In honor of Arbor Day Houston, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department and Trees for Houston are organizing a planting of 12,500 trees on the Clay Road esplanades between Gessner and Blalock. The project needs help from 1,500 volunteers. The event is Saturday, January 24 beginning at 7:30 pm. With enough help, by noon, the esplanades will be a forest and workers will be enjoying refreshments.

Individual volunteers as well as families, groups, and business are welcome. Children are welcome but must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Volunteers must bring their own shovels, rakes and gloves. All volunteers, including children, must register and sign waiver forms prior to planting. For full details of the event, go online.

To volunteer, contact Gary Woods, Trees for Houston, at (281) 474-4507 or (281) 224-8162 or by e-mail at garykwoods@sbcglobal.net.

Other groups are also sending teams of volunteers. To join the Park People’s team, send an e-mail to dschenke@parkpeople.org.

My favorite trade shows are the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association’s shows. The convention center in Houston, Dallas, or San Antonio, depending on the year, overflows with beautiful displays of big trees, bedding plants, fountains, and garden furnishings and décor. Flowers or greenery also decorate the booths that exhibit tools, fertilizers, and services.

At one of these shows, I picked up a bumper sticker that says “Trees Are The Answer.” It seemed like a delightfully extravagant claim.

However, the more I know about trees, the truer the bumper sticker is.

Trees for Houston’s web site lists benefits of trees – “In an urban environment, they clean and cool the air, buffer sound and wind, offer animal habitats, and shade and beautify our environment. Not to mention the support they bring to swings, hammocks, and chimes everywhere.”

These are priceless gifts, but for the bean counters among us, trees also have substantial, quantifiable economic values. The 2005 report “Houston’s Regional Forest: Structure Functions Values”, concludes that trees in our region store $721 million worth of carbon; generate $109 worth of environmental benefits per person per year and also save $90 per household in energy costs per year; and remove more than 60,000 tons of air pollution per year.

Arbor Day, even though it is a national celebration of trees, is celebrated at different times across the country according to climate. Here, we commemorate the occasion with events this weekend and next.

Jesse H. Jones Park and Nature Center, 20634 Kenswick Drive, will have free saplings and tips on tree selection and tree planting this Saturday and Sunday (January 19 and 20) from 10 am to 4 pm.

Also on Saturday, visitors to the Houston Arboretum, 4501 Woodway, can have their picture taken with Johnny Appleseed, Smokey Bear, and HANC the Owl; make paper, take a tree tour, listen to live woodwind music, and watch demonstrations from Gulf Coast Woodturners Association and Woodworkers Club of Houston. Pine tree seedlings will be given away and there will be a native tree and shrub sale. The festivities are from 10 am to 4 pm.

The Urban Harvest fruit tree sale is also tomorrow, January 19. This sale features both common and exotic varieties, including avocados, berries, citrus, figs, grapes, mangos, and jujubes. This sale also offers varieties of apple, pear, and peaches that will produce despite our areas limited chill hours; and tropicals that will survive our occasional cold days. The sale is from 9 am to 1 pm at Emerson Unitarian Church, 1900 Bering Dr.

There is a Greek proverb that says, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” To that end, on Saturday, January 26, from 8 am to noon, volunteers will be planting 3,000 five-gallon trees on North Shepherd. To volunteer, contact Vannessa Wade at vannessa.wade@cityofhouston.net or (713) 845-1117. For more information, see the Houston Parks website.

Author Richard Louv, a futurist and journalist who writes about family, nature, and community, coined the term “Nature Deficit Disorder” to explain a variety of ills that affect today’s youth – obesity, attention disorders, and depression. In his newest book, Last Child in the Woods, Louv collects highlights from the huge body of research about the need for direct exposure to nature for healthy child development. Much of this is not new – we’ve heard for years that hospital patients who have a view to the outdoors recover faster, for example, but Louv takes another step and talks about the various ways children are separated from nature. Louv talks about summer camp, and says that when he was young, he and other baby boomers, went to camp and slept in tents, hiked in the woods, leaned about plants and animals, and told scary stories around a campfire. Now, he says, summer camp is as likely to be a computer camp or weight loss program. Until Louv recites the ways children are separated from nature, I hadn’t realized how pervasive the problem is. He talks about kids skiing down a mountain with headphones on; children who aren’t allowed into build tree houses because of subdivision regulations; and family trips in vehicles that have TV screens in the back seat so the children don’t even see the scenery.He suggests that participating in organized sports does not count as intimate contact with nature, reminding me of my niece’s first soccer game, which was disrupted when two of her teammates wandered off to pick flowers.

Baby boomers may read the book nostalgically, but Louv’s intent is not to write a memoir. He wants to inspire everyone, not only parents and teachers, to make ways for children to truly connect with real nature. And not at the Nature Store. This book, a pleasure to read, will show the way.
Richard Louv will be speaking in Houston on Tuesday, October 2 at 7:30 pm at Cullen Theater, Wortham Center. His talk will be followed by a book signing. The event is free to the public but reservations must be made to ensure a seat. Call (713) 226-7200 ext 101 for reservations.

Louv’s talk is sponsored by the Trust for Public land and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department.

I drove through part of the University of Texas campus a few weeks ago and was reminded of my introduction to environmental activism. It was 1969, and many of my friends were protesting the expansion of Memorial Stadium and the impending destruction of trees along Waller Creek. In their “Axe Erwin” campaign, they wrote letters to elected officials, picketed, appeared on talk shows, and even sat in trees.

I would have been right there with them, but was in the hospital. One of the letters from my mother says, “I’m sorry you are so miserable, but it is a relief to look at the TV news and know that you aren’t sitting in a tree staring down a bulldozer.”

As I drove along Kirby Drive between Richmond and Westheimer this week, I was pleased to see that trees still inspire environmental activism. The trees are decorated with bright green bows that bear signs saying “Save our trees,” and give Mayor White’s e-mail address and Trees for Houston’s URL.

According to , Trees for Houston, which is way more environmentally friendly than the mimeographed handbills my friends used, the Upper Kirby TIRZ (Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone) plans to widen this section of Kirby by 14 feet, which will require removal of approximately 300 trees that presently line the street. The site goes into extensive detail about the project.

Upper Kirby’s web site isn’t as informative but the Chronicle story gives plenty of detail.

Upper Kirby is hosting a “Kirby Drive Drainage/Mobility Improvements Public Meeting” this Saturday, September 15 from 9 to 11 am at 3015 Richmond Avenue, Main Conference Room. Upper Kirby will have a board meeting Wednesday, September 19, at 8 am, at 3015 Richmond.

Go to these meetings. These events are for public input, and no technical expertise is needed. Many of us use Kirby Drive regularly, and we are entitled to say how our tax money is used. If you want to prepare, Google directed me to three blogs that provide broader views of the issue. It’s not as simple as “big trees or (room for) big cars?”

Take a look at “Trees for Houston vs. the Upper Kirby District TIRZ”;
“Kirby Drive reconstruction plans pose important questions, trade-offs”; and .“Kirby widening poses dangers”.

For another way to save trees, check out the Organic Horticulture Business Association’s lecture on Tuesday, September 18. Peter Wild, an organic arborist, will speak on tree care, essential tree biology, how to prevent problems with trees, and how to have great success with trees. He started Boston Tree Preservation, an organic-based proactive tree care business, and also developed Soil Solutions, the first completely organic lawn care program in Boston. For more details, see the Association’s website or call (713) 957-0909.

Trees For Houston has an Urban ForesTree Keeper program each October. The class teaches the basics of tree identification, proper planting techniques, site suitability, pruning, fertilization, and after-planting care. The course also emphasizes the important environmental role trees play in our city. Classes meet the first four Tuesdays in October from 6 to 8 pm and on Saturday, October 20 from 9 am to noon. The classes are at 4550 Post Oak Place Drive. The fee for the entire series is $20. To register, go to the Trees for Houston website.

During the last Ice Age, eastern hardwood forests, Gulf coastal plains, and Midwestern prairies all came together in East Texas in an area known to early settlers as the Big Thicket. In 1974, the Big Thicket National Preserve was established to protect the remnants of the area’s complex biological diversity. Because of its unique location, the preserve contains a mix of plants and animals characteristic of at least four different eco systems. Species native to southeastern swamps, eastern forests, central plains and the arid southwest all coexist in the Thicket.

The preserve’s biodiversity will be celebrated on Saturday, June 16, at the kick event for the “Thicket of Diversity” project, which is an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI). The inventory will match leading researchers with citizen scientists to identify every species of plant and animal living in Big Thicket National Preserve. And there are a lot – more than 85 tree species, more than 60 shrubs, 50 reptile species, and nearly 300 kinds of birds have already been identified. About 1,000 varieties of flowering plants, including 26 ferns and allies, 20 orchids and four of North America’s five types of insect-eating plants grow in the Big Thicket.

The 1936 report, Biological Survey of the East Texas Big Thicket Area, by H.B. Parks and V.L. Cory, played a significant role in the future protection of the Big Thicket, as did later work by 2005 CEC Synergy Award winner Geraldine Watson. Information gathered from ATBI will help park managers protect the preserve’s treasures from increasing threats from development, oil and gas extraction, and exotic species. National Parks Conservation Association listed Big Thicket National Preserve as one of the ten most threatened parks in the nation.

The event on June 16 will be at the Big Thicket Visitors Center, which is at the corner of Hwy 69 & FM 420, seven miles north of Kountz, from 9 am to 5 pm. It is about a two-hour drive from central Houston. Researchers will conduct a “bio blitz” in the area next week and show off their the results at the kickoff. The June 16 event also features lectures, a photography exhibition, trips into the Preserve with the scientists, a volunteer recruitment booth and a BBQ sale.

The Houston Sierra Club is taking a field trip to the kick-off event. To join a carpool or caravan, meet at 7:30 am sharp on June 16 at Rice University, Entrance 13A (off of Greenbriar) and look for a blue Plymouth Neon. Please RSVP to Brandt Mannchen at (713) 664-5962.

The Preserve’s website promises, “When you visit the Big Thicket, there will be no grand vistas or majestic mountain ranges to tantalize your eyes. However, you will see, when you choose to look closely around you, a unique assemblage of species–some endangered or threatened.

For more information about the project see www.thicketofdiversity.org.

The forests and forest industry of East Texas are undergoing radical change. All of the major timber companies (like the paper companies in Maine) are divesting themselves of forest lands they have owned and managed for decades. Temple-Inland is the latest of these companies to begin the process of divesting itself of its timber lands (the announcement came on Monday as I attended meetings in Jefferson and Nacogdoches). This will impact over 1.1 million acres in East Texas, including some of the most sensitive woodlands (particularly long-leaf ridge) that have been protected by this company for generations.

The reason is simple – pressure from Wall Street and outside investors (in this case, corporate raider Carl Icahn). The Conservation Fund and others have been working with companies such as Temple-Inland on a series of conservation purchases, and I have been involved directly with them in an East Texas project (the Texas Pineywoods Experience) involving communities from Beaumont to Jefferson. But I must be honest in admitting that the latest news from Temple-Inland has placed us in a difficult position. Once we thought that we might have a few years within which to work; in truth, this time frame has been reduced to months.

These divestitures are a once in a lifetime (or century) opportunity to conserve the East Texas forests in some semblance of their original form. Yes, this work clearly impacts a significant component of the birdlife of our state. Bachman’s Sparrow, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, American Swallow-tailed Kite, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and Swainson’s Warbler are just of a few of the East Texas species that depend on these forests for their existence. Yet we Texans are directly impacted as well. These East Texas watersheds (Sabine west to the Trinity and San Jacinto) generate most of the freshwater in the state. Houston, for example, receives the majority of its drinking water from one East Texas river, the Trinity. Galveston Bay depends on this same river from most of its freshwater inflow. There is a long list of ecological services these forests provide, from carbon sequestration to flood control. To be blunt, the birds and people of East Texas are intertwined in their dependence on healthy forests, and these very forests are now at risk.

We will all continue to do what we can to pursue the conservation of these irreplaceable resources. But I must admit that at times even I can be discouraged. At the same time that Texas is selling off its forest heritage, 19 new reservoirs are being proposed to squeeze the last drops of water from these same watersheds. This is not to mention the uncontrolled development that continues unabated along our coast, or the long reach of Austin and San Antonio into the cedar brakes of the Texas Hill Country. Our time to fiddle has past. If we (by we I mean those who love our state) do not act now we might as well accept our fate and enjoy the last days of what was once a remarkable landscape.

Editor’s note: Eubanks is a consultant to communities that want to develop nature tourism programs. He can be reached at eubanks@fermatainc.com. This editorial was written the day the Texas Senate passed SB 3, which would designate 19 sites in East Texas as unique reservoir sites and prohibit use of these sites for other purposes. The bill is pending in the House.

Poet as diverse as Robert Frost and Ogden Nash, Pablo Neruda and Shel Silverstein, have all written poems about trees, but Joyce Kilmer’s heartfelt rhyme is familiar to every schoolchild: “Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.”

With a press agent like this, it is difficult to convince anyone that there is such a thing as a bad tree. Unfortunately, the dominant tree in this region is the Chinese tallow, according to the 2005 report from the Texas Forest Service. The tallow tree, which was brought here in about 1900 by Edward Teas Sr. to research into production of the seed’s oil, is beautiful in the fall, is not poisonous, and some birds like its seeds. However, the Chinese tallow is now banned in Texas. What makes this tree so bad is that it is an invasive, non-native species.

When established in natural habitats, invasive plants can out-compete native species and significantly decrease the amount of habitat available for wildlife that depends on native plants for nesting and feeding. Once established, the non-natives are hard to control and remove, so invasive species removal is an ongoing project at many area parks and habitats. Tomorrow morning (Saturday, Jan 20), there will be a tree removal project at Timbergrove Manor Park, 1000 West TC Jester. At 8 am, botanist Eric Ruckstuhl, will lecture on identification of problem species and why removal is essential. He will also describe non-invasive removal techniques. Removal work will begin at 9 am.

There is a list of plants, with pictures, that are or have the potential to become problems in our area at Galveston Bay Invasive’s website. Some will surprise you – elaeagnus, Chinese and Japanese privet, Chinese elm, and elephant ears. However, the same characteristics that make these plants popular with homeowners, hardiness and an ability to reproduce and spread, is what makes them invasive. Birds often like their seeds, and this adds to the difficulty of controlling a plant’s spread.

For a list of alternative plants, visit the Native Plant Society website.

To learn more about good trees, check out some Arbor Day events tomorrow:

• Mercer Arboretum, 22306 Aldine Westfield Road, is giving away trees beginning at 8 am. There will be a free lecture on the best trees for the area beginning at 10. The phone number there is (281) 443-8731.
• The Houston Arboretum, 4501 Woodway, is giving away tree seedlings, hosting tree tours and a puppet show, and having a demonstration of tools for tree care, as well as visits by Johnny Appleseed and HANC, the Arboretum’s owl mascot. For more details, call (713) 681-8433 or see .
• Jesse H. Jones Park and Nature Center, 20634 Kenswick Drive, will be holding hayride tree tours through out the day.

Growing fruit and nut trees in this area can be a challenge because most require a cooler climate, but there are some fruit and nut trees that do well here, even apple varieties. Urban Harvest offers several classes about caring for fruit trees, and its annual fruit tree sale is tomorrow.

Several Master Gardener groups host fruit tree sales and lectures in January. Montgomery County will host a fruit and nut tree sale from 9 am to 1 pm on Saturday, Jan 29, at the Montgomery County Extension Center. There will be an educational program on “Growing Fruits and Nuts in Montgomery County” at 8 am. To find out about other county programs in your area, see TAMU’s website.

Though Roger Swain, who hosted the PBS show The Victory Garden from 1991 until 2001, was not a poet, he wrote, “People in suburbia see trees differently than foresters do. They cherish every one. It is useless to speak of the probability that a certain tree will die when the tree is in someone’s backyard. You are talking about a personal asset, a friend, a monument, not about board feet of lumber.” If you do not feel this way about your trees, check out Trees for Houston.

The morning of Saturday, Jan 27, more than 2,000 people will assemble along Will Clayton Parkway near Bush Intercontinental Airport to engage in two of the Houston community’s favorite activities – volunteering and planting trees. The goal of this ambitious Arbor Day celebration is to plant 13,000 loblolly pines and 7,000 hardwood trees, mainly oaks and elms. The trees will be in 5-gallon pots, and some of the pines are already 6 feet tall.

The project is a joint project of the Texas Highway Department, the City of Houston, its Parks & Recreation and Aviation departments, and the nonprofit agency Trees For Houston.

Each team of ten volunteers will be given 100 trees to plant. This will be less daunting than it sounds, according to Gary Woods, Trees For Houston’s NeighborWoods coordinator. “The ground will be tilled and each tree will be placed on its side by the time volunteers get there, so all the volunteer needs to do is dig the hole, pull the tree upright, back fill and mulch,” Woods said. “I timed myself, and I can plant a tree in ten minutes.”

This will be the largest volunteer tree-planting project in Houston history, Woods said.

Once the large trees are planted and volunteers leave, contractors will plant 10,000 seedlings and then a temporary irrigation system will be installed.

The project is the first to use the $22 million earmarked by US representative Ted Poe in last year’s highway appropriation bill. These federal funds are for landscaping existing highways, ones that are already built, and must be matched by $6 million in state funds. According to Dana Cote, RLA, Texas Department of Transportation’s chief landscape architect for the Houston district, 21 projects on area roads are planned to make use of this money.

Woods said that the airport project, Will Clayton Parkway between Lee road and IH 59, was chosen to be first because surveys performed by the Houston Airport System show that visitors’ feelings about a city are based on their first and last impressions.

Keep Houston Beautiful and the Humble Area Chamber of Commerce have agreed to be responsible for planting 5,000 trees each, and the Memorial Park Conservancy already has more than 700 volunteers pledged.

“We are glad to be able to use our groups of dedicated volunteers to help the Parks Department with other projects,” said Sally Tyler, the Conservancy’s executive director.

However, Woods said he is still looking for volunteers – teams and individuals. “Children of any age who are with their families are welcome, but others must be in groups with adult supervision,” he said. “Children can help backfill the holes and spread mulch.”

Volunteers are asked to bring shovels, gloves, and rakes. They should be at their sites by 8 am for training. Cars with four or more riders may park along Will Clayton Parkway but others should park in a designated section of Airport Lot D. The airport will run shuttles to take them to their assigned work sites. Unassigned volunteers should go to site N-A-1, just east of Lee Road, Woods said.

“The airport people have been wonderful to work with,” Woods said. “They are also providing lunch.”

As volunteers arrive, Cote said, they will have a preview of the completed project because the Highway Department, by then, will have finished planting the section of Will Clayton adjacent to IH 59.

The project required about six months to organize, Cote said, so tree planting will take place, rain or shine. For more information, see the city’s website or contact Gary Woods at garykwoods@sbcglobal.net or (281) 474-4507.

Purpose: Outstanding nature photography is choreographed to a live musical performance and narration. These concerts deal with appreciation and conservation of the natural world – as conceived by a concert pianist/naturalist.

2514 Bycreek
Houston, Texas 77068
(281) 444-0343
hugahabi@swbell.net

Karen Stockton, Pianist-storyteller

Programs: Multimedia live concerts with piano, singing, and storytelling performances, or nature slide show. Enjoy The Wetlands, Local Lepidoptera, The Monarch Mystery, Big Thicket, Machu Picchu, or Texas Legends. Call for pricing.

Margaret Frick, Speaker

Programs: Presentations are a dynamic mix of slides, video, live animals, and hands-on activities. Programs are available for groups of all ages. Programs include bats, snakes, bugs, or customized programs. Speaker specializes in interactive, activity-based learning. Call for pricing.

Also offers consultations in the areas of environmental education, science education, and outdoor activities for elementary and intermediate schools and other organizations.

8500 Bay Area Blvd.
P.O. Box 58828
Houston, Texas 77258
(281) 474-2551/fax: (281) 474-2552
abnc@abnc.org

www.abnc.org

Candy Donahue, Executive Director
candy@abnc.org

Mark Kramer, Stewardship Director
mark@ccisd.net

Heather Millar, Education Director
heather@abnc.org

Publications: Along the Bayou, quarterly member newsletter; Bayou Foliage, quarterly volunteer newsletter; Web site – www.abnc.org.

Speakers Bureau: Contact Nature Center to schedule.

Major Events: Earth Day, Apr; Bayou Boil, May; Summer EcoCamp, May-Aug; Creepy Crawlers, Oct; Fall Festival, Nov; Winter Camp, Dec.

Programs: Adult and children programs, including scout, gifted and talented, adult certifications and volunteer, twilight overnight and winter camps, summer Ecocamp. Family programs, including birding classes, evening owl prowl, canoe trips, pontoon boat trips, and more.

Meeting Times: Monthly Board of Trustees’ meeting. Monthly volunteers’ meeting (second Thursday).

Children’s Activities: School field trips, reptile study, animal adaptations, pond study, insect study, weekend/after school classes, summer day-camp classes, environmental history classes, scout badge workshops.

Volunteer Opportunities: Showing animals, maintaining a turn-of-the-century garden, restoring wetlands by planting marsh grass, monitoring the prairie, carpentry, mowing, and more.