This week we had the opportunity to work with one of our local parks, Sheldon Lake State Park. Only fifteen minutes from downtown Houston this park has a lake, ponds, wetlands, woods and prairie where you can enjoy hiking, fishing, and paddling. You will also see everything from birds to alligators, prairie grasses to wildflowers, trees to aquatic plants, and butterflies to grasshoppers.

With European settlement, farms and ranches replaced much of the prairie and almost all the marshlands here. Over time urban development surrounded the park. This reduces runoff and leads to lower water quality. The ponds and Sheldon Lake depend on rain and runoff for their life-giving water. These bodies of water provide natural storage for floodwaters and habitat for aquatic plants. Aquatic plants filter pollutants from the water and in turn provide habitat for many other species (fish, birds, insects and more). Without this healthy and abundant habitat, plant and wildlife diversity would continue to decline.

Park staff and volunteers continuously work to protect the surrounding watershed so that Sheldon Lake State Park can conserve this beautiful coastal prairie. To help keep this area and its wildlife thriving restoration of the tall grass prairie in the park began in 2003, by planting native trees, grasses, and aquatic plants. This, along with weeding, mowing and controlled burns, will restore these habitats over time.

We are very proud of our group of volunteers who planted 106 native plants back into the prairie to help restore the natural habitat in the Texas heat. Way to go guys!

This was such an amazing experience to give back to our community and keep Houston beautiful!

To find out more about Sheldon Lake State Park click here!