A Day at Banita Creek Preserve
For my first volunteer workday as a TLC Staff member, I returned to my roots in Nacogdoches, hosting students from the Stephen F. Austin State University Sylvans Club and the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at Banita Creek Preserve. Managing 70 student volunteers on the morning of a home football game? Surprisingly smooth, but let me tell you about it:
On one of the coldest Saturday mornings we’d seen in a while, we gathered at TLC’s Banita Creek Preserve, a hidden pocket of nature nestled within suburban Nacogdoches. The 17-acre forest, with nearly a quarter mile of Banita creek waterfront, serves as the gateway to the popular 2-mile Banita Creek Trail that meanders through town. The preserve provides local nature seekers with shaded trails, picnic spots, and views of towering pines, oaks, and hickories.
Our mission for the day was clear: eradicate invasive species and clean up trash. Dr. Jeremy Stovall, Sylvans advisor and SFA Professor of Silviculture and Dendrology, made a game plan, flagging targeted species for removal. Equipped with chainsaws, loppers, chemical herbicides, and garbage bags, students broke off into groups and headed into battle.
I chose to let the students battle the invasives while I opted for garbage duty. As I made my way through the wooded areas, it was clear we had a busy day ahead of us. Pink flagging marking invasive species was as common an observation as leaves and spiderwebs. It was also obvious some residents had been using the remote corners of the property as dumping grounds for household trash and tires since last year’s cleanup event. Hour after hour, bags of trash, including a surprise mountain bike, piled up. Yet, with each trek back to the garbage pile, I witnessed progress against the Chinese tallow, Chinese privet, and sacred bamboo. In every direction I looked, more sunlight was poking through the canopy and reaching the forest floor. It seemed that every invasive stem would meet their end across the 9 acres of dedicated work area.
After hours of sweaty manual labor, it was finally time to call it quits. We rounded up all equipment, threw as much garbage as we could into the back of student’s trucks to be hauled to dumpsters, and lathered on the hand sanitizer. Students, exhausted from the day, found spaces in the grassy picnic area where a well-deserved pizza break ensued. After refueling and cooling off, it was time to head over to the tailgate and cheer for the home team (who came out with a victory themselves)!
I’d like to give a huge shout out of appreciation to Dr. Stovall, the Sylvans Club, and students from the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture for all their hard work. As a frequent visitor to the Banita Creek Trail system myself, I am so grateful to all our volunteers for helping TLC protect our land, our water, and our wildlife.
