Betty Brown Trails Are
OPEN Thanks,
Friends!
By Mark Hazelrigg
and Keith Ramos
Work day (March 24) for
creating the initial
trails in the new 10
acre Betty Brown Song
Bird Unit of the San
Bernard National
Wildlife Refuge dawned
as an overcast day.
Still, a total of 24
volunteers (including
Wildlife Complex staff)
gave their time from
8 a.m.
to noon
to transform an
impenetrable "wooly
booger" woods into a
quiet nature trail
designed for people to
enjoy the migrating song
birds. The work day was
an unqualified success.
Friends
Of the River San Bernard
(Pat Webb, Roy Edwards,
Darrell and Gloria
Powell, Mary Ruth
Rhodenbaugh and Mark
Hazelrigg) lent a
helping hand to our
refuge neighbors.
Gardner Campbell helped
in marking the trail
and, along with Warren
Pruess, he marked some
of
the most important trees
in the unit. I (Mark)
joined in with the
other faithful,
regular volunteers from
the refuge: David
Plunkett, Kirby Rapstein,
Neal McLain, Aaron
Sanchez and Jeanine
Sanchez to get the
trails open for public
viewing. The following
Refuge staff also gave
of their time: Jennifer
Sanchez, Tom Schneider,
Thomas Adams, Keith
Ramos and Mike Lange.
The sign
designating the Betty
Brown Unit now
identifies its location
to visitors. There is
more work to be done to
get the Unit to the
point where it can be
best utilized. So, for
now, the only parking is
on the side of the road,
which is steep. The good
news, though, is there
is not a lot of traffic
in the area. The plan,
though, is to build a
parking lot for a couple
of cars to be completed
as resources become
available. But the
initial trails are open
now, for all of us to
enjoy.
If you want to visit the
Betty Brown Unit, below
are the directions (like
you were coming from
Lake Jackson:
-
Go west
on F.M. 2004 to Hwy. 36
-
Continue
straight across 36, and
F.M. 2004 will change to
F.M. 2611
-
Stay on
F.M. 2611 until you
cross the San Bernard
River Bridge
-
Turn
right at the base of the
bridge - the road makes
a U-turn back towards
the river
-
Turn left
on County Road 659 (up
river)
-
Make 2 right turns (C.R.
659 and onto C.R. 819)
-
Look for
the woods on the right
and the United States
Fish and Wildlife Betty
Brown Unit sign
Well, now you have found
the place, please enjoy
all it has to offer.
Thank you, everyone, who
had anything to do with
making the sanctuary
accessible to the
public. Oh, and we
understand a Veery
(Thrush) was seen
Saturday and
Northern Parulas
were heard singing in
the woods.
For
pictures and more
information, please
visit the following
website.
http://www.pbase.com/krviera/betty_brown_unit_san_bernard_nwr
