Save Memorial Park

04/13/2021

Continuing their approach to needlessly bulldozing mature trees in the park, the Memorial Park Conservancy is now taking aim at removing the remaining riparian habitat along the banks of Buffalo Bayou in the Old Archery Range just west of 610.

Many thanks to Save Buffalo Bayou for this informative update.

The private organization running Houston’s great public Memorial Park on the forested banks of Buffalo Bayou is developing a plan to bulldoze and landscape the ancient high banks, channelize and reroute the bayou, cutting off long-standing meanders in a way that seems to shift a significant amount...

10/17/2020

As established forests around the globe are being removed at a remarkable rate due to demands from increased development, the World Wildlife Fund cautions against relying on tree planting as the sole solution, and emphasizes the necessity of protecting existing forests.

"While the role of forest restoration in supporting climate, biodiversity, and community goals is extremely critical, and increased interest is encouraging, it’s important to remember that protecting existing forests can often achieve much more in terms of delivering these outcomes."

Nature-based Solutions and corporate goal-setting for forests and climate.

10/16/2020

Is the Memorial Park Conservancy creating new wetlands, prairie, and clearing established woodland forest to be ecologically responsible? Fortunately, there are resources like the Golf Channel to tell us honestly what's going on at Memorial Park.

"What Doak did with this previously flat, flood-prone land was remarkable. He effectively added elevation and improved drainage into the Buffalo Bayou, which runs through the park. (How effective? Tropical Storm Imelda dropped nine inches on Memorial Park last month; the next day, the greens and fairways were being mowed.)

He cleared out trees. He lengthened holes. He shortened holes. He widened fairways. He completely changed the second hole, bringing it over a ravine."

In recent years, the Houston Open has been thrown one curveball after another – natural disasters, loss of a title sponsor, a costly date change. But the longtime PGA Tour stop seems on the verge of hitting a home run.

10/15/2020

We need your photos! Please message us with any photos you have of tree cutting and thinning of the forest in Memorial Park outside of the construction areas, or any other related activity (like trees marked for removal). Please include a description of where the photo was taken and date, including type of tree if possible.

It was reported to us last weekend that several of the mature pines that reach the tallest layer of the forest canopy had red ribbons on their trunks, presumably marking them for removal. They were out of reach from the trail, and in a wooded ravine area along one of the trails that has been temporarily closed due to the prairie construction. No photos were taken of these trees, unfortunately, but the images below show a recent tree cutting along the same trail from last weekend, and the thinning of the forest behind the mulch dump along the railroad tracks (aka tree cemetery).

10/14/2020

As part of the 10 Year Master Plan, the Memorial Park Conservancy plans to clearcut a large area of naturally diverse woodland along the west side of the park, and replace it with an extensive monoculture of pines planted in rows traditionally seen on a tree farm. This area will be called the Memorial Groves, and will represent the fallen soldiers of WWI. It's not ecologically responsible, so why is the MPC determined to do this when they're pushing "ecological restoration?"

This long form article from The Texas Observer might give us some clues: "The natural cycle of life, death, and decay is clearly illustrated in Upland Isle. But these characteristics are absent from the neighboring 15- to 20-year-old pine plantation, where the loblolly stand is in an artificially arrested state. The monoculture trees 'are only economically healthy,' Shelton says, 'they aren’t healthy for wildlife.'"

Driving east on T. F. Boulware Road, inside the boundaries of the Angelina National Forest, the woods differ dramatically depending on where you stop the car. Immediately after entering the National Forest, hundreds of pines of the same species, size, …

10/14/2020

Just stumbled across this old relic from the past (1950s/1960s?) from the former Camp Strake (San Jacinto Area Council Boy Scouts of America) located in the East Texas Piney Woods.

This area is 5 miles north of The Woodlands, and is now a housing development. As urban development sprawls in nearly all directions from our city center, the conservation of our last remaining natural areas is more important than ever before. Protecting these woodland areas, whether in the East Texas Piney Woods or at Memorial Park, is crucial to the survival of the plants and animals that make this habitat their home.

As the Guidebook states, "conservation is the conserving or protection from loss, waste, and abuse, of our Natural Resources. It is the official care and protection of these resources such as plants, fishes, animals, flowers, soils, streams, etc."

These natural resources are truly gifts of nature. Each of us is a steward of our environment, and it's up to us to pass these gifts on to future generations. Please tell the Memorial Park Conservancy to save the remaining woodland areas at the park that are under review for "ecological restoration." Together, we can make a difference! 🐢🌿🐿

10/12/2020

According to the US Forest Service, the loblolly pine makes a great reclamation plant and shade tree, is drought tolerant once established (with the exception of less frequent severe droughts), can reach heights up to 150 feet, grows in sandy, clay, loamy, acidic, and occasionally wet soils, and allows grass and other plants to easily grow beneath the canopy. In short, it's a perfect fit for the currently wooded area of Memorial Park that is planned for removal by the Memorial Park Conservancy.

If you haven't already, please make your voice heard to the MPC and to the City of Houston that we need these trees!

These native pine trees are home to much of the wildlife in this area, provide extensive shade and cooler temperatures to park users who hike and bike along the trails, and act as a buffer zone from the noisy and polluted freeways that surround the park.

10/08/2020

How do flood events impact our local trees? The LSU Ag Center explains that "tolerance and resiliency can be significantly different among various trees. For example, loblolly pine is highly tolerant of saturated soils and flooding and is used as a wetland indicator species by the Army Corps of Engineers."

(08/29/17) ALEXANDRIA, La. — Although no stranger to rain and floods, Louisiana has seen a record number of extreme weather since 2014, and no area of the state has been immune, said LSU AgCenter forestry agent Robbie Hutchins.

10/07/2020

Did you know? The name loblolly pine (the type of pine tree found throughout Memorial Park; Latin name Pinus taeda) comes from the reference to "a mudhole or mire" in the American South. These trees thrive in swamps and wet bottomlands, and is the most common pine tree in the southeastern part of the US from central Texas to Florida.

Definition of "loblolly" from the American Heritage Dictionary:
1. Chiefly Southern US A mudhole; a mire.
2. The loblolly pine.

Word History: In some regional dialects of the American South, the term loblolly is used to refer to a mire or mudhole. The word is a combination of lob, probably an onomatopoeic word suggesting the thick heavy bubbling of cooking porridge, and lolly, an old British dialect word meaning "broth, soup, or any other food boiled in a pot." Thus, loblolly originally denoted thick porridge or gruel, especially that eaten by sailors onboard ship. The meaning of the word in American dialects of the South makes allusion to the consistency of such porridge.

The name loblolly has become associated with several varieties of trees as well, all of which favor wet bottomlands or swamps in the Gulf and South Atlantic states. Among these is the loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), whose strong wood is used as lumber and for paper pulp.

The American Heritage Dictionary entry: loblolly

10/02/2020

Does science back up the Memorial Park Conservancy's argument that the pine forest as we know it today took over the prairie? The consultants they hired claim that it does. The Harris County Flood Control District also conveniently claims that it does according to their own assessment. However, they can't give an answer to which point in history they think this area was a savannah/prairie. Stay tuned for our upcoming posts sharing background on the loblolly pine ecosystem, and why a pine forest is actually the perfect fit as nature intended in this area.

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey swept across the Gulf Coast, leaving much of the city underwater, displacing residents, and causing billions of dollars’ worth of damage. Harvey’s rain broke national records as it pounded the Houston area; one area weather station measured more than 51 inches. Pictures...

10/01/2020

Poll: Was Memorial Park ranch land, savannah, prairie, or pine forest when the park was acquired? This history book says pine forest. History books are a beautiful thing. 😊