RE: My Office [pic-heavy]
May 27, 2015 at 12:35 pm
(This post was last modified: May 27, 2015 at 2:33 pm by Thumpalumpacus.)
We allow swimming when the weather and bacteria levels allow -- and that is the biggest annoyance, because people constantly violate our simple ruleset. My duties don't require swimming; I'm not a lifeguard. I sell parking permits, patrol trails, help with traffic and crowd control, and ensure visitor compliance with our rules.
The water moccasins are poisonous, but when we have swimmers in the water, the moccasins generally stay away -- large mammals worry them.
The Preserve is an outlying part of the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Preserve, included for its role as a breeding and fledgling ground for the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler.
The Preserve was privately owned until 1980. Up to that time, The Reimer family made a healthy living charging admission to view and swim in the grotto, but there was no emphasis on conservation at all. The situation was so bad that when Travis County bought the land and joined in the BCP group to gain access to Federal funding, it took six years to return the park to something approaching its original state, although that is still an ongoing effort, such was the environmental damage. Even today we find beer cans and broken glass from the 60s and 70s after each good storm.
The water moccasins are poisonous, but when we have swimmers in the water, the moccasins generally stay away -- large mammals worry them.
The Preserve is an outlying part of the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Preserve, included for its role as a breeding and fledgling ground for the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler.
The Preserve was privately owned until 1980. Up to that time, The Reimer family made a healthy living charging admission to view and swim in the grotto, but there was no emphasis on conservation at all. The situation was so bad that when Travis County bought the land and joined in the BCP group to gain access to Federal funding, it took six years to return the park to something approaching its original state, although that is still an ongoing effort, such was the environmental damage. Even today we find beer cans and broken glass from the 60s and 70s after each good storm.
