PUBLISHED: November 2024 by Ricardo Cagigal, HPB Conservation Coordinator

Woodvale, a Houston Parks Board site along Brays Bayou, is located about half a mile away from Mason Park Community Center (as the crow flies). The Conservation and Maintenance team’s project at this site started in January 2024, as the result of a grant provided by CITGO. Through fall 2024, the site has gone through multiple modifications and volunteer events that will eventually turn it into a native landscape and an important conservation site along the Bayou Greenways system. Native landscapes play a crucial role in habitat restoration efforts as they not only offer a beautiful recreation area, but also provide key habitat for smaller wildlife such as birds, lizards, pollinators, and other beneficial insects. As part of our conservation efforts at HPB, habitat restoration remains a priority to ensure everyone can continue to enjoy the outdoors and greenspaces around Houston.

So far, we have:

  • Removed over 30 invasive fully-grown trees.
  • Controlled invasive Giant Reed (Arundo donax).
  • Planted over 50 trees of six different native species: Live Oak, Bald Cypress, Loblolly Pine, Water Tupelo, American Sycamore, and Eastern Redbud. Each species is native so they are adapted to thrive in the Houston area. They also provide shelter and food for our native wildlife.
  • Planted over 2000 plugs of native grasses, forbs, and understory plants.

The last volunteer event took place on October 5 alongside our friends from CITGO as well as our incredible community volunteers and contributors. The event was successful as we worked together to add 950 plants around what will soon be a new section of the Brays Bayou Greenway. This new section of the trail will provide the community with a new way to access Mason Park, turning their commute from a 1.5-mile drive to a 500-yard walk surrounded by native landscapes.

We are thankful to CITGO for supporting habitat restoration along the Bayou Greenways! Stay tuned for more updates about the exciting work at Woodvale.