County House Branch meanders through Spring Valley Nature Preserve
Today Dee Dokken plants rusty blackhaw
The transformation at Spring Valley shows Greenbelt doing its job well. Work days bring out volunteers from the community, the board, and, most importantly, from the neighborhood. Neighbors tell us they hear owls call at night and they appreciate how much the space has changed. Energetic volunteers keep clearing out the honeysuckle, and we also have started planting native shrubs and small trees along the border.
Work day sign
Greenbelt Land Trust Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary workday this saturday, 10 to 12.
Spring Valley is south off of Broadway, between West Blvd and Clinkscales. Bear left at all intersections. Questions: Fred Young 443-2154
- polyphemus moth
Caring Communities volunteers from MU worked hard pulling out invasive plants on Greenbelt Hinkson Valley property April 9th. Clipping, cutting, application of selected herbicide, and brute force cleared the way for the small forest floor native plants. Hard work and pizza made the day a success. Thanks to the MU students, and also to Ace Hardware for donating work gloves for everyone.
See all photos of the day
Blushing tree buds and the Greenbelt marker boulder get used to one last snow.
Greenbelt projects are now approved volunteer activities for Missouri Master Naturalist, Boone’s Lick Chapter. The collaboration means that Master Naturalists can credit their hours spent working for Greenbelt to their ongoing volunteer requirement at Missouri Master Naturalist.
Master Naturalists attend classes, lectures, and field trips as well as participating in volunteer work with DNR, MDC, MU Extension, Audubon, and numerous other organizations in their training and commitment to environmental issues. Visit their website. We welcome and look forward to their participation in Greenbelt activities.
Turkey vultures don’t get the “pretty” tag as spring green leaves poking through the leaf mat do, but their graceful soaring is magnificent motion and reminders of warm days to come. These vultures roost in the Hinkson Valley Nature Preserve.
Age diversity characterized the volunteers at our last work day. Neighbors to the Spring Valley Nature Area came and cleared winter creeper and bush honeysuckle. Last October 16th marked our last work day until spring.
Sunlight reaches a cleared forest floor thanks to our work day efforts.
Work days are paying off. Walking along the Hinkson Nature Preserve Trail you can see the forest floor instead of dense brush. Wildflowers poke through catching stray sunlight; and dried brush piles give witness to volunteers’ hard work clearing out the invasive plants choking the lower story of the forest. Thanks again to hardy helpers over the years. This is a stewardship success.
