Trail Volunteer Positions

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 for the location or Zoom link. http://www.neighborhoodstotrails.org

Orientation would need to be completed before being able to carry out the service.
• One (1) hour of a customized orientation offered with a Trail Advocate
• Review relevant information from Neighborhoods to Trails SW website on the Trail chosen
and Milestones for NTTSW
• Additional details on each Trail and Task are available from current NTTSW volunteers

Trail Maintenance
• 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
• Remove debris after flooding events

Adopt a Spot/Trail Monitor
• Inspect the trail or Spot for litter, maintenance or beautification
improvement
• For example, on Keegans Bayou Trail: Adopt Keegans Bridge, park bench seating
area or the fence rails along the trail
• Report to trail advocate or as needed, 311.

Report graffiti to either http://www.districtjpatrol.com for District J, or
• Use Report Forms found on Brays Oaks Management District below
o Graffiti https://www.braysoaksmd.org/graffiti-report-form/
o Other Issues https://www.braysoaksmd.org/report-an-issue/

Social Media Products
Photograph or Video the Trail
Join a team of people to help produce social media content for Facebook, Instagram, our
Website and those yet to be known
• As a volunteer program it us 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. We do not have photo permission for individuals
• 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 1-2 social media posts a week from a number of individuals
for the various media outlets
Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, Meet Up, Next Door, What’s App
• Volunteer Monthly: One post per month
• Volunteer Quarterly: Site visits will be conducted 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
o Publish short (less than 3 minutes) informative videos using volunteercontributed digital content
o Individuals with videography experience will collect raw footage video and audio
material of wildlife and landscape to use to create video clips to be used on
website
o With contributed videos from others edit from raw footage
o 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
o Contributors may submit a draft to the Administrator
o The content will be uploaded by the web Administrator or Editor within 10 days

Word Press Website Technical Support
o Experience with Word Press is required to inform the Administrator and Editors
who upload content provided by trail contributors
o Add free plug-ins such as
▪ Events Manager
▪ Donation Thermometer
▪ Basic Google Maps Placemarks
▪ Image Mapper
▪ NOAA Weather

On the Trail
Document a Master Nature List for a Trail
• Create a nature check list 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
• Build on your area of interest: birds, wildlife, grasses, etc.
• Participating volunteers will be expected to efficiently collaborate with the project
manager via Zoom

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 your photos. See instructions below
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/keegan-s-bayou-trail

eBird https://ebird.org/home
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

Guided Walks on the Trail
• One hour on a cement trail
• Provide nature interpretation on the trail with a NTTSW Advocate
• An aid during walk, or a self-guided tour of Keegans Bayou, is the iNaturalist
link above
• Options for weekly Saturday mornings during any month, but especially
during wildflower season in March, April, May, June
• Monthly on the 1st Saturday morning in the fall and winter

Outreach
Provide street and GPS addresses of trail heads and meet up locations for the website and
special events
• Maintain a contact spreadsheet and email list of persons who request information
during outreach events
• Outreach Booth Coordinator
o Willow Waterhole Music Fest and similar community events
• Design Flyers for Special Events
o Graphic Design or Photo shop experience a plus
• Volunteer Coordination Team to recruit, track and report hours with software tracker
(www.trackitforward.com