Mary Merrill, who leads the nature advisory, said a walk-and-talk event drew about 20 people after a rain delay and that volunteer interns will help develop publicity and inventory wooded areas for planning work.

Merrill said the group is starting invasive-species control and will use chipped wood and leaf mulch to smother some invasive patches. She said the authority will re-evaluate an alternative-lawn area that developed excess weeds due to irrigation constraints and water pooling.

"We had 20 people, and Sarah Cruz and her interns instructed. It was very instructional...they want to work with us. They want to help us put together some sort of publicity...we're starting the process for the food forest...we're starting to work on some of the invasives," Merrill said.

Why it matters: volunteer and intern engagement, invasive-plant control and a food-forest initiative affect habitat management and visitor experience at Oak Hills.

Provenance: Topicintro excerpt: "Okay. Very busy time right now. We just had a very successful walk and talk...we had 20 people...Sarah Cruz and her interns instructed." (Mary Merrill, meeting remarks at 00:14:01). Topfinish excerpt: "We're gonna redo the alternative lawn...we're gonna address that again and work on that." (Mary Merrill, meeting remarks at 00:15:50).