The Lone Star Chapter is having its SECOND restoration service trip to Big Bend National Park.  Last year, Chapter members from across Texas came to help restore prairie and plant trees.  (Check out the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gku4cx00394) Plus, on our day off, we visited the town of Boquillas across the Rio Grande for lunch and hiked in the park.

This year, the plan is to restore a 300-foot section of old road in the Chisos Basin to usable habitat.  Only about 20% of the old asphalt still remains and we will remove that with wheelbarrows.  We will uproot the exotic Lehmann's lovegrass, do some erosion control, scarify the ground, add rock and branches, transplant agaves, and re-plant with seed.  We will also restore a short section of connecting trail.
We start the project on Monday morning, October 19, and work through Friday, October 23, with Wednesday as a free day. However, volunteers need to arrive no later than Sunday, October 18, to set up camp and for orientation.  Work begins on Monday at 9:00am and subsequent workdays begin at 8:00am. All of the workdays end at 5:00pm. These will be full workdays and we will be performing manual labor outdoors in a remote location, so you will need to be in reasonably good physical condition.

As in 2014, we will be camping out next to the Remuda again.  The Remuda is a facility in the Chisos Basin close to the visitor group campsite As volunteers, we will have access to the first floor of the Remuda for shower and restroom facilities, refrigerator and dry food storage, and sink for washing dishes.  There will be no charge to camp.

Lunch is provided every work day, but volunteers should bring food for each day’s breakfast and dinner and lunch on Wednesday. Last year, some volunteers chose to eat in the evening at the Lodge in the Basin, since we camped close by. Also, everyone decided to have dinner together at the Lodge on our last day at the park. Volunteers packed up and left after Saturday morning breakfast.

Under Sierra Club guidelines, all participants will be required to sign a liability waiver in order to participate.

The registration fee is $50 per person, which includes a $20 donation to Big Bend National Park.  It also covers lunch on work days.  Registrants needing to cancel may receive a 50% refund until Oct. 5th.  After that no refunds will be issued.

If you are interested and would like additional information, please contact Evelyn Merz, at elmerz@hal-pc.org  or 713-644-82285 with your e-mail address and telephone number.  There will be a conference call of volunteers and park staff prior to the trip for additional Q&A.