From Thursday's Houston Chronicle article by Flori Meeks:The Cypress Creek Nature Trail in the Bridgeland community is still in its early stages, but it's already popular with area residents, said Tricia Brasseaux, design project manager with The Howard Hughes Corp."You never go far from home," Brasseaux said. "We have it all here for you. "The trail is a work in progress," she added. "It will continue for the next 20 years." The trail already is receiving accolades. The Houston-Galveston Area Council has selected it for special recognition among its 2010 Parks and Natural Areas Award competition nominees. "We're very excited," Brasseaux said. "We're hoping in the years to come we'll be one of the first-place winners." The trail was one of five Houston-area projects honored in the On-the-Ground Projects Over $500,000 category. "We look for projects that stand out as models for other communities," said Rachel Powers, senior environmental planner with H-GAC. The nature trail is part of the Cypress Creek Greenway Project, which spans from Humble to the Katy Prairie, she said. The Cypress Creek Greenway Project is an effort by the Cypress Creek Flood Control Coalition to promote multiple uses for land within the Cypress Creek watershed, allowing for flood mitigation, recreation and conservation. The project will comprise a greenway spanning from where Cypress Creek joins Spring Creek west beyond U.S. 290. Throughout that greenway will be a trail system connecting a series of anchor parks. "Bridgeland's Cypress Creek Nature Trail is a key part of that project," Powers said. "It's nice to have a developer step up to the plate like this." Bridgeland developer General Growth Properties, which completed a spinoff of The Howard Hughes Corp. in November, was interested in using the existing creek system within Bridgeland's boundaries after it completed its initial designs for the master-planned community, Brasseaux said. The community developers committed to setting aside 1,000 acres along the Cypress Creek corridor for preservation and enhancement. The creek was used for years as part of a rice-farming reservoir system. "It is a beautiful corridor, and it's still intact," Brasseaux said. "That's why our wildlife habitat is so diverse." When Bridgeland's Cypress Creek Nature Trail is complete, it will span six miles. Currently, 1½ miles are in place with the trail head at Bridgeland's Oak Meadow Park. Bridgeland has established several learning centers along the way that include benches and signage about the area's history and wildlife, including more than 140 species of birds. Eventually, Brasseaux said, the trail will have three distinct sections going through woods, a lake area and prairie land. "Each entity will have its own trail head," she said. The Oak Meadow Park trail head ties into the woods section, which could be completed by 2013 or 2014.