Eric Ruckstuhl is a long time member of the BPA and is the BPA's "Eyes on the Bayou" Representative. Everyday Eric is down in the trenches of our bayous, hauling out trash, marking and removing exotic plants, eradicating imported fire ants and doing whatever is necessary to make Houston's bayous and streams cleaner and safer.

After hurricane Ike, Eric with several groups of volunteers went to work on clearing the debris, removing the invasive plants and restoring native plant species.

Here is Eric's report (PDF) on accomplishments achieved from October to December 2008.

Eric has also put together a presentation The Invasive Exotic "Dirty Dozens" on plants and animals that are invading, infesting, and damaging Houston's bayous and streams. You can download and read it here (PDF).

One of the recent Eyes on the Bayou projects was cleaning up Briar Bend Park, removal of invasive plant material, and planting the native species. Part of the project was building the steps for the canoe launch for the Buffalo Bayou Paddling Trail - click here to see map (PDF). Erick with the help from Martin Simonton and his crew completed the project in time for the Paddle Trail Dedication. Visit our Photo Gallery page to see the Briar Bend Park project photos.

Saturday morning clean-up project each month in 2010: (Check our calendar closer to date for details.)
January 23 - Cypress Creek (Collins Park / Cypresswood Park)
February 20 - Hermann Brown Park
March 27 - Trash Bash (Upper Buffalo Bayou - Terry Hershey Park, and Cypress Creek - Collins Park)
April 3 - Earth Day Houston at Discovery Green (will participate in this community event in lieu of a clean-up project)
May 22 - Cypress Creek
June 26 - City Park TBA
July 24 - Cypress Creek
August 28 - Keith Weiss Park in north Houston
September 25 - Cypress Creek
October 23 - Mason Park in east Houston (confluence of Brays and Buffalo bayous)
November 20 - Cypress Creek
(There will be no project in December.)

"Protecting and restoring the richness and diversity of our waterways"