Barton Creek Trail Corps Funders

ACL Park Grants

Barton Creek Trail Corps Partners

Barton Creek Trail Corps Project and Volunteer Corps

For the latest news on our efforts, including weekly reports, visit our blog.

The Austin Parks Foundation, in collaboration with the Hill Country Conservancy, American Youthworks Environmental Corps, the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department and a host of volunteer groups has embarked on a big project beginning in September 2010 and running through December 2011 to restore the Barton Creek Greenbelt Trail and surrounding landscape.

Want to Volunteer? We need your help: Since September 2010, we have organized over 26 volunteer workdays with over 1700 volunteers working over 4,500 hours removing invasive, non-native trees, rebuilding trail, and hauling rocks along the first miles of Barton Creek Greenbelt. Thanks to our volunteers at our last two workdays - two C3 Presents employees for helping us remove and process invasive trees on Thursday, Nov 17th and to our 63 volunteers on Saturday, Nov 19th on the Hill of Life. Special thanks to Bicycle Sport Shop for the post workday lunch and raffle. /we have weekday workdays coming up on Dec 6 and Dec 20 too if you like to join us.

Thanks to $105,000 grant from Impact Austin along with funding from the Hill Country Conservancy, Bicycle Sports Shop, the Austin Parks Foundation, REI, and individual donors, we will be funding a $250,000 project to evaluate, develop a plan and implement a series of improvements along the eight-mile main trail of Barton Creek Greenbelt, running from Zilker Park to Camp Craft Road. Additional funding will help us manage the many invasive species (non-native trees and plants) of ligustrum, chinaberry and nandina that we often see close to the trail.

Pictured above are Barton Creek Trail Corps (BCTC) members Kristen, Joe, then E-Corps Staff Chris, Paul and Seth - all standing, and BCTC members Brian and Sara seated. Allen is out of the picture hauling over a big rock.

Barton Creek Trail Corps Bios:

Kristen Parker is excited to join Environmental Corps and the Barton Creek Trail Crew after graduating from Vanderbilt University this past August. Emphasis on the outdoors, physical activity, and sustainability has made the job a great fit. The friendliness and interest Greenbelt patrons show towards trail work impresses Kristen on a daily basis. She hopes to combine her service experience with her English and Corporate Strategy degrees when looking for a green job at the end of this term.

Sara Pikora, originally from southeast Michigan, came to Austin to pursue her interest in working with the environment. After studying Sociology at the University of Michigan, she was undecided on what she wanted to do. Having never been away from Michigan for more than months at a time, and having a strong passion for the environment since she was a kid, the E-Corps program offered her an exciting new opportunity. After the year-long program is over, she hopes to continue to work for Americorps, as well as advance her education with a master's degree in ecology, hoping to achieve her life-long goal of working with the environment in France.

Paul Stuffel - Staff - Field Coordinator - Paul came to us with a cobbled together list of experiences and abilities. Everything from forestry, tree felling, wildfire, and work with at risk youth in wilderness settings has helped shape his love for people and the outdoors. His five years with E-corps have helped him hone his skills in conservation and his passion for trees. Paul is an ISA Certified Arborist and on any given weekend if he is not spending time with his family you will probably find him climbing trees.

Thanks too, to former crew members Brian and Joe, as well as current members Adam, John and Alan.

Volunteer Workday Report:

We've already begun work on invasive species(non-native trees and plants) removal and management as well as some trail rebuilding projects. We are working with volunteer groups and city staff. We welcome companies, organizations and teams of people looking for volunteer opportunities on weekdays as well as weekends. Since September 2010, we've organized 26 volunteer workdays with over 1,700 volunteers working 4,500 hours. But, don't worry, there's plenty of work left and we want to work with you. You can join us for planned volunteer workdays on weekends or we can schedule a workday for your organization/company/workgroup on most Fridays. Email us at becky@austinparks.org

Beginning in January 2011, our team of 5 experienced American Youthworks Environmental Corps members has been at work. Brian, Sara, Kristen, Joe and Allen can be seen most days working on our list of 60 plus prioritized projects along the main 8.5 miles of greenbelt trails. They who have experience working on park and trail improvements in parks in Austin as well as Texas State parks and national parks. Our team will be working from January 2011 and will be completed in December 2011.

Our primary focus is to identify the true problem spots of the trail where severe erosion, flood damage, compaction or other issues have taken hold. Our goal will be prioritize the top areas and correct those. We also remove invasive species along the trail whenever possible and restore native plants and trees.

In addition, we'll continue to host and organize a number of big (and many small) volunteer workdays, which we're calling the Barton Creek Volunteer Corps. Grants from REI to both the Austin Parks Foundation and the Hill Country Conservancy will help us organize 25 volunteer workdays (and purchase tools). This Volunteer Corps efforts began in September 2010 and continue through December 2011, focusing primarily on invasive species removal and treatment, with some trail work as well. We'll focus on several invasives species - namely two trees - ligustrum and chinaberry and one shrub - nandina.

[updated November 21, 2011]