Deer Park Prairie Featured in Saving Land Magazine

Bayou Land Conservancy and the Deer Park Prairie will be featured in the Winter 2014 edition of Saving Land magazine, a quarterly publication released by the Land Trust Alliance. The article chronicles the journey from the discovery of the Deer Park Prairie to the fundraising victory and acquisition.

Click HERE to get a sneak peek of Jennifer and Matt's article!

Celebrate the Holidays with us!

Join us for a holiday celebration and take in the beautiful sights of the Spring Creek Greenway, the longest contiguous urban forested corridor in the nation! On Thursday, December 5, 2013 from 5pm-7pm, we'll be holding our annual open house at the Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center, in conjunction with Montgomery County and Commissioner Noack.

Mingle with other conservationists and munch on holiday snacks while learning about our new Spring Creek Greenway Ambassador Program-- set to launch this winter.

Details as follows: 

When: Thursday, December 5th from 5pm-7pm
Where: Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center (1300 Riley Fuzzel Road, Spring, TX 77386)
Who: Open to the public!

Click here for a map to the Nature Center
Click here to view the official press release

Gala 2013: A great time had by all!

Thank you to everyone who came out to our annual Gala & Silent Auction! We appreciate the almost 300 guests who joined us to dine, dance, and bid the night away.

During the event, we honored Terry Hershey, Ann Hamilton, and Henry Hamman for their remarkable contributions toward the Deer Park Prairie. We also presented local science teachers with certificates for their hard work in creating the next generation of conservation leaders.

Guest speakers included Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle and Exxon Mobil's Jim Hennessey.

To view photos from the night's events, please visit our Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/BayouLandConservancy

Get your Gala tickets!

Help us celebrate all of 2013's conservation victories at our annual gala! Along with highlighting the saving of the Deer Park Prairie, we will be marking over 10,000 acres of preserved land in the Houston area.

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets! 

Join us for our biggest night of dinner, silent auction, and live entertainment!
A preview of silent auction items can be viewed by clicking here!

When: November 15, 2013 at 7pm
Where: Northwest Forest Conference Center
Who: Anyone can purchase tickets or tables! 

Annual survey training coming up

A Bayou Land Conservancy volunteer 

performing the annual survey at our Bender Preserve 

When: Saturday, November 2nd, 9am - noon 

at the Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center 

What is an annual survey? – Every year Bayou Land Conservancy must monitor each of our 46 conservations easements to ensure that they are retaining their conservation values. This means we get to walk around all of these wonderful private and public landowner preserves and closely inspect the borders and interiors of these important permanently protected green spaces. 

Bayou Land Conservancy invites interested members to our Little Cypress Creek Preserve to learn about how you can directly contribute to ensuring that Houston’s wild places will be protected for generations to come. 

Who can attend? – All current Bayou Land Conservancy members with a passion for nature and a desire to contribute to Bayou Land Conservancy’s conservation efforts! (For insurance purposes you must be a BLC member.) 

What to wear/bring? – Long pants, long sleeves, close-toed shoes (preferably boots) that can get dirty, backpack, camera, filled water bottle and GPS unit (if you have one! – otherwise we’ll provide one) 

If interested, please call us at 281-576-1634 or at info@bayouland.org 

Bird Walk: Saturday, November 9th

Prothonotary warbler

The next bird walk will be taking place on the second Saturday in November. Whether you're an experienced birder, just curious about the birds in your backyard, or simply looking to go for a hike in the crisp fall weather, join biologist Matt Buckingham at the Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center! Details are as follows:

Saturday, November 9th from 7:30-9:00am
Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center 
(1300 Riley Fuzzel Road)
Click here for map
RSVP: mbuckingham@bayouland.org 
or (281) 364-4225

Drink for a Cause!

Buy a drink, save the Deer Park Prairie! On Thursday, August 29th between 4-9pm, Kung Fu Saloon will be donating 15% of all happy hour drink proceeds to Bayou Land Conservancy. 

5317 Washington Avenue #A 
Houston, TX 77007 

No RSVP or entry fee, just show up with your friends or co-workers, have a drink, play some free skee ball or vintage arcade games, and start your Labor Day weekend with some green karma.

Facebook event here.
Find the printable flyer here.
View the press release here.

Canoes, the Creek, and the Commissioner

It's back! Join us on our Spring Creek sunset canoe trip, led by biologist Matt Buckingham. Spaces are limited, so please RSVP soon to reserve your boat!


When: Saturday, August 24, 2013 4:30pm - 8pm

Where: Meet at Jones Nature Center
20634 Kenswick Drive
Humble, TX 77338

Printable flyer and directions here. 

Bring: Refillable water bottles, sunscreen, snacks

This event is members-only and free for all Bayou Land Conservancy members. Sign up here to become a member. A donation of $50 or more gets you a one-year membership for you and your immediate family. Be sure to like us on Facebook as well!

Last Gasp for Deer Park Prairie

Bayou Land Conservancy is reaching out to all our members and supporters, asking you to share this message with all your “friends in high places,” as we have a natural treasure emergency as we’ve never had before.

For the past few months, we have been working on raising funds to purchase the Deer Park Prairie, a 50-acre home to meadowlarks, pocket gophers, and more than 300 species of unique plants – tucked between subdivisions and just 3 miles south of the Deer Park refineries!

But just this week we got significantly bad news: that the corporate entity most likely to have supported this biodiversity initiative is unable to meet the new deadline for the required funds, which has now been moved up to Aug. 20^th.  Yes, less than two weeks away.

To be clear, the private landowner of this prairie has been quite patient with this process.  But in this hot housing market he has recently received bids for OVER the $4 million he has agreed to sell it to us.

This gorgeous “Monet-scape prairie” (see Houston Chronicle reporter’s Lisa Gray’s story here) is simply too special to have it covered with 200 houses.

Please watch this short video below of the unique nature of this prairie and the educational amenity it could be not for just Houstonians but for all Texans.

Please join our partners, Texas Native Prairie Association, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Native Plant Society, Houston Audubon and all the other local conservation groups in our efforts to save the Deer Park Prairie. We have so few of these special areas left in this world, much less in southeast Harris County.

And finally, while we greatly appreciate the thought of small donations, because of this incredibly short-fuse final deadline, we are only seeking large donations these next few days. If YOU could be a large donor or know someone who COULD be a large donor, please call us right away at 281-576-1634 or email us. We’re more than happy to make the request, but we have to have the contact – and it has to be soon!

Donors can remain anonymous, but naming rights are also an option! Time is ticking on this incredible piece of biodiversity. Thank you for your assistance in helping us reach those highly generous individuals in this city of many millionaires…

We can still save this incredible prairie, but we need to act NOW.

Media Coverage of the City of Cleveland Preserve Clean-Up

We had a very successful clean-up day at the City of Cleveland Preserve, thanks to our team of hard working volunteers. Their efforts at clearing trails and picking up trash made a big difference in the beauty of the preserve, as well as raised awareness among the community of its existence. Read more here!

Big Expansion News for Bayou Land Conservancy!

Click here to check out our latest newsletter, featuring our partnership with Montgomery County at the Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center! 

Partner Event-- Wild West Tour: Breeding Birds

Another great local conservation organization, Katy Prairie Conservancy, is holding an event on August 9, 2013. Details as follows, or visit their website for details: http://www.katyprairie.org/events.html#wwt

Wild West Tour: Breeding Birds

Friday, August 9 from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where: Indiangrass Preserve
Audience: Adult Learners
Cost: $50 per person, dinner included
Registration: Click here to register.

Beat the heat this summer and join bird expert, Glenn Olsen, for a twilight tour of the prairie. Visit wetlands, woods, and wild grasslands in search of breeding birds and feathery fledglings. A light dinner will be included with this special trip onto KPC preserves.

When: Friday, August 9 2013 | 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

City of Cleveland Preserve Trail Day

Join us as we work to keep the 5-acre City of Cleveland Preserve clean and beautiful for the city's residents (and native wildlife) to enjoy!

When: Saturday, July 27, 2013, 9am - 11am
Where: City of Cleveland Preserve
Wear: Long sleeves, long pants, gloves, and closed-toe shoes
Bring: Loppers, clippers, shovels, and your own water bottle

Get the printable flyer and directions here.

Helping to make 2013 Greener - Tree Planting Jan. 26th

Our tree planting on Saturday, January 26, 2013 was a huge success! We were able to help plant 200 native trees in a variety of habitats at our Little Cypress Creek Preserve. 

Thanks to Apache Corporation for donating the trees.

Tree Planting

When: Saturday, January 26, 2013 9 am – noon

Where: Little Cypress Creek Preserve
14900 Telge Road
Cypress, TX 77429
View a map of directions here.

What to wear/bring:
• Long pants/long sleeves
• Your own filled water bottle for drinking
• Closed-toed shoes (boots/rain boots/shoes that can get muddy!)

Bring if you have:
• Gallon containers to haul water
• Wheelbarrow for hauling mulch
• Gardening gloves
• Shovels
• Other implements for trail work

RSVP at info at bayouland dot org or 281-576-1634

This event is free for all Bayou Land Conservancy Members. Not a current member? Join online today by clicking here. Now is the best time to join! You’ll gain access to all of our 2013 member events including canoe/kayak trips down Spring Creek, butterfly counts, BioBlitz and more!

Non-members are welcome to attend for a small fee of $5 per individual.

Thanks again to Apache Corporation as we help them plant their 3 millionth tree this weekend!