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F. PARK PROGRAMS

1. Education/Outreach

In 1996, 111 programs were offered.  850 adults attended programs and 2000 youths took guided tours.

Current activities include Friedrich Interpretive Guide (FIG) training, the Natural Initiatives Master Naturalist training, Native Plant Society landscape exhibits, Bexar Audubon Society Second Saturday programs, SAPAR First Saturday programs, school field trips, and programs for at-risk youth, the general public, naturalists and eco-tourists.





Middle school students on the trail.
These activities are currently supported through interpretive materials and classroom activities in the existing service building.  Groups also gather for orientation at the picnic and toilet building area and other ad hoc locations between the parking lot and the trailhead gate. 

The main "classroom" is the outdoors: the Park itself.  Programs use the trail system, wildscape and xeriscape exhibits, identification markers, and the pond to bring visitors in direct contact with nature.

2. Science/Research

In 1986 the Bexar Audubon Society initiated a science and research program to support public education and ecological preservation and restoration at the Park.  The program continues under the auspices of the FOF Science Committee.  Systematic inventories of the biological elements of the Park are underway; long term monitoring programs are being initiated; research projects related to resource management are ongoing.

The goals of the Science Committee are to preserve rare, threatened and endangered species which may occur at or in association with the Park and to preserve the biological communities which should naturally occur within or in association with the Park.




The science-research lab and classroom share space in the existing service building.

Science and research objectives include management strategies to preserve and enhance rare elements and natural communities; analysis of status and trends in the long term biological integrity of the Park; and guiding Park management for preservation while accomodating public access.  Science and research work also supports the educational functions of the Park and integrates biological data from the Park into appropriate local, state and federal biological databases.

The FOF Science Committee has made notable headway in developing baseline inventories and improving biological understanding and resource management techniques related to the Park's natural ecosystem.  Active programs include an Avian Census (begun 1986); Seedling Recruitment / Establishment (begun 1992); Plant Inventory / Herbarium Development (begun 1994); Small Mammal Census (begun 1994); Vegetation Succession Monitoring (begun 1995); Reptile/Amphibian Inventory (begun 1997).