTMN. Photo by Kristi Kerr Leonard
iNaturalist for the Buckeye Trail Area in Blair Park:
Map of Observations: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=120123&subview=map
List of Observations: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=120123
List of Species: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=120123&subview=map&taxon_id=47126&view=species
We encourage volunteers to download the free iNat app on your mobile device prior to a workday and enjoy adding observations to this valuable Citizen Science resource!
Gary Hill, of BSA Troop #914, will perform his Eagle project on a section of the trail.