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Join us at a neighborhood community meeting on March 28 to talk about the I-45 freeway expansion project, known as the North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP).  The I-45 North expansion is a transformational highway expansion project along the I-45 corridor that will shape the landscape of North Houston and the downtown area for decades, including the 5th Ward.

The project will rebuild and expand I-45 N from Beltway 8 N to the Wheeler Transit Station in Midtown (including major changes to the downtown freeway system, Spur 527, and 288 N). Construction is scheduled to last 10+ years.

Air Alliance Houston is conducting a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of the proposed expansion on nearby communities. The assessment will reflect a range of issues, including air quality, mobility, economic development, parks and green space, noise, visual impacts, urban heat island, and flooding.

Bruce Elementary and Secondary DAEP have been identified by Air Alliance Houston as two of nine schools in the HISD and AISD districts that would most benefit from strategies to protect students and staff from the potential harmful health effects of traffic and air pollution.

This meeting will give you an opportunity to learn more about the proposed project and talk about opportunities to protect community health. Your feedback is critical to help Air Alliance Houston develop recommendations to the Texas Department of Transportation that could improve the freeway design and benefit schools and surrounding neighborhoods.

Children welcome, food provided.

An opportunity to participate in stewardship work for registered volunteers–if you are not already a volunteer, please check out Armand Bayou Nature Centers’ website for more information.

Help restore the prairie by potting and planting native plants and forbs every Friday, rain or shine. You do not need to attend every Friday.

Looking for a place to get your children outdoors? ABNC’s EcoClasses will allow your child to explore, discover and observe (STEM). Join them for some great nature experiences! Check out their website at abnc.org for details or call 713-274-2668 to reserve your spot.

EcoTots are for children 18-36 months with an adult every Friday.
EcoKids are for children ages 3-6 every Wednesday and Friday.
EcoSchoolers are for homeschool children ages 7-10 every Wednesday and Friday.    EcoAdventurers are for children ages 11-14 every Wednesday.

Please bring a Snack, Refillable Water Bottle, mask, closed toe shoes and dress for the weather.

Learn about the animals of Armand Bayou and the habitats they live in. Demonstrations vary from week to week: mammals, birds and reptiles.

The Jones-Bender, Judy Overby Bell and Spring Creek Greenway trails are open for bicycling. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

All Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center programs and events are free of charge unless otherwise noted and open to the public regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, physical ability, national origin, or religion. Anyone requiring special assistance to participate in these programs should contact the nature center. Programs meet at the Nature Center unless otherwise noted. Solid shoes are recommended. Call 281-446-8588 for more information.

Learn about the animals of Armand Bayou and the habitats they live in. Demonstrations vary from week to week: mammals, birds and reptiles.

We are conducting a monthly survey at Hogg Bird Sanctuary. Beginning in March 2019, the surveys will be held on the first Monday of the month. Skip Almoney is our leader. The Hogg Bird Sanctuary is adjacent to Bayou Bend and shares its parking facility at 1 Westcott Street. Meet at the parking lot at the dead end on the south end of Westcott Street. We meet at 7:30 AM in the parking lot. If the gate is locked, we can park in the upper parking lot and then walk down to the lower parking lot to meet. Everyone is welcome. Beginners, experts, or even if you’re just curious.

Leader: Skip Almoney

Join us for weekly mindfulness classes here at the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary!  We’ll begin each class in the cabin with a guided 15-minute lesson. Then we’ll each go to a quiet spot in the forest to practice simply being mindful not mind-full. We’ll meet back at the cabin with wild-collected tea and sharing. Participants are welcome to extend their mindful time in the forest as well.

Inspired by the “Forest Bathing” movements in South Korea and Japan, more and more nature centers like ours are offering programs that provide restorative time in nature, helping us to reground and find respite from our modern, hectic lives.

Mindfulness is a powerful but simple tool – focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. This powerful therapeutic technique is even more powerful when practiced in nature, lowering blood pressure, stress hormone levels and heart rate.  “Nature is always here and now. Your breath, your senses, anything around you. When you are being aware of the life within you and around you, you are being mindful of this present moment, and it will always calm you down. You cannot do nature, you can just be there. Being is calming.” – Dr. Bjarte Stubhaug is a Norwegian psychiatrist and mindfulness-expert.