Scout Conservation Projects help Erosion Control at Gault Site

The Gault Site of Archeological Research in Florence has recently benefited from two Eagle Scout Conservation Projects.  These projects have focused on reducing soil erosion along Buttermilk Creek at the famous archeology site.

BSA scouts David Moran and John Casper of Troop 157 (RoundRock) focused their efforts on building 125 feet of gabion baskets along Buttermilk Creek. The goal was to add additional support on the bank of the creek to keep floodwaters from eroding important areas of the site. These wire baskets, filled with rocks, prevent fast moving flood waters from removing soil in sensitive areas at the archeology site.

Both Eagle Projects required multiple weeks of volunteer labor.  The construction and placement of the baskets took place over two weekends. First a construction session was organized by each Eagle candidate.  During basket construction, 15’ long wire fence panels were cut into smaller pieces. Eventually the volunteers assembled twenty-five empty baskets measuring five foot long, two foot deep and 30 inches tall. The baskets were transported on trailers by volunteer Mr. Tim Burgess to the Gault Site.  Over 16 tons of donated limestone from ApacheStone was delivered next.  In April 2024, John Casper led over 40 volunteers to fill the final thirteen baskets with stone.   The volunteers moved all the stone by hand.  Now that the gabion baskets are complete, they provide an effective erosion barrier. Many volunteers helped make these projects a success.  Special thanks to Mr. Tim Burgess and Apache Stone for providing logistics and stone for the project.   Thanks also to Mr. Jim Clarno of Georgetown for providing Eagle Project mentorship and Dr. Sergio Ayala for access to the Gault Site.

The last phase of the conservation project is to place educational signs at the site.  These signs will inform visitors about gabion baskets and how they prevent erosion.

Discoveries at the Gault Site of tools and other artifacts from the Clovis period (13,000 years ago) have provided significant materials to advance research of pre-historic populations in the Central Texas region.  To take a tour, please contact The Bell County Museum.

View the Gault Site Flood Improvement Project Proposal (PDF, 1.8MB).