On the Trail Volunteer

Neighborhoods to Trails Southwest (NTTSW) is dedicated to advocating for hike and bike trails to provide safe, economical, and environmentally friendly transportation from the Brays Bayou and connecting Keegans Bayou trail systems to destinations of Southwest Houston. Neighborhoods to Trails SW has been in existence since 2015 with 501(c)(3) designation as of March 29, 2017. Each of the Trails have neighborhood Advocates.

Anyone is welcome to the monthly meetings on the third Wednesday of the month from noon to 1:30. Check the website calendar for the location or Zoom link. https://neighborhoodstotrails.org/gallery/

Trail Volunteers

Track and Report hours with www.trackitforward.com  

Orientation would need to be completed before being able to carry out the service.

• A walking/cycling orientation with a NTTSW member familiar with the neighborhood trail is required to participate
• Read relevant information from Neighborhoods to Trails SW website on the Trail chosen as well as the NTTSW Vision, Mission and Milestones

On the Trail “Eyes on the Ground “

Trail Ambassador: Serve as the key contact person for a neighborhood trail.

• One Ambassador per Trail
• Provide an orientation including the history of the trail, when feasible. for trail monitors, maintenance, Adopt a Spot volunteers and other trail volunteer positions.
• Graffiti abatement needs to be reported to 311.Houstontx.gov/311 (713) 837-0311
  •  Share the service request number – with the case number with the neighborhood COH District.

Report issues to neighborhood Districts  

District J  https://districtjpatrol.com/report

• Use Report Forms found on Brays Oaks Management District
  • Graffiti https://www.braysoaksmd.org/graffiti-report-form/ 
  • Other Issues https://www.braysoaksmd.org/report-an-issue/ 

Trail Monitors: Frequent users of the Trail will serve as reporters to the Ambassador.

• Several Monitors may report needs or activities on a Trail or segments of the Trail.
• This may be monthly, weekly or on occasion.
• If there is a day of the week or a weekly routine, report the schedule to the Ambassador to avoid duplication of volunteer efforts.

Trail Maintenance: Provides assistance with litter removal and reports other issues requiring maintenance to the Trail Ambassador for coordination with agencies responsible for the issues..

• Litter Patrol on the Trail: bring a small trash bag, gloves and perhaps a grabber pick up tool to safely collect litter from the trail. Report the frequency to the Trail Ambassador to avoid duplication of days.
• Remove debris after flooding or other events

Adopt a Spot: Volunteers who choose a specific area on the trail to monitor and maintain

• For example, on Keegans Bayou Trail: Adopt any of the four park bench seating areas each a mile apart with 2 benches, litter receptacle and a bike rack.
• Once a month inspect the Spot for litter, maintenance or beautification improvements

Citizen Science for Environmental Tracking

IMPORTANT – You do NOT need to know how to identify what you are documenting. The apps help with identifying! Just need you to document the natural world around you!

• Experience with iNaturalist and eBird is a plus!
• Approximately 30 min to an hour to learn the app 
• Join a team project, to be named per Trail
• Volunteers will document as many plants and animals in their designated area as possible
• Volunteers will upload their observations to iNaturalist 

Document a Master Nature List for a Trail: Build on your area of interest in birds, wildlife, grasses, plants, water etc. 

• Create a nature checklist for each trail
• Good with Microsoft Word and Excel
• Collaborative documents can be shared via Google Docs or email
• Knowledge of pollinators, native/adapted plants would be helpful

iNaturalist – A citizen science crowd-sourcing online program for reporting and identifying wildlife.  A link has been created for Keegans Bayou Trail from South Gessner to Highway 59. Please add photos.  

• https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/keegan-s-bayou-trail

eBird –  An online database of bird observations.  Helps provide scientists and others who study birds and their habitat important information about behavior and abundance.

• eBird https://ebird.org/home 

Coordinate Guided Walks or Cycling on the Trail

• One hour on a easy cement, off-street trail
• Provide nature interpretation on the trail, if able as a team or with an app 
• Such as options for weekly Saturday mornings during any month, but especially during wildflower season in March, April, May, June
• Such as monthly on the 1^st Saturday morning in the fall and winter
• Coordinate with a social stop, perhaps a coffee shop, bakery or more

Outreach: Provide in person or virtual outreach

• Maintain a contact spreadsheet and email list of persons who request information during outreach events 
• Outreach Booth Coordinator
  • Willow Waterhole Music Fest and similar community events
• Design Flyers for Special Events
  • Graphic Design or Photoshop experience a plus
• Design a survey to indicate interest in specific trails
• Volunteer Coordination Team to recruit, track and report hours with software tracker (www.trackitforward.com ) 

Social Media Products

Photograph or Video the Trail

Join a team of people to help produce social media content for Facebook, Instagram, Website and those yet to be known

• We do have photo releases for individuals if necessary..
• As a volunteer program it is necessary to have more individuals able to publicize the trails through virtual means
• Producing social media content will include taking photos, short videos (less than 3 minutes) and with a team provide entertaining interpretive facts
• Plants, trees, animals, birds, fish, turtles, water, activity, construction. Do not photo the identity of walkers.  
• The photographer or another team volunteer would write a 25-50 word observation as a caption for the social media post 
• The goal is to post social media posts weekly from a number of individuals for the various media outlets
• For Publishing in print media, it is good to have 300 dpi photos. If not they can be converted.

Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, Meet Up, Next Door, What’s App

• As available.
• Volunteer Weekly
• Volunteer Monthly: One post per month
• Volunteer Quarterly: Site visits 4 times per year to observe seasonal changes

Video and Video Editing: This goal of this project is to expand the reach of the trail into a broader digital community

• Publish short (less than 3 minutes) informative videos using volunteer-contributed digital content
• Individuals with videography experience will collect raw footage video and audio material of wildlife and landscape to use to create video clips
• With contributed videos from others edit from raw footage
• The service can be carried out using a smartphone or technology. The final product may be as mp4 format for videos

Website Contributors for each of the NTTSW Trails

• Contributors may submit a draft to the Administrators 
• The content will be uploaded by the web Administrators or Editor within 10 days

WordPress Website Technical Support

• NOAA Weather
• Experience with WordPress is required or helpful
• Add free plug-ins such as
• Events Manager
• Donation Thermometer
• Basic Google Maps Placemarks
• Image Mapper

Sign up Here!