Good news! The small park I frequent is doubling in size! :) Thanks, iNat!
iNaturalist may not be the sole reason for a purchase of land, but I think it adds some powerful fuel to an argument for the preservation of wild spaces!
In the far east side of Fort Worth, my home city, there's a park that I enjoy visiting called Cobblestone Trail Park. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=163142
It's relatively small -- about 25 acres, but the wild part of the park includes some really neat intact post oak forest. Recently, there was some interest from developers to...well... develop the 24 acres to the east. The City of Fort Worth purchased this land on Monday and will extend the area of the park! I can't wait to explore this section of extended post oak forest.
I wrote a letter to city council not for the advice of purchase but just to inform of the species that reside in the current area. So far, over 400 species that we've documented seek out this park as a refuge: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=163142&view=species
I know it was a lot of neighborhood interest and letters to keep this area wild, but I'm so grateful to have a tool like iNat to show others how important wild spaces are, and how much we seek out these areas to engage with nature. :)
If you find yourself on the east side of Fort Worth, you should visit this park! There is a trail on the north east side that takes you into the forest some more. :) I think it's similar to what the early settlers experienced, if just on a minute scale:
“I shall not easily forget the mortal toil, and the vexations of flesh and spirit, that we underwent occasionally, in our wanderings through the Cross Timber. It was like struggling through forests of cast iron,” Washington Irving writes in 1832
https://www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/cross-timbers-ancient-forest-americas-crossroads/
In the midst of bad news of 2020, here's something that I'm celebrating. :)
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This is wonderful news! :)
Great news and super work on your part!
Good news! Great! I appreciate you sharing and doing the good work!
Good news indeed!! Congratulations to everyone's who's efforts made this save possible!
Wow, this is fantastic news! Was this facilitated by Fort Worth's new Open Space program? @mustardlypig
your diligence in documenting nature has paid off in unexpected ways!
great news Sam!
That’s great news!
Great news! Those small places are so important for people and plants and wildlife!
Definitely something to celebrate! Thanks for sharing the victory, Sam. Yay!
That is great news! Thanks for your tireless efforts to inform and inspire citizen scientists!
Good news Sam and kudos to Ft. Worth for recognizing the value in preserving our wildspaces. Looking like better things are yet to come to Cobblestone Trail Park.
That’s great!
Congratulations, Sam! No doubt you were instrumental in making this happen.
Great news, Sam! Congratulations to you, the community & iNaturalist....a formidable team!
Yay! Good news, Sam. Nice to hear of a small pro-conservation win!
Sam was this purchase done by Parks Dept or Open Space? I can testify that reminding the city about the wonders of Tandy Hills helped them purchase Broadcast Hill.
Woo hoo!
Hooray! Doing a happy dance!
Nice. Not far from my old stomping grounds of Richland Hills.
Wow! That's wonderful! Thank you for advocating the preservation of open spaces provides habitat for wildlife!
Yeah! It is really exciting! Although, this definitely wasn't just me -- the whole neighborhood association had a letter-writing campaign, and there was some great energy coming from lots of folks to get this land. $750,000 for 24 acres... https://fortworthgov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4700112&GUID=445BF086-172B-40A2-8A3C-37CF5A061CAD
I think that it was more of a Parks purchase than the open space committee, but I'm not totally sure. Major victory for all of the critters that live here -- loads and loads of post oaks.
If you do come and visit, recognize that it's not a massive park or anything -- but it does give that really unique picture of the historic cross timbers post oak forest. :)
I will have to go and check out this place sometime. I have not been to a lot of Parks in Fort Worth but I am working my way around. This sounds like a very interesting place to go and walk around and take pictures and observe wildlife.
I finally looked it up on the map & am even more impressed & delighted that 1) FW salvaged some of the EXT woodlands in that area after so much has been lost. 2) It's close to me & I'm looking forward to exploring! Any possibilities for connectivity to Trinity River corridor to the north?
Yes, this is super exciting! The City of Fort Worth Park & Recreation Department (PARD) put forth the funds to purchase this property. It was reviewed by the Open Space program but turned out to be a better fit for PARD to purchase as it is adjacent to an existing park. It is super (& super effective) when citizens speak up in support of something. We now see evidence of this via Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area speaking up & raising funds for the purchase of Broadcast Hill. Now this park; another property off Boat Club Road, & the Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge. There's a lot going on to save some great places in Fort Worth! And citizen support via speaking up, writing letters, contributing financially when possible go a long way to successful acquisition!
I hadn't heard anything about this, but so glad it has happened! To Sam's point about neighborhood support, this is the video portion of the City Council discussion of the purchase.
http://fortworthgov.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=5&clip_id=4095&meta_id=452898
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