White Creek Restoration
White Creek is a natural land-form asset on the West Campus of Texas A&M that extends from the front of the Horticulture/Forestry Sciences Building to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. In 1998, the Board of Regents designated the area as the West Campus Greenway. The Gardens at Texas A&M University project will continue to preserve this area for generations to come.
As green space in the Brazos Valley becomes more of a rarity, The Gardens has set out to repair and sustain natural habitats for flora and fauna. Preserving the White Creek and surrounding Post Oak Savannah is critical to sustaining native wildlife, including nearly 50 bird species.
The restoration of White Creek also created an outdoor teaching laboratory focused on conservation and preservation of riparian areas. Texas A&M has invested $1.5 million in the initial restoration efforts for White Creek. The Gardens project seeks additional funding to enhance this effort and create an educational demonstration for creek restoration.
Education and training activities associated with the White Creek Restoration address riparian buffer and creek restoration, storm-water management, non-point source pollution and more. An interpretive system helped to support the White Creek Restoration.
The Gardens strive to create a premier teaching garden to educate college and K-12 students, farmers and ranchers, and industry professionals in the natural sciences and the environment.
Here, college students gain valuable hands-on, in-the-field experience to enhance their classroom studies in disciplines ranging from ecology to land management to creek restoration and culture.
K-12 students and teachers can receive an introduction to riparian ecosystems, natural habitats and the environment through field trips, camps and workshops.
Farmers, ranchers and industry professionals canattend workshops and short courses associated with land management and water stewardship.
Thousands of streams similar to White Creek are found throughout urban and rural Texas. The White Creek Restoration will serve as a living laboratory and demonstration for the best management practices to preserve such endangered riparian areas.
