Tag: plant survey

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Field Trip: Godwin Ranch Preserve Plant Survey, Saturday, was February 22, now March 1, 2025

— by Cindy Chrisler

[Updated Feb 20 with weather news]

Due to the weather forecast, the field trip to Godwin Ranch Preserve – which was originally planned for February 22 – is rescheduled to Saturday, March 1, 2025. All the other information remains the same — time of day, where to park, no water, no facilities.

  • What:    Plant survey and tour of the Godwin Ranch Preserve
  • When:  1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, Saturday, March 1, 2025 February 22, 2025
  • Where:  Near the corner of DB Wood Road and Williams Drive in Georgetown. 
  • Members and non-members are welcome! No RSVP is required.

Join NPSOT members on the first of four scheduled plant surveys at the Godwin Ranch Preserve in Georgetown.  This 100 acre preserve is a mitigation for the construction of Lakeline Mall in Austin and will not be developed.

Park at the CVS Pharmacy and walk east along Williams Drive to the gated entrance (a quarter mile or less).  There will be a NPSOT sign at the gate.  If walking that distance is a problem, you may be dropped off at the gate but there is no parking along Williams Drive or in the preserve. 

There are no restrooms or water, so please plan accordingly. Bring your own water and snacks. 

Depending on the number of people who show up, we will take a walk around a mostly flat mowed path for about a mile and a half. There are some rocks and stumps that may pose a trip hazard, and walking sticks are recommended.  If time allows we may break up into groups to survey different habitats within the preserve. 

You may put observations on iNaturalist but please obscure any rare plants.  In addition to plants, you will see several species of birds.

If you have questions, please contact the Field Trip Committee (contact form here).

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See photos from some of our previous field trips in our Field Trip Album.

Field Trip Album

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River Ranch County Park, Williamson County

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— by Sue Wiseman

River Ranch County Park is currently closed while it is under construction. It opens to the public in 2021.

This summer, in addition to filming our virtual plant walk (see it on YouTube), we also updated our River Ranch County Park Plant List.  NPSOT-Wilco’s history with River Ranch County Park, Williamson County’s newest recreation area, goes back more than a decade!

The plant list for River Ranch County Park, originally called the Williams Tract, was started in late 2009.  It was the idea of the first Williamson County Parks and Recreation Director, Jim Rodgers.  Jim contacted me and asked if NPSOT would be willing to do a plant list for the future park.

The NPSOT Williamson County Chapter tackled the project by surveying at least once during each calendar month over a three-year period.  Once we had accomplished this, with the help of Marshall Johnston, co-author of the Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas, we went on to do plant lists for each of the remaining Williamson County parks.  However, our mission for River Ranch is not complete; when we started this project there were 1,011 acres in the park, we have since gained around 350 more acres, so once the park opens and Covid declines we will be able to go into the newly acquired areas to complete the project.

The Friends of River Ranch County Park are now accepting memberships.  “Our mission is to advocate and support River Ranch County Park by providing information, interpretation, and assistance in the maintenance and conservation of the park.” Folks that are interested can go to The Friends of River Ranch County Park Facebook page for information.

I was able to see the Interpretive Center last week and was thrilled with the facility and to find lots of bookcases built into the new conference room.  They have a long counter and sink on one wall of the meeting room.  In normal times, it would fit about 30 people classroom style.  When things get finished, I think everyone will be pleased with results!

P.S., The chapter’s River Ranch work helped to start the field trip committee that we know today. We did have field trips previously, but this effort inspired us to plan a trip a month through the year. Also, we sometimes did two park lists at the same time but usually stuck with one park, and then went other places during the rest of the year.   These photos are of some of us at River Ranch near the end of our project in October 2010, mostly chapter members but also some Austin members.

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River Ranch Field Trip, October 2010. Left to right: Ilse Meier, Charlie Wiseman, Sue Wiseman, Sue Anderson (Austin Chapter), Beth Blankenship, Dick Galloway, LaVerne Johnston (Austin Chapter), Kathy Galloway, Marshall Johnston (Austin Chapter).
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River Ranch Field Trip, October 2010. Kathy McCormack.

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