WELL, IT RAINED AGAIN - PART TWO

On July 8, after a heavy rainfall event, Harrell Clary posted on the brush cleanup required to close a water gap on Burleson Creek. It turns out that rain event was a sprinkle compared to this last one on July 12th and 13th. Harrell believes at least 40 percent of Cooper Spring Nature Park was under flood waters.

There was extensive damage to the 8-foot perimeter fences and the trails. Drift is piled on and against anything that was in its path. The gravel trails, which were recently improved with 23 truckloads of granite gravel, are now in need of extensive repair. Even the parking lot was subject to flood waters. Cooper Spring and surrounding area in the center of the park were under several feet of water.

Short term repairs have already been made to the fences, water gaps and the trails. Some of the gates that are part of the water gaps were closed as the flood waters receded. High water on Burleson Creek and piles of drift are preventing closure of all gates at this time. The high fences that were pushed over by the flood waters have been stood back up. Repairs will be done later to remove drift, replace bent steel posts and to re-stretch the wire. It was important to close the water gaps and to stand the fences up as soon as possible to keep deer out. The rains have caused a flush of flowers, a favorite food of deer. Any opening in the perimeter fence is invitation for the deer to come in and pig out.

To repair all the damage will take a lot of time and effort, but it will get done. While Cooper Spring Nature Park is a city park, all improvements and repairs are funded by private donations. Labor is provided by volunteers. If you value the nature park, we solicit your financial support and your help. We will be organizing work days in the near future to deal with the drift. If you are inclined to help, please send a message through the CSNP Facebook messenger or contact us via email at cooperspringnaturepark@gmail.com so we can contact you regarding scheduled work days.

Although Hackberry Street is closed as of July 15th due to water flowing over the bridge on Burleson Creek, the park is open for visitors. The park is as green as its been in years. The streams are flowing huge volumes of water. The flowers and associated pollinators (including butterflies) are in abundance. The temperatures are below 100 degrees. Its a great time for a visit!

IT RAINED AND RAINED AND THEN IT REALLY RAINED - PART ONE

Running water is one of the nature park's most appreciated features, but it presents one the greatest challenges in maintaining the park. As explained in previous posts, deer inside the park are a real threat to the plant diversity we work hard to promote. Although deer consume woody plants and some grass, they are especially fond of forbs, aka wildflowers. Birds and insects are dependent on wildflowers. Since day one, the emphasis in the park has been on birds and butterflies. The high fence around the park was constructed to exclude deer so flowers could thrive. Any breech in the fence, like an open water gap, is an open invitation to neighborhood deer to come in and enjoy forbs. A heavy rain in the western part of Lampasas or on the Burleson Creek watershed will always open the gaps. The primary gaps are designed to open and close automatically, but brush can hinder the closing part.

When the brush and debris pile up, like it did after the July 4th weekend rains, that's when volunteers, like Barbara Adams, Jennifer White and Deb Mason wade into action. It's dirty and hard work and takes hours to complete, but they stay until it's done (and done right). Barbara and Deb are board members of the Cooper Spring Nature Park Foundation. Jennifer is a volunteer that is also responsible for watering the 16 trees at the entry to the park, a big and important service to the development of the park. It should be noted that Barbara is the person that checks the gaps after every rain, corrects any breeches and monitors a game camera to see if deer have entered the park while flood waters were preventing repairs. You will at times see a few deer in the park after flooding events, but they are short term visitors. If you know these ladies, let them know you appreciate their work.

Birds & Wildlife