Balcones Invaders

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Balcones Invaders The Balcones Invaders are a group of volunteers who identify and eradicate invasive plants in parks and preserves in the Greater San Antonio region. (E.O.

"On a global basis...the two great destroyers of biodiversity are, first, habitat destruction and second, invasion by exotic species." Wilson)

The Balcones Invaders are a group of volunteers who identify and eradicate invasive plants in parks and preserves in the Greater San Antonio region. We are part of the citizen scientist program of the Invaders of Texas Program and are trained to detect the arrival and dispersal of invasive species and submit observation data into a statewide mapping database. During the past seven years, volunteers with the Balcones Invaders have contributed more than 5500 hours to eradicate more than 47,000 invasive plants. If you are interested in volunteering, no previous experience is required, as training is provided in the field. For additional information, contact team leaders:

Lonnie Shockley [email protected]

George Ozuna [email protected]

Cheryl Hamilton [email protected]

Want more information on how to volunteer in San Antonio? Visit the Alamo Area Texas Master Naturalists at the Environme...
10/14/2026

Want more information on how to volunteer in San Antonio? Visit the Alamo Area Texas Master Naturalists at the Environmental Expo this Saturday at Phil Harberger Park

It was much cooler today and made removing invasives much easier.  We moved to a new area along the fence line.  We work...
10/06/2026

It was much cooler today and made removing invasives much easier. We moved to a new area along the fence line. We worked on chinaberry and ligustrum trees. It was a nice break from working on tallows. The “hard” part was picking up the chinaberry seeds! All’s good in another day at the ranch.

A little bit cooler weather start of our workday.  We returned to the area where we have been working the past two workd...
09/30/2026

A little bit cooler weather start of our workday. We returned to the area where we have been working the past two workdays. We continued working and “finished” treating the regrowth. It is satisfying to finish an area and move to the next. Yay for today!

The regrowth on tallows is killer.  We found a bunch more and are working our way through it.  We stopped early today wi...
09/22/2026

The regrowth on tallows is killer. We found a bunch more and are working our way through it. We stopped early today with all the heat, but did make progress. We will not stop!

It looks like we are in the “sweep” phase of tallows at the Haggard ranch.  We believe that we have done an initial cut ...
09/15/2026

It looks like we are in the “sweep” phase of tallows at the Haggard ranch. We believe that we have done an initial cut of the tallows and chinaberries and are now working on the regrowth. It’s pretty crazy, but we continue the “struggle’. We are not in a hurry so all is good.

Yay, we finally finished the “toilet bowl” area.  We know that there will be resprouts and we will need to return later ...
09/08/2026

Yay, we finally finished the “toilet bowl” area. We know that there will be resprouts and we will need to return later on, but for now we are happy. We will work in another area next week.

We are back at the ranch after last week’s rain.  We continued work at the “toilet bowl” area (named by Patrick McGuire)...
09/01/2026

We are back at the ranch after last week’s rain. We continued work at the “toilet bowl” area (named by Patrick McGuire). It’s a bowl area with steep inclines with lots of tallows. We took all the tallows that were on the edge and inside, but now need to work on the ledge. Another group worked on another area and they made progress too. We finished with some yummy gluten free blueberry bread loaf and watermelon. Olivia brought some pollinator seeds to share with the group. Live if good!

08/14/2026

https://www.facebook.com/greenspacesalliance

Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas is a local, non-profit organization based in San Antonio dedicated to preserving our open lands and enhancing our urban environment.

We all took a break before we finished this part of the ranch.
08/12/2026

We all took a break before we finished this part of the ranch.

It looks like we will be at the Haggard Ranch longer than we expected.  We found more thickets of tallows, so the work c...
08/11/2026

It looks like we will be at the Haggard Ranch longer than we expected. We found more thickets of tallows, so the work continues. We are making progress and see more “friendly” trees. It’s encouraging and fun to explore the ranch.

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San Antonio, TX

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