Friends of River Place Trail - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1.Q. Why is the upper (Panther Hollow) nature trail extension closed?
A. There are two reasons why the trail extension built in 2009 is closed. First, a small segment of the trail (1600 linear ft.) was accidentally built in the Cortaña tract owned by the City of Austin. This part will be restored to its “natural state” as soon as the city gives permission for the work. Second, the vast majority of this trail was built on land owned by the River Place Municipal Utility District (MUD) that was set aside as nature preserve when River Place was developed. The MUD didn’t know that advance permission was required to build a simple hiking trail there.
2.Q. Is the original trail still open?
A. Yes, the original trail built in 2003 (from the boardwalk near Woodland Park up through Fern trail) is not built in any preserve land, so it remains open.
3. Q. Why can’t we just continue hiking the Panther Hollow trail, the upper trail?
A. There are two federal agencies that are enforcing two different laws that have the authority to fine and punish the MUD in other ways for violating these laws. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the Clean Water Act, and they are in the lead in this issue. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for the Endangered Species Act, and the Balcones Canyonlands nature preserve has several endangered species, including the Golden Cheeked Warbler. Our group opposes violating the laws by continued hiking of the closed trail. Our goal is to get the trail approved so that it can once again be open to hikers.
4.Q. Why does the Friends of River Place Trail need to exist if the River Place MUD is already working to get the trail approved?
A. The MUD built the trail, and the volunteer MUD board wants to do all it can to get the trail approved and reopened. The purpose of the Friends of River Place Trail is to organize the people who love the trail (residents as well as non-residents of River Place) to help in this process. We provide an organized constituency to support efforts to reopen the trail. At the right time, we will encourage letter writing or other advocacy efforts to our elected representatives to support approval and reopening of the trail.
5. Q. How long will this take?
A. This process will not happen quickly, although we would all like for the trail to be reopened now. We still don’t know how the Army Corps of Engineers will even be proceeding, and what facts they and the US Fish and Wildlife Service will consider in making the determination that the trail can be approved. For example, we have several studies that indicate that the presence of humans is actually beneficial to the warbler, and a specific study commissioned by the MUD (Click Here) that also indicates that the warbler is still nesting in the trail area. (the file is 13.3 MB and takes a little while to load, please be patient)
6.Q. How can I help?
A. Join the Friends of River Place trail, and encourage others to do so. Make a voluntary contribution to help pay the modest costs for our work. Be prepared to contact the proper elected officials when we send out action alerts as this process moves along.
