Glenn Creek Nature Preserve - 2024 Fundraiser
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The Friends of the Glenn Creek Nature Preserve are raising funds to enhance and maintain the Glenn Creek Nature Preserve in the City of Decatur.
What is the Glenn Creek Nature Preserve and Why Does It Matter?
The Glenn Creek Nature Preserve was established by neighbors and friends of the City of Decatur to permanently protect this two-acre bio preserve of native Piedmont Habitat. Open to the public, the preserve treats visitors to natural walking trails, the calming sounds of Glenn Creek (part of the South Fork Peachtree sun-watershed), and plenty of shade from its beautiful tree canopy.
In addition to being a local treasure and important protector of our biosphere, this nature preserve holds the distinction of belonging to the Old Growth Forest Network . “Old Growth” forests are dominated by trees that are more than 150 years old(!), and these forests play essential roles in wildlife habitat, species diversity, hydrological regimes, nutrient cycles, carbon storage, and numerous other ecological processes.
I Donated to Last Year's Fundraiser, How Was That Money Invested?
First, THANK YOU so much for your donation last year. We raised over $10,000 last year through your generous donations and we have been putting that money to work! Here's how:
- 'Natural' Non-Native Plant Removal: You may have seen (or even met!) the sheep we hired from City Sheep and Goat which spent a little over two weeks living in the preserve and eating through almost 2 acres of english ivy and other non-native plants. This created space for native plants to grow in areas previously overwhelmed by non-native plants, and has also opened up more trails and walking paths to explore more of the preserve.
- New Entry Fencing and Signage: You may have noticed the gorgeous new wood fence at the entry to the preserve, which now covers up the not-so-gorgeous guard rail. The fence materials were purchased with funds raised last year, and the labor and craftmanship was very generously provided by the Decatur Makers! The new signage has been designed and is in production to be installed in Spring 2024.
- New Native Plants/Trees: A variety of native plants will be purchased and installed during the Spring 2024 planting season, both at the entry to the preserve and inside the preserve. As part of this planting, we also plan to build a rain garden at the front entry to aid in stormwater management. Native trees will be planted in either the Spring 2024 or Fall 2024 planting seasons.
- Stream Bank Preservation: We are partnering with the City of Decatur and other government authorities to preserve the stream bank in the nature preserve. We are still in the planning stage for this work given the number of stakeholders involved.
How Will This Year's Donations Be Invested?
- Non-Native Plant Removal: We made amazing progress in removing privet, english ivy, and other non-native plants over the past two years. Unfortunately, this is a project that never ends! Continued maintenance is required to maintain the progress we've made.
- New Website and Social Media Engagement: To grow awareness for the preserve and to better update and engage with the community that supports the preserve, we will be investing in a new website and social media engagement.
- New Second Footbridge : While we intended to build one with last year's donations, this is going to cost more than we initially planned, so we will need to invest more funds to make this happen.
- General Maintenance: Ongoing maintenance of all of our enhancements to the preserve.
What Else Should I Know?
- Our Spring Fundraiser Party for the preserve will be held April 27th @ 12pm to 4pm ET @ Glen Creek Nature Preserve. We will have free pizza and non-alcohol beverages, kids activities, and Live Music will be played by Mike McLeod. We hope to see you there!
- Interested in joining the Volunteer Team for the preserve? Please contact us via the Organizer Contact button below.
Organizer and beneficiary
Glenn Creek Nature Preserve
Organizer
Decatur, GA
Accounts Payable
Beneficiary