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 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.

We continue working at the Haggard Ranch. We think we are near the end, but we always find more tallows and the regrowt...
08/04/2026

We continue working at the Haggard Ranch. We think we are near the end, but we always find more tallows and the regrowth is terrible. We are lucky to see the many changes in the ranch where nature is the best. Today we saw lots of cactus tunas and river h**p.

We returned to the ranch after the massive rains last week. We continue working in the same area. Today was the first ...
07/21/2026

We returned to the ranch after the massive rains last week. We continue working in the same area. Today was the first day for 100 degree temps. We are slower and take more breaks, but we continue working on the tallows….we just socialize more. We love what we do.

Family friendly event this Saturday July 25th. No admission, local conservation partners like the Alamo Area Texas Mast...
07/20/2026

Family friendly event this Saturday July 25th. No admission, local conservation partners like the Alamo Area Texas Master Naturalists will be providing educational activities.

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.

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San Antonio, TX

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