12/7/24 – One of the leading environmental groups in the Houston region is the Bayou Land Conservancy (BLC). Their motto: “We preserve land along streams for flood control, clean water, and wildlife.”

Last year, BLC volunteers logged thousands of hours maintaining and improving natural areas and trails that help others appreciate nature’s wonders.

One such volunteer is Jeff Hodges. He helped restore land along Spring Creek in BLC’s Arrowwood Preserve, which is being used for environmental education. His story is a testament to the tenacity of BLC volunteers in their service of nature. Below are excepts from Hodges’ responses to my questions.

Preserve’s Contribution to Flood Reduction

Rehak: How does the Bayou Land Conservancy help reduce flooding?

Hodges: Development in the Houston area will continue. We need to understand how this can lead to increased flood risk of flooding if not managed correctly.

BLC is a land trust. It protects lands where rain water is absorbed and held as flood waters, slowing down the release of water into creeks, streams and rivers. That helps reduce or eliminate flooding downstream.

These lands are increasingly important. They let water soak into the land providing much needed water, to the water table and aquifers.

Currently, ever major aquifer in the U.S. is being depleted, except in the Pacific Northwest. This depletion contributes to subsidence, which increases flood risk. Areas in the Woodlands have lost two feet of elevation from subsidence.

The lands that BLC protects also provide habitat for wildlife and give people a chance to enjoy nature.

Rehak: Specifically, how does Arrowwood reduce flooding along Spring Creek.

Hodges: Arrowwood is a natural flood plain. It slows and stores rainwater flowing toward Spring Creek. A large portion of the preserve floods in heavy rains. It gives stormwater someplace to sit and wait instead of moving quickly downstream and flooding other areas already developed.

Restoring the Natural Environment

Rehak: I hear that in trying to make Arrowwood more user friendly, you and your fellow volunteers removed more than a mile of silt fence. How did it get there?

Hodges: A sand-and-gravel company installed the silt fence when it applied for a permit to turn the property into a quarry. But neighbors blocked approval of the permit. The mining company, after a number of years, donated the land to Bayou Land Conservancy.

Rehak: Removing that silt fence must have been a chore!

Hodges: We actually made a short movie about it. The preserve comprises 117 acres and the fence surrounded 22 acres. As work began to make the preserve accessible, we realized that we did not have the correct equipment to remove the silt fence.

We originally estimated the preserve had 2 miles of silt fencing containing approximately 700 posts, each weighing 5 pounds.

Jeff Hodges

The task seemed overwhelming. But we were very concerned about the impact of the fence on wildlife. Turtles and other small wildlife couldn’t get over or around it.

Volunteers Discover Task is Herculean

Rehak: What kind of problems did you encounter?

Hodges: I started to wonder if we could remove the silt fence manually. Bayou Land Conservancy gave me and a small team permission to work on it. The first day, two of us tried to develop a process to remove the silt fencing. In a half day, we could only remove about 10 posts and 50 feet of fencing.

Most of the posts had to be dug out by hand. Each was four feet and originally pounded into the ground to a depth of two feet. But over time, silt built up around the fence. Many sections were totally buried.

The silt fencing has three components: posts, heavy metal fencing, and a plastic tarp. The combination prevents silt, sand and rocks from washing into the creek.

After the first day, most people would have been discouraged. But our volunteers proved it could be done. It was just going to take a lot of time and effort.

We decided we would remove the metal fence along with the black tarp first. We left the posts until we were able to develop a better way to remove them.

But the removal of the fencing was not without problems. Portions of the fencing were buried, so we had to dig them out. Worse, the fencing had become overgrown. Before we could remove it, we first had to remove fallen trees, and cut away vines and brambles.

Triumph of Ingenuity, Sweat and Safety Goggles

Rehak: Did you ever develop a faster system?

Hodges: As we removed fencing over the next couple of months, we worked on developing a technique to remove posts without digging. Eventually, we developed a technique that sped up the operation. We hit the posts with a sledge hammer on all four sides to loosen them. Then we hooked up a farm jack to pry them out of the ground.

Working as a team, we could remove about 15 posts per hour. Some, buried to the top in heavy clay, still had to be dug out by hand. Those just took longer.

Everyone working on this project had to wear long pants, long sleeves, safety glasses, and heavy-duty work gloves. We also had to be up to date on our tetanus shots, too for obvious reasons.

Rehak: What did the final boxscore say?

Hodges: All in all, the team ended up removing 499 posts and more than 1.5 miles of fencing. While working on the fencing, we also removed trash and litter which seemed to be everywhere. Fencing and trash filled two industrial dumpsters.

It was grueling work. But the transformation of the land is overwhelming. And very satisfying. The beauty of what this preserve will become is now evident. 

Postscript: Jill Boullion, Bayou Land Conservancy Executive Director, said, ““Jeff was awarded our Trailblazer Award for 2024 because of his leadership on this project. It’s an important part of our restoration plan for Arrowwood that will make the preserve even more ecologically valuable for the community. We appreciate volunteers like Jeff and the crew that did this very difficult project.”

Posted by Bob Rehak and Jeff Hodges on 12/7/24

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