On Saturday, September 28th, the San Antonio River Authority (River Authority) celebrated 2024 National Public Lands Day with two volunteer events engaging Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas and JP Morgan Chase Bank in litter clean up at Six Mile Creek and planting native grasses and plants in the North American Friendship Garden at Confluence Park.
Occurring annually on the fourth Saturday in September, National Public Lands Day (NLPD) is the largest single-day volunteer event geared towards the service of public lands in the United States. Every year, organizations gather thousands of volunteers to complete projects serving public lands such as trash clean ups, tree plantings, trailway maintenance and others. NLPD is also a “Fee-Free” day in which entrance fees are waived at National Parks, National Forests, and participating State Parks.
JP Morgan Chase volunteers help extend the North American Friendship Garden
For this year’s NPLD, the River Authority partnered with JP Morgan Chase to plant native vegetation at Confluence Park. Fourteen corporate volunteers joined in on the effort to add native pollinator plants such as the Maximillian Sunflower, and several native grasses as well. The native vegetation will extend the North American Friendship Garden and serve as habitat for native wildlife and pollinating insects.
All along the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River, non-native grasses and plants overtake the banks and outcompete native vegetation for resources. Native plants and grasses are imperative to the health of the surrounding ecosystem. Several native insects, including pollinating species, rely on their native “host” plant to lay their eggs. Fish and riparian wildlife use these native plants as habitat and as a food source. When invasive, non-native vegetation takes over, it can result in the decline in biodiversity, impacting the ecosystem as a whole.
TERRA Toyota volunteers fill 32 bags of river trash
At the same time that JP Morgan Chase volunteers worked along the Mission Reach, 20 additional volunteers that included Toyota Manufacturing team members and the River Authority’s River Warriors were at Six Mile Creek participating in a litter clean up.
Toyota team members, all a part of the business partnering group TERRA, showed their stewardship by cleaning up litter and debris that filled numerous trash bags. In addition to a whopping thirty-two trash bags filled with litter, the team collected several pieces of discarded lumber, laundry baskets, plywood boards, and even a couple of tires! River Warriors, the River Authority’s own volunteer group, joined in and contributed to the cleanup effort as well. Together, these two groups collected over 1,200 lbs. of trash and debris at Six Mile Creek.
Litter is an ongoing issue that plagues our creeks and rivers all throughout San Antonio, exacerbated by the continued expansion of impervious surfaces and increasingly frequent severe weather events. Litter and other pollutants such as dog waste, motor oil, fertilizers, and pesticides all get washed into the creeks and river when it rains directly impacting the quality of the water in the San Antonio River and other waterways, and the health of the surrounding ecosystem.
We are forever grateful for the work of our River Warriors and partner volunteer groups like Toyota and JP Morgan Chase, who dedicate their time and energy to cleaning up our waterways and helping restore the river’s ecosystems!
Join us!
If you have a passion for volunteering and environmental stewardship, get involved by joining the River Warriors—the River Authority’s dedicated volunteer base. If you are interested in hosting a corporate clean up, email volunteer@sariverauthority.org.
