Members of the Williamson County Native Plant Society of Texas and the Good Water Master Naturalist’s Native Plant Rescue Project gathered on Sunday, April 23, to dig up and rescue native plants along Sam Bass Road. The groups’ mission has been to save native plants that could be impacted by construction and relocate them to other areas. This summer, Williamson County will begin a project to construct Corridor H / Sam Bass Road from RM 1431 to Wyoming Springs Drive to enhance safety, improve mobility and meet current and future traffic needs as the county continues to grow.

“We work with the Native Plant Society and Texas Master Naturalists in our parks, so we were happy to partner with them on this project to save native plants prior to the start of construction,” stated Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey.

Forty-one species of native plants, such as Virginia snakeroot and Antelope-horns milkweed, were carefully extracted and placed in temporary containers for transport. The recipients of the plants are three elementary schools, a monarch butterfly waystation at Round Rock High School and a native plant area at Lake Georgetown.

Project Manager Ashley Landry said, “We are losing our native plants so quickly to development in Central Texas. These plants are essential to many of our insects. For example, the monarch butterfly must have milkweed to lay its eggs on, because the caterpillars can only eat milkweed.”

According to Landry, the Native Plant Rescue Project has been averaging about two rescues per month since they started the project last fall. The group is comprised of members from the Native Plant Society of Texas-Williamson County and the Good Water chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists.

The Corridor H / Sam Bass Road project will construct a three-lane roadway with a continuous center-turn lane and shoulders, add a shared-use path for bicyclists and pedestrians and improve intersections. More information on this project is available on the website: Corridor H / Sam Bass Road (wilco.org).