Rio Reforestation at La Casita West

On Saturday, October 18, the Refuge sponsored the 23rd Annual Rio Reforestation event. This is one of the largest public outreach events sponsored by the South Texas Refuge Complex. The purpose of this event is to educate the public about the Refuge and habitat restoration, and give a positive view of the refuge and the work done. This years reforestation was on the La Casita West tract, near Rio Grande City, about 1 1/2 hours west of Santa Ana NWR.

Kurt and Virginia were section leaders. We were each responsible for ten 450 yard long rows to plant. A total of 565 high school, college aged youth along with families helped put almost 16,000 plants into the fertile ground. Over 95% of Lower Rio Grande Valley habitats have been lost due to agriculture.

We arrived in the fog at 7am.

By 8am the fog cleared and the volunteer planters arrived.

Section leaders taught proper planting technique.

After introduction, they continued on their own.

Each crate contained a mix of 21 species of seedlings of trees, brushes, cactus and flowering plants that will one day grow up and become a forest for wildlife habitat. 

A hotdog lunch cooked by the fire crew was provided.

This was a very successful event. Everyone was happy knowing they had helped create a new block of thornscrub habitat that will help many wildlife species including ocelots, hawks, Texas indigo snakes, butterflies and songbirds.

Reclaiming The Marinoff Campground From The Jungle

We arrived at Santa Ana/Marinoff on Wednesday, October 8th. We were the first volunteers to arrive. The Jungle that welcomed us was a big surprise. We spent the next four days clearing brush and cutting and trimming trees. This stirred up many rodents. One friendly field rat was persistent on making our truck his home. But in the end, he lost the battle.


Our campsite before any work.

The road which was almost impassible with a big trailer.

Order Restored

Just in time for the Tram Volunteers arrival.

The staff helped us by hauling away the brush.

Ice Cream, Gin, Beer & Churches

Making our way south, we stopped at Lake Granger/Austin for 10 days and are now outside of Columbus at a Thousand Trails Campground. The weather has been nice so we waxed the trailer and took some excursions.

The Blue Bell Creamery in Brehnam is always
a fun place to stop. The tour is good but the
tasting room is a great place to eat lunch (ice cream).

Texas Cotton Gin Museum in Burton
This Cotton Gin was built exactly 100 years ago and still
is in working order today.
The guided tour was very good and worth the
time. We learned about cotton, picking and how
 Eli Whitney's invention, the Cotton Gin, works.

Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner Texas
We always stop in Shiner whenever we are in the
neighborhood for samples of Shiner Beer.

The Painted Churches of Texas is a well known circle tour in the Czech and German Settlements around Schulenburg, Texas. We spent a half day visiting some more of these interesting and historic buildings.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church was built in 1876 in Dubina ("Oak Grove" in Czech). After the hurricane of 1909, a new church was built on the site in 1912.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church

St. Mary's Catholic Church in High Hill
This is known as the "Queen of the Painted Churches"

Inside of St. Mary's