Balcones Invaders

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]

We returned to the ranch today. As we usually do, we split up into two groups. We continue working in the same general...
07/07/2026

We returned to the ranch today. As we usually do, we split up into two groups. We continue working in the same general area and are making progress, but there is still work to be done. We even took down a chinaberry tree along with the many tallows. We will return to that area next week.

It was a hot and humid day today at the ranch. We still worked on removing Chinese tallows, but we took lots of breaks ...
06/23/2026

It was a hot and humid day today at the ranch. We still worked on removing Chinese tallows, but we took lots of breaks and quit early. In addition to the tallows, there were lots and lots of cockleburs. They are no fun and bad for the cattle.

It was a special Saturday workday at Woodland Church. The property was very cool, but it did have lots of invasives. W...
05/31/2026

It was a special Saturday workday at Woodland Church. The property was very cool, but it did have lots of invasives. We found nandina, confetti lantana, ligustrum, chinaberry, primrose jasmine, johnson grass and Chinese pistache (all invasives). We also saw the biggest mustang grape vine ever (a great native plant). As usual, we also found some cool stuff like pearl milkweed and deer antlers. We also removed quite a bit of trash. We did not finish the area and will have to return on a different day. However, we got a good start.

Haggard Ranch workday.
05/12/2026

Haggard Ranch workday.

Cool fungi.
05/12/2026

Cool fungi.

Good morning from the Haggard Ranch. The ground was damp today, but not impassable. We split up into two groups and m...
05/12/2026

Good morning from the Haggard Ranch. The ground was damp today, but not impassable. We split up into two groups and made a lot of progress. It seems like it is never going to end, but we are actually getting there. Every workday gets us closer. We do love what we do.

Happy Cinco de Mayo.
05/06/2026

Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Happy Cinco de Mayo. Salsa Squad returned to the Haggard Ranch today. The ground was still wet, but we managed to cont...
05/06/2026

Happy Cinco de Mayo. Salsa Squad returned to the Haggard Ranch today. The ground was still wet, but we managed to continue working on removing tallow trees. We even found a large chinaberry tree, but left it for next week. It’s all good.

Today’s workday was at Headwaters at Incarnate Word. We worked on a final clearing of invasives on zone 4 near the Olmo...
04/28/2026

Today’s workday was at Headwaters at Incarnate Word. We worked on a final clearing of invasives on zone 4 near the Olmos dam. Unfortunately, there were many baby chinaberry sprouts. We worked for three hours, but unfortunately, did not finish the zone. We gave it our best, but the chinaberries got the best of us today.

The Haggard ranch was calling and we came. We split up into two groups, started on different ends, and will eventually ...
04/14/2026

The Haggard ranch was calling and we came. We split up into two groups, started on different ends, and will eventually meet up. We are working in a berm/dam area where there were a lot of downed trees. We worked to clear the area before we even worked on the tallows and Bradford pears (ouch). We didn’t finish and the invasives will wait until next time.

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San Antonio, TX

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