R.I.P. LCRA's Pedernales River Nature Park.
Update: 4/24/2018
Hello all,
I had a horrible experience this past week at my local LCRA Pedernales River Nature Park yesterday. First I discovered they had mowed the wild brush and bushes absolutely to the water's edge on the lake the lawn of which they keep manicured. This time they encroached to water's edge, including a small spit into the lake which was the one spot previously left natural. Cut clean to the soil almost. All the brush, bushes and plants along the lake's edge were species that many butterflies utilized when blooming for feeding, including migrating Monarch. Now all that is gone. It will take years for the foliage to grow back, but under LCRA's Pedernales River Nature Park maintenance plan, the whole riparian zone and flood plain downstream to the park boundary will be 'managed'. That is not good news for wildlife or migrating species that used to depend on the area for foraging in an increasingly developed Hill Country.
That's bad enough, but now the trees lining the lake have even more fishing lures and lines caught up in the branches from the few 'fishermen' that go there to fish. I have numerous photos of lures and hooks swinging in the branches now that I'll put on flickr soon. All of this was bad enough but then - because now you have to pay to go to this 'nature' park, there were few - very few - visitors. But all it took was one to do what I watched or almost witnessed. I barely missed the actual event, but as I was leaving on the paved 15 mile per hour road, I came upon a five or six foot Western Coachwhip that had just been run over and squashed. I stopped, yelled at the person driving away at the top of the hill (too far for me to be heard), cursed and took photos of the carnage (pun not intended). I am sick of the uncaring, indeed, hostility to wildlife and nature ever present in our society.
Update 12/17/2017:
I have put two album of photos on flickr; a before and after the recent work carried out by contractors at LCRA Pedernales River Nature Park. The links to the albums are as follows:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151313979@N08/albums/72157688059284962
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151313979@N08/albums/72157661677487837
Thursday afternoon, December 30th, 2017. I had a meeting with one of the LCRA persons familiar with the agencies' project to redo the natural habitat at LCRA Pedernales River Nature Park. He actually lives in the same town as I do. We had an amicable discussion, but I was never told the purpose of the land clearing which included many endemic shrubs, bushes, and small trees. I am guessing, based on earlier conversations with various agency personnel, that establishing conditions similar to a prairie was the goal, an all too familiar scheme of local government agencies in possession of chunks of Texas Hill Country land. It also dawns on me that perhaps LCRA has something else in mind for the park as it now seems the altered area has been reduced to mostly Live Oaks and grass, as my photos show. I have many problems with this view of our portion of the Hill Country because it is fraught with issues over description and misunderstanding. For example, the nearby Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park has embarked on its own Prairie Restoration Project at the LBJ NHP Settlement about a mile upstream from the LCRA park, both of which encompass Town Creek, a recharge stream that flows through both parks and downtown Johnson City.
I doubt the LCRA spokesman thinks the brush clearing was as extreme as I do. Perhaps because there is a movement in government agencies to 'restore' prairie habitats across the country. Organizations and websites have sprung up over the years advocating the restoration of native prairie landscapes in areas that turned out to be unsuitable for dry farming agriculture, critical habitat, or for many other reasons. This may be LCRA's vision which is shared (and, I might add, is typical of most 'habitat restoration' projects) by the LCRA employee, for the nature park . I was told LCRA doesn't intend to treat the property as a manicured lawn, which is helpful, but does not answer the question: what is the goal? Now that all the bulldozing is completed, as I was told, the clearing is finished, (but I can't believe it wasn't stopped because of my complaints). From this point forward, LCRA will just let whatever grows in place to grow back naturally. (Aside: what was already growing naturally has been eradicated and now we are just repeating the regeneration step, get it? No? Me neither. If you are just going to let what survives to survive, what was the point?) I worry that in time, the agency will try to make the area a permanent urban like park, complete with routine mowing and continuous cutting back of encroaching 'woody' invasives at the expense of biodiversity. I don't know why it's necessary to destroy the habitat (and all the critters in it) and then leave it alone. Honestly. I'll believe it when I see it.
In the meantime, both LBJ NHP and their Settlement Prairie Restoration Project (ongoing) and this one by LCRA have native plants as their focus. Alien and invasive plants are targeted for removal by either herbicides or mechanical means in an effort to rid the landscape of onerous species. That has to be appreciated as a positive. The native species that are desired for planting range from indigenous grasses, shrub, brush or trees in place of the often invading alien species that more likely got here by way of escaping home gardens and farming practices should be naturally beneficial. Keeping in mind that land here in the Texas Hill Country has been historically cleared of vegetation to enhance grazing and farming. Reclamation or restoring native species is seen as an enlightened correction to past practices that have negatively impacted and transformed the Texas Hill Country in ways that is contrary to an idealized historical view of the land. In both the case of the LBJ National Historical Park effort and this LCRA effort, a view of what the property should look like have been decided in offices by specialists who have studied the flora of the landscapes. Problem is, the Edwards Plateau and eastern Texas Hill Country are being treated as adjuncts of the Great Plains, hence 'prairie' restorations. Again, undesirable plants are slated for elimination with the plan to reinstate the similar native species in place of the intruder. That's the general plans for both places as far as I can tell. But the devil is in the details and from what I see and hear, the details aren't as they should be. Let me let the following link of noted Hill Country expert, Steve Nelle, make my argument for my above criticisms.
http://www.remarkableriparian.org/pdfs/news/GrasslandMyth-July%202012.pdf
Steve Nelle has published many articles that basically helped form my opinions about both the Texas Hill Country in general and our precious and fragile riparian habitats as well. His website offers a wealth of information and suggestions on where, when and how to proceed. I think his suggestions should be applied literally to both our special parks, the LCRA Pedernales River Nature Park, and the LBJ National Historical Park Settlement here in Johnson City, hometown of the 36th President of the United States:
http://www.remarkableriparian.org/pdfs/news/GrasslandMyth-July%202012.pdf
Important Update - see bottom of this message:
This week the riparian area of this unique Hill Country river park will become like your manicured lawn from this day on. From the old road south of the Pedernales an area that stretches from east of the dam on the river to the park's boundary near Deer Creek is being bulldozed of saplings, brush and small trees. From what I can tell, and my observation is a tentative one, the flood plain is being cleared of all vegetation - mesquite trees, cedar elms, pecans, you name it and they have been stripped and smashed into oblivion. This means there is now no natural vegetation to help waterfowl and wildlife hide from humans. I am going to post the progress of this destruction (you can be assured LCRA will take issue with this point of view of their activities). I'll include photos I have of the area before this action was initiated as the one above, and will update the journal post with additional observations as this destructive project proceeds.
Photos now posted showing area and species affected. None of the landscapes depicted here appear as they did in these pictures. To be continued...
I have created a place for the riparian habitat on the land adjoining the river. You can see the species observed before development here and add any you may have in your photo archives. Just follow this link:
https://www.inaturalist.org/places/lcra-pedernales-river-nature-park
I just revised the size of the above place here on iNat. The riparian area along both the Pedernales River and Town Creek have now been nearly cleared of vegetation. There is now no cover for waterbirds and other species to hide from humans and the area of clearing has progressed up slope out of the river flood plain. My latest boundaries take the expanded area into count, but I am now certain I will even have to expand it further because it is obvious the clearing is not complete. I now have complete before and after photos that I will post here and on flickr to enable a wider audience to see what we're loosing.
Updated 11-17-2017
Hi everyone
I have additional information to give you about LCRA's Pedernales River Nature Park development and how this activity is going to affect more of LCRA parks in our Hill Country and Austin metropolitan area. Any of you with interests in such places as Canyon of the Eagles, or McKinney Roughs Nature Park, the Bastrop LCRA parks might want to contact LCRA officials or others who may be able to bring the destructive development proposed for all these parks to a stop. Here's what I learned Wednesday.
According to the contractor working at LCRA Pedernales River Nature Park, the officials in charge of the park have decided against a natural park in favor of a manicured park that I assume they believe will bring more visitors to their parks. What this means for Pederanles Nature Park is that the river front riparian habitat between Town Lake and the park boundary at the Stanton Ranch has been removed entirely. Additionally, the clearing (and poisoning) of all species including native species such as persimmon, cedar elms, small oaks, mesquite and basically any small tree has taken place. Additionally, the clearing has now proceeded up the hill above the old road that runs east and west south of Town Creek, in addition to the area on both sides of Town Creek itself both above and below the low water crossing that takes visitors to the lake. The clearing of brush also included all Agarita growing anywhere between the entrance, the pavilion at the top of the hill and downhill to the river. In other words, the prairie you drove along on your way to the river is gone. In its place are a few oak trees (logs and dead trees removed) and you now have an unrestricted view of the hillside (like a lawn). The pond on Town Creek, home to so many types of birds and waterfowl has been completely cleared of Rattlebush. In the words of the contractor, the person in charge declared that no Rattlebush be allowed to remain. Of course, that applied to the river bank as well. There is no place between Town Creek, where it enters the Pedernales and the eastern boundary where any vegetation has been allowed to remain as cover for wildlife.
The contractor told me - being a country guy - he knew the operation was destroying endangered species and animal habitat and the first iteration of 'the plan' included preserving much of the native brush, but the latest person in charge overruled the whole operation and ordered the extreme clearing to take place. I have both before and after photos I'll place on flickr as soon as possible, but it won't be in time to save the area from devastation. The results are obvious. The crews are about done here at Pedernales Nature Park, unless the officials at LCRA decide to completely clear the remaining 200 acres of land at the park. The impact of this activity makes a mockery of the idea of a 'nature' park as it's obvious nature will only survive now in spite of LCRA, not because of it.
Don't forget that LCRA's plan is to follow the same brush removal at all the aforementioned parks; Canyon of the Eagles, McKinny Roughs, and one or both of the LCRA parks in Bastrop.
to be continued...
**Update as of December 3, 2017