This page includes links to volunteer activities that aren’t scheduled. Volunteer date and time are arranged by the partner organization and the individual volunteer. For scheduled activities, check out the Heartwood calendar.
In-person Volunteer Activities With Heartwood Partner Organizations:
Ongoing volunteer activity to maintain the Forest’s Tree Nursery, repot trees, plant new trees, and weed/ plant care around some buildings. Future pollinator gardens restoration is planned for the Fall, 2020.
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-12 am during the summer
Use Sign Up Genius to sign up, max of 10 people at one time, social distancing is recommended
Recommend everyone brings gloves, hat, bug spray and a hat
Contact: Connor Murnane
JonesStateForest@tfs.tamu,edu<mailto:JonesStateForest@tfs.tamu.edu
RM: WG Jones STATE Forest
Heartwood has adopted a trail at this Nature Center so ongoing trail maintenance work is needed. Jesse Jones also needs volunteers for their Green House and a group of volunteers for the invasive plant removal.
Contact: David Jamar (Nature Trail) / Matt Abernathy
mabernathy@hcp.net (Other activities)
20634 Kenswick Drive
Humble, Texas 77338
RM: J Jones Park & Nature Center
Mercer has a group of Volunteers meeting Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays from 9 am to noon for the North Side Greenhouses. There are also opportunities to plan for the Pollinator Festival (October 3) and Sustainable Wildlife Habitat” Study from Texas A & M (Aug/Sept with Project kickoff Jan, 2021)
22306 Aldine Westfield Road
Humble, Texas 77338
Contact: Jamie Hartwell
JHartwel@hcp4.net
Ongoing Tuesdays 8:30-11:30
Trail maintenance, volunteer work crew and garden group.
For information on volunteer opportunities at Kleb Woods, contact Megan Ahlgren (klebwoods@pct3.hctx.net or call (281) 357-5324)
VMS CODE: RM: Kleb Woods
20303 Draper Rd, Tomball, TX 77377
klebwoods@pct3.com
Ongoing trail maintenance along the Spring Creek Nature Trail every Wednesday morning.
Contact: John Stacy
Join the Invasive Plant Task Force to help eradicate Air Potato and other invasive plant along The Woodlands Trails. The team meets monthly at various locations.
Contact: Kathie Herrick at kjgherrick@gmail.com
(Note: We observe strict social distancing and wear a mask when appropriate at all -person events).
Ongoing Monitoring / Project Activities
Still in the planning stages, Adopt-a-Loop program involves documenting wildlife along our designated sites in iNaturalist or eBird. Heartwood’s designated sites on the GTWT are Lake Houston Wilderness Park, W.G. Jones State Forest, Trinity River Bridge-Hwy.19, Huntsville State Park, and Stubblefield Recreation Area. These sites are part of the Trinity Loop and the Big Sandy Loop.
The project details are still being finalized. Please contact Terri Stinn at tls.vspec@att.net for more information.
Download the Nest watch app, place a blue bird nesting box on your property, upload your nest location onto the app and log your monitoring hours !
VMS CODE FR: Bluebird Monitoring Nest watch: TMN Field Research Hours
The purpose of this project is to use citizen scientists to determine the attractiveness of different commercially available ornamentals (annuals or perennials) to different groups of pollinators in the Southern USA, namely Texas and Oklahoma.
There are three steps to this project:
1. Education: Watch training videos.
2. Evaluation: Complete the quiz with an 80% or above passing grade. VMS code: AT: Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension – specify Pollinator Citizen Science Project.
3. Contribute!
https://sixleggedaggie.com/research/pollinator-project/
VMS code: FR: Other Partners – specify Pollinator Citizen Science Project.
Participate in ongoing survey to identify honeysuckle with leaf blight. http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/honeysuckle-leaf-blight-survey
VMS CODE : FR: other partners: TMN/Description: Mapping honey suckle blight
If you have a smart phone, download the app on your phone and bird watch anytime! Wonderful opportunity for the bird lover to do some bird watching and data entry on what they see and get Heartwood Volunteer hours!
ebird.org
VMS CODE : FR: ebird Monitoring: TMN Field Research Hours
Migratory birds are dying by the thousands across the southwestern U.S. states. The birds migrate from Alaska and Canada to reach their winter homes in Central and South America. It is not known why this is happening, but there are scientific projects monitoring this across the USA. Scientists are crowdsourcing research and asking citizens to log any dead bird sightings on the iNaturalist website and app on the project titled Southwest Avian Mortality Project.
VMS CODE: FR: Other partners/ Heartwood Master Naturalist ( put in description, INaturalist project/Southwest Avian Mortality Project.)
To learn more about the project go to http://springcreekpatnership.com
VMS Code: RM Other locations: TMN reporting hours (Spring Creek Watershed Project)
Bayou Land Conservancy is looking for Spanish speakers who can lead hikes on the Spring Creek Nature Trail to engage more users on the trail. People only protect those things they love. Creating that bond between the natural spaces and the people who use them will ensure that the trail will have support for years to come. Share your love for the outdoors! Contact Becky Martinez, Conservation Director at 281-576-1634.
Drew Neyland, Houston Urban Wildlife Intern
drewneyland@gmail.com
This is an ongoing project with the possibility of addition training with added participants . Contact Drew via email if you are interested (this is an awesome project for the early morning walker/jogger) for a list of parks and areas that are the focus for searching and retrieving Coyote Scat. Scat is collected and processed in order to better understand the urban coyotes diet and life
VMS CODE: FR: Other Partners: TMN Field Research Hours (add Urban Coyote in description box)
Volunteers Asked to Report Monarch Winter Sightings
Each fall, thousands of monarch butterflies stream across the southern U.S. on their journey to wintering grounds in central Mexico. In the spring, this eastern population of monarchs returns to the U.S. and Canada to breed.
But not all monarchs migrate to Mexico. Some breed throughout the winter in the southern U.S., and scattered reports show that other monarchs might overwinter here in a non-reproductive state.
Researchers and others studying monarchs are seeking more information to understand why and what it might imply for monarchs, a candidate for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act.
For this, they need the public’s help.
In a collaborative effort, Journey North, Monarchs Across Georgia, the University of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources are encouraging people to report monarch sightings from December through March in the coastal states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
Join the Effort
Step 1: Create a free account with Journey North at journeynorth.org/reg.
Step 2: Learn how to report monarch sightings at journeynorth.org/monarchs.
Step 3: Submit monarch observations from December–March at journeynorth.org/sightings.