February 2026 Announcements

Preserve, Educate, Collaborate
(https://springcreekforest.org)

Contact the Society: springcreekforestpreservation@gmail.com

Work is Progressing on Pipeline Project

After many months of examinations of how and why extensive damage was done in the Halff Park section of Spring Creek Forest Preserve and an internal audit of city communications, work has begun on Phase I (of 4 phases of work) to address the damage done to the property and to find solutions for maintaining or replacing the aging sewer line that is buried under Spring Creek. Phase I involves three specific tasks:

1. Wastewater Interceptor Inspection: Contractor Ace Pipe Cleaning has surveyed and located all lateral pipelines feeding into the main pipeline and has begun CCTV inspections. Inspection for the trunk main is tentatively scheduled to begin week of 1/26. City of Garland and Dallas County Parks & Open Spaces staff have been working through legal reviews to finalize and execute access agreement for Dallas County properties along the Spring Creek corridor in Garland.

1. Forested Area Impact Analysis: An environmental and drainage assessment and raw data collection has been completed; Kimley-Horn will complete a site visit to verify this analysis. Field work is on-going for the topographic and aerial survey. Pending potential weather delays, results of the aerial survey should be shared with city staff by 1/30/26 and by 2/20/26 for the topographic survey. A stakeholder meeting to review a draft technical memo is tentatively planned for mid-February.

1. Wastewater Interceptor Alternative and Access Evaluation: Kimley-Horn has begun researching technologies that could rehabilitate the existing pipeline, as well as options to permanently access existing infrastructure for ongoing maintenance without further damage to surrounding habitat. They are also pulling together information and options to begin developing alternate alignments if a new pipeline were to be installed outside of Spring Creek. While research and pre-work is continuing on this effort, it will require the results of the sewer inspection to be complete in order to fully proceed with this task.

As a stakeholder, the Preservation Society is included in these planning sessions, and we will continue to report as this important project moves into the next phase.

Note:
Original information from Christina Hickey, PE, Engineering Services Administrator, City of Garland Water Department
Summary by Dana Wilson

See additional information in the on-line Garland City News, posted January 23, 2026: https://garlandtx.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/3718

Photo: Man-hole in Spring Creek

2026 workdays are off to a great start!

Our January 10^th crew took advantage of winter and leaves off the trees to do a final grooming of our new trout lily trail and remove invasive privet in the trout lily fields. A second crew attacked nandina and large-leaf privet along the walking path heading towards Garland Avenue.

Year after year, we get on top – and stay on top – of habitat restoration areas, and over time, we are seeing real successes in protecting and encouraging the rich diversity of species found in the preserve. – Dana Wilson

Partners in Preservation –
Thank you, Volunteer Garland!

On January 18, the Society partnered with Volunteer Garland to host a Partners in Preservation event focused on service, learning, and community impact.

24 volunteers, including Tom Hendrick of Keep Garland Beautiful, Kari Pacheco the Garland Parks Director, former Garland Mayor Doug Athas, Dana Wilson of the Preserve, and students from GISD, removed 550 pounds of litter from Spring Creek Preserve. The cleanup targeted debris from a long-abandoned homestead and included removal of invasive privet to support native plant regrowth.

After the cleanup, volunteers joined guided nature walks. Steve and Nancy Boeding led a forest walk, while Vince Hale and David Parrish, President of the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest, guided participants across the prairie, soon to be filled with wildflowers.

A special thank you to Caitlyn Godfrey, Volunteer Engagement Specialist at Volunteer Garland, who spear-headed organizing this event. Other important folks are all the volunteers, including Paula Breysacher with Garland Stormwater, who partnered with the event and supplied reusable water containers to help limit single-use plastics.

Photo: Caitlyn Godfrey

Photo: And here is the whole volunteer group

Volunteer Garland is a branch of the Garland Parks and Recreation Department. It specializes in coordinating volunteers for events all over Garland.

If you are interested in volunteering at other locations in Garland, email Volunteer@GarlandTX.gov or give them a call at 972-205-3583.

Speaker Series –
Meghan Cassidy – Spiders in the Park

Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89187002517?pwd=Ujc1UTEyVjNNbDhUUFJYMjFCV2lNdz09

Meeting ID: 891 8700 2517
Passcode: 212786

Meghan will give us a foundation of basic info about spiders and other arachnids, most of whom are misunderstood, and almost all feared. The presentation will include some basic taxonomy, with a touch of ecology & natural history.

She will discuss and showcase spiders found in Texas that you may come across while out in Texas nature. She will also offer some strategies to help with identifying spiders. An avid photographer, she has many detailed spider photos to show, and she will provide some tips for using iNaturalist as a learning resource for these amazing animals!

Meghan is a data analyst by day, and a naturalist & photographer by night! As a strong advocate for everything in class arachnida, Meghan has been conducting nature education and outreach with a focus on spiders for 6 years, and has been studying them for fun for over 9 years.
Many of her photos have been contributed to scientific publications and books, such as a recent publication from Texas A&M press titled “Mindfulness in Texas Nature” by local herpetologist Michael Smith, and the highly recommended field guide “Spiders of North America” by Sarah Rose.

Walk Rescheduled to February 8 –
Dana Wilson – shows us how to
Identify trees in Winter

Date: Sunday, February 8, 2026
Time: 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Location: 1770 Holford Rd.

Let’s hope for better weather this time! Dana is known throughout north Texas for her expertise in identifying plants and she works tirelessly to inform folks about the treasures we have in the region. She worked for the National Audubon Society for the openings of Trinity River Audubon (Dallas) and Dogwood Canyon Audubon (Cedar Hill). Her long-time love of plants keeps her busy instructing volunteers on how to gather seed and cuttings from our own native plants to help with the regrowth of the Halff Park area when the sewer project is completed.

She is a member of the North Texas Master Naturalists (class of 2001), the Native Plant Society of Texas, and she has been on the boards of our Preservation Society and Texas Discovery Gardens.

Tree – Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum alligator bark, by Vince Hale

Work Session –
Manage woody encroachment on the prairie.

Date: Saturday, February 14, 2026
Time: 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Location: 1787 Holford

When you have a smallish prairie, like ours, and it skirts a healthy creek and has heavy rain from time to time, the riparian forest along the edge of the creek is robust enough to want to expand into the prairie. Since we want our prairie to stay prairie, several times a year we lop back the encroaching trees and other woody species. Come and help us!

We break into teams, and each team has a knowledgeable leader.

• Safety Information: Each work session begins with a safety briefing.
• BRING WATER and bug repellent.
• Close-toed shoes are mandatory. Heavy work gloves, long pants, and protective eyewear are recommended for your protection from poison ivy and thorns.
• If you have them, bring loppers and/or small tree saws. (No power tools.)
• All participants and the parents of minors must sign our Liability Waiver.
• Youth under 18 must be accompanied by an adult; no drop off/pick up of those under 18.
• For Master Naturalists, this may count as Volunteer Hours on the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest – natural resource management project.

4th Sunday Nature Walk –
33rd Annual Trout Lily Walk with Tom Frey

Date: Sunday, February 22, 2026
Time: 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Location: 1770 Holford Rd.

Yes, Tom Frey, a regionally acclaimed naturalist, will be with us again for the 33rd year.

Stroll on our trails to find Tom at the Trout lily field. Trout lilies are one of the first plants to flower in the spring. The tiny flowers are only in bloom from about mid-February through mid-March. Then, they disappear until next year.

Come any time between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. When you arrive, volunteers at the pavilion will welcome you and give you introductory information. Then, we will send you along the clearly marked trail to the Trout lily field. Tom Frey, our adviser, mentor, and friend will be at the Trout lily field. After you have seen the lilies and talked to Tom, you will walk along to the next marked spot, where we will have another knowledgeable naturalist that will tell you about the significance of that area of the Preserve. The volunteer naturalists will be at several stations along the trail from 2:00 until the last walkers go through.

This format helps solve the problem of so many folks in line on the walk that they can’t hear the information. It also allows folks to go at their own pace rather than having to follow a group. We hope to see you there!

Trout Lily Photo by Carroll Mayhew

Speaker Series – Canaan Sutton –
Limestone Prairies need Specialized Plants

Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom

Canaan will discuss adaptions of the plants that live on our own wonderful example of a limestone prairie, which you can see at 1787 Holford on the Limestone Loop Trail.

Note that on Sunday, March 23, he will also lead our 4^th Sunday Nature Walk to see this prairie.

On this special corner of our prairie, limestone lays only inches under the rich soil and creates its own ecosystem that is entirely different from other parts of our prairie. You may note white chalk limestone outcrops throughout the area. The grasses, trees, and shrubs growing there have adapted to flourish in these soil conditions. Note that Spring Creek itself flows over a bed of solid limestone.

Canaan is a botanist for the southern plains region of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). In his time with NEON he has conducted forest structure research for the NASA jet propulsion laboratory, plant diversity and phenology surveys at the LBJ grasslands and rolling red plains in western Oklahoma, and curates the herbarium for the domain.
He graduated from East Texas A&M University where he conducted graduate research on prairie restoration methods. As a private consultant he is currently working with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission on describing Composite species in the Ouachita mountains and monitors urban populations and re-introductions of the imperiled Hall’s prairie clover (Dalea hallii).
He also served as the past president of the Blackland Chapter of the Native Prairies Association of Texas (NPAT), from 2022-2024.

Limestone Prairie in the fall – D. Parrish 2025

Work Session – 8th Annual Death to Privet!

Date: Saturday, March 14, 2026
Time: 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Location: Note Location change to 1787 Holford

The 8^th Annual Death to Privet is at 1787 Holford this year. Happily, the Preserve at 1787 Holford is nearly clear of privet. So why do we have our Death to Privet there this year? Because when there was a lot of privet there, the bushes dropped thousands of pretty, red berries.

The seeds in those berries don’t all start growing at the same time. Some will stay dormant for several years before they put out roots and a stalk. Also, birds eat the berries from other areas and drop the seeds where we don’t want them. So, we search the area for newly arrived young plants and remove them before they get big enough to push out our native plants and drop more seeds.

We break into teams, and each team has a knowledgeable leader.

4th Sunday Nature Walk –
Walk with Canaan Sutton to see the unusual plants that exist on the Limestone Prairie Ecosystem.

Date: Sunday, March 22, 2026
Time: 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Location: 1787 Holford Rd.

Canaan will lead us through this amazing corner of our Preserve explaining the adaptions plants needed to make to live in this shallow prairie soil. See additional information above in the Speaker Series story.

Preserve Maintenance Projects
What’s Happening Here?

Have you ever hiked in Spring Creek Forest and seen piles of cut limbs in the middle of a trail…or tags on trees…or areas marked with fluorescent paint or landscape flags? You’ve probably found a site where the great volunteers in the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest are doing habitat management projects.

In the photo below, you see what looks like debris piled on the prairie. It is actually woody shrubs that were cut because they were encroaching on a prairie where we did not want them. We reused the cut branches and piled them into a trail that had become an eroded gully. The hiking trail was then re-routed to give this erosional area time to recover.

If you see signs like this and wonder what’s happening, feel free to email your question to springcreekforestpreservation@gmail.com …and of course, we always welcome volunteers at our “Second Saturday” workdays. – Dana Wilson

Dallas County Commissioners –

Did you know that Dallas County Open Spaces owns our Preserve here in Garland? Of the approximately 230 acres that we like to call “our” Preserve, Dallas County owns about half, and the city of Garland owns about half. That is, if you include both the area designated Preserve and the also very important area called Greenbelt. The greenbelt may be more like a usual park, but it performs as an extremely important buffer for the designated, more biologically sensitive Preserve area.

On Tuesday, January 6, 2026: Society executive committee members Reba Collins, Steve Boeding, Rob Kaaa, and David Parrish represented the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest, Jack Sparkes the Rowlett Creek Preserve Coordinator represented DORBA, and other volunteers from across Dallas County were recognized by the Dallas County Commissioners Court for their volunteer service to the 21 Preserves in the Dallas County Parks and Open Spaces.

County Judge Clay Jenkins read the proclamation, which carried unanimously. Mia Whitham, the Dallas County Parks and Open Spaces Administrator (center in the blue shirt), made some remarks.

Garland Departments –  
Serving our Community

Friends, you might remember that back in December, someone released a Bearded Dragon lizard, which is a non-native animal species, onto our prairie. Luckily, that story had a good ending for both the lizard and the Preserve. We found it a good, safe home.

But the story prompted Alberto Maldonado, the Community Outreach Coordinator of the Garland Animal Shelter and Adoption Center to create a post on their Facebook page about the damage that releasing invasive species into our wild ecosystem can do. Here is the information from that post:

NEVER Release Pets Into the Wild
Posted to Facebook December 12, 2025 ·

We want to take a moment to remind our community about something incredibly important: releasing pets into the wild is dangerous and not only for the environment, but for the animals themselves. When a pet is released outdoors, even with the best intentions, it can cause serious harm.

How It Hurts the Ecosystem

• Invasive species take over. Pets like turtles, fish, rabbits, and birds can outcompete native wildlife for food and habitat.
• They reproduce quickly. Many released animals thrive in Texas’s warm climate, leading to overpopulation and major ecological imbalance.
• They spread disease. Pets can carry illnesses that wild animals are not immune to, putting entire species at risk.
• They damage waterways and parks. Goldfish, koi, reptiles, and others disrupt plant life and water quality.

How It Hurts the Pet

• Most released pets do not survive.
• They are not adapted to find food, handle predators, or survive extreme weather.
• Releasing a pet often leads to suffering and death.

What To Do Instead

• If you can no longer care for a pet, please reach out to a shelter, rescue, or safe rehoming resource. We are here to help guide you through humane and responsible options.

Garland Animal Shelter & Adoption Center
1902 State Hwy 66, Garland, TX 75040
Open 11 AM – 6 PM | Closed Wednesdays
animalservices@garlandtx.gov
(972) 205 3570 Option 2

Protect our wildlife, our community, and the pets who depend on us.
Never release pets into the wild.

Garland Animal Shelter posting on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16W6H2sL8s/

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee usually meets once a month. The meetings are open to the public. For information, please contact us at springcreekforestpreservation@gmail.com.