Trust for Public Land in Texas - 2023

Texas THERE IS SO MUCH TO BE PROUD OF IN 2023 AND MORE TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE YEAR AHEAD

Celebrating 50 Years of Impact, Thanks to You! Since the beginning, Trust for Public Land’s vision has been rooted in a singular belief: that our communities are happier and healthier when everyone is able to connect to the outdoors.

What started as a bold idea in a small San Francisco office 50 years ago has blossomed into a nationwide movement to ensure everyone, no matter where they live, can experience nature’s countless gifts. At this special milestone, we celebrate the incredible network of TPL supporters who make our work possible and catalyze our future efforts.

Thanks to your support, we have protected some of Texas’s most iconic natural places like Palo Duro Canyon and Austin’s Barton Creek Greenbelt and created dozens of new parks like South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park in Dallas. These are now some of the best-known and most-visited places in Texas—places that are bringing neighbors together and fostering a love for the outdoors, while uplifting local economies and delivering critical, nature-based solutions in the face of climate change.

And we are just getting started! It is an exciting time to be a part of the TPL community, as we look to new opportunities to connect to nature, our histories, and each other. With your enduring support, we will continue to build parks and protect land, making Texas a healthier and more equitable place for everyone. Thank you!

Robert Kent, Associate Vice President, Texas State Director

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A Big, Bold Vision for Dallas Parks

Winding through the hills and valleys of southwest Dallas, Five Mile Creek’s 70-squaremile watershed is home to iconic landscapes, including Blackland Prairie, limestone creeks, old-growth forests, and wildflower meadows. Yet many of these stunning natural areas have been inaccessible to residents and disconnected from Dallas’s 160+ miles of parks and trails. The city has long envisioned a park and trail system along the watershed where residents can connect with nature, with plans for a greenbelt dating to the 1940s. TPL is excited to finally bring this community vision to life as the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt.

In 2018, TPL collaborated with the Dallas Park and Recreation Department and hundreds of residents to create the Five Mile Creek Urban Greenbelt Master Plan. This bold vision for a network of parks and trails along Five Mile Creek–adopted by the park board in 2019–lays the foundation for nearly 17 miles of new trails that will connect residents to countless neighborhoods and community institutions, including two colleges, three health clinics, and 17 existing parks. The Greenbelt will also include three new parks totaling 124 acres: South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park (opened in 2021), Judge Charles R. Rose Community Park (under construction), and Woody Branch Park (in design).

Thanks to grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the City of Dallas, and local philanthropic partners, TPL has secured over $28 million in support for the Greenbelt.

With this critical funding, TPL and the City of Dallas will move forward with the design of multi-use paths, trails, and pedestrian infrastructure along the picturesque Five Mile Creek.

The Greenbelt will fill a missing gap in the city’s trail network, creating connections between Southern Dallas neighborhoods and new opportunities to experience nature’s countless gifts.

Parks have the power to improve health, benefit the environment, build equity, and bring the community together, but only about half of the nearly 200,000 residents living in the Five Mile Creek watershed have access to a park or trail within a 10-minute walk of home. The Greenbelt network will benefit not only the residents of southwest Dallas and Oak Cliff, but make the natural beauty of the area accessible to all of Dallas’s 1.3 million residents.”

— Molly Plummer, Texas Parks and Schoolyards Director

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The Power of Local Partnerships For nearly a decade, TPL has partnered with the City of Dallas and its communities to improve park access and equity. The results speak for themselves: since 2015, the number of Dallas residents served by a park within a 10-minute walk of home has increased by nearly 300,000, improving citywide park access from 54 to 73 percent. We are proud of our work bringing together city leadership, neighborhood advocates, and partner organizations to make this dramatic improvement possible.

When Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson took office in 2019, one of his first acts was to join TPL’s 10-Minute Walk program and commit to advancing park equity in the city. In 2023, he tapped TPL and Dallas philanthropist Garrett Boone to lead a new initiative converting vacant city-owned land into new parks, with the goal of making sure that every resident of Dallas has a park within a 10-minute walk of home.

Using TPL’s cutting-edge mapping tools and geospatial data analysis, we identified over 350 vacant properties that could be suitable green space, and then prioritized them based on their ability to cool neighborhoods during heat waves, protect against flooding, improve the health of residents, build equity in underserved neighborhoods, and connect communities.

BOTH PHOTOS: © JASON FLOWERS

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Creating new green spaces out of land the City of Dallas already owns can improve the quality of life of countless residents, children, and families across Dallas.”

— Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson In May, Mayor Johnson announced $1.25 million in funding for the greening initiative. We are now working with the Dallas Park and Recreation Department and neighborhoods to begin developing many of the properties into new community green spaces. These meaningful actions and partnerships ensure Dallas residents, no matter where they live, can easily connect with quality parks.

Protecting One of Dallas’s Most Unique and Important Landscapes

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Within minutes of Downtown Dallas lies a sanctuary of wild, untouched nature. Stretching across 282 acres of the Balcones Escarpment, Big Cedar Wilderness is home to rolling hills, cliffs, meandering creeks, habitat for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler, and over 50,000 trees. For decades, nature lovers have used this property for hiking, mountain biking, birding, and to unwind. Now, this once privately owned property will soon be a permanently protected public park, allowing future generations to experience nature in ways typically found in only remote locations.

With fewer and fewer places like Big Cedar Wilderness in Dallas, the chance to protect this landscape from development is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The property had been privately owned by Liberty Bankers Insurance Group for several years, and in 2023 their CEO Brad Phillips made the exceptionally generous decision

ELEVATE TEXAS TOGETHER! Together, we can champion transformative initiatives right here in Texas. Support ambitious projects like the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt and Big Cedar Wilderness to make our communities healthier and more livable for generations to come.

I’m proud to be a part of the preservation of Big Cedar Wilderness.

I look forward to watching it continue to prosper and serve outdoor enthusiasts both locally and beyond.”

— Brad Phillips, Liberty Bankers Insurance Group to donate the property to TPL, ensuring that this vital landscape forever remains accessible to the public.

After accepting the donation of land, TPL conveyed the property to the Dallas Park and Recreation Department for permanent preservation as a city park. In the coming years, TPL will work alongside the city and local stakeholders to enhance the property with new trails and park amenities.

Preserving Big Cedar represents a significant commitment to conservation, adding nearly 300 acres to a vital nature corridor in southwestern Dallas that includes Cedar Ridge Preserve, Cedar Hill State Park, and the Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center.

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Barton Creek Greenbelt In 2023, we celebrate our first 50 years of impact, and look ahead at the work still to be done. From protecting vast stretches of wide-open spaces to revamping schoolyards, trails, and parks, we strive for equity, inclusion, and access for everyone. At this exciting milestone, we reflect on some of the unique outdoor spaces and experiences that are part of our story, such as Austin’s Barton Creek Greenbelt.

A Spring-Fed Oasis in the Heart of Austin Barely a mile from the high-rises of downtown Austin lies an urban oasis: the 1,000-acre Barton Creek Greenbelt.

Beloved by residents across Texas, this natural sanctuary features iconic spring-fed swimming holes and over 12 miles of trails favored by cyclists, rock climbers, and hikers.

Each year, over 1.5 million people visit Barton Creek’s freshwater springs, streams, and the surrounding lands to swim, play, hike, canoe, and more.

BA RTO N CRE E K G RE E N BE LT

BY THE NUMBERS

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natural springs producing over 31 million gallons of water per day

12 miles

of greenbelt trails

1.5 million 924 AC R E S O F

SPRINGS AND C R E E K P R E S E RV E D

visitors annually enjoy swimming in the spring-fed Barton Springs Pool

The future of this treasured space was not always certain.

Beginning in 1990, rapid commercial and residential development impacted the area around Barton Creek.

Between 1992 and 1999, TPL worked with landowners, government agencies, and local partners to purchase and protect nearly 1,000 acres of land in the Barton Creek watershed, transforming it into one of Austin’s most well-loved green spaces. The Greenbelt also protects the water quality of the Edwards Aquifer, which supplies water to more than 2 million people, including thousands of farmers in the region. The aquifer safeguards habitat for four endangered species, including the Barton Springs salamander, found only in this area.

The Barton Creek Greenbelt is one of the most well-used and loved natural areas in the city, and without TPL’s help in the beginning it may have never been established.” © TED HARRISON

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— Sara Hensley, former Austin Parks and Recreation Department Director

TPL Goes to Washington

TPL Staff and For Oak Cliff meeting with Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. © TPL STAFF In April 2023, TPL staff members, volunteers, and community members met in Washington, DC, for Day on the Hill—a chance to speak with legislators and advocate for funding to expand outdoor access. We were joined by our partners from For Oak Cliff, a community-based organization in Southern Dallas working to liberate the neighborhoods around Five Mile Creek from systemic oppression through education, social mobility, and social capital. We urged legislators to unlock funding for initiatives that increase green space in park-poor areas and encouraged congressional decision makers to defend funding already allocated for parks, trails, schoolyards, and land.

Our efforts at Day on the Hill helped secure $6.4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation RAISE Grant Program, which supports state and local infrastructure projects that reconnect communities. This significant investment will enable TPL and the City of Dallas to finish

BE A CHANGE-MAKER When you support TPL, you are helping our Federal Relations team advance policy and ballot measures at the national and local level that expand national parks, preserve cultural sites, fund conservation, and so much more.

The fund will be an essential tool in ensuring Texans have access to public park lands for generations to come.”

— Texas State Representative Armando Walle designing and engineering the remainder of the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt, enhancing connectivity, recreation, and equitable access to green spaces for the 186,000 Dallas residents who live near the creek.

In May, we celebrated the Texas House of Representatives’ final approval to create a Centennial Parks Conservation Fund, which allocates $1 billion for purchasing land for the state parks system. This transformative fund will lead to the largest expansion of state parks in Texas history.

TPL’s Federal Affairs team has been instrumental in the creation of nearly 5,400 parks, schoolyards, trails, and greenways across the country, and the protection of 4 million acres of public land. Every year, with the help of advocates like you, we help pass major policies and ballot measures, and raise funds to create and protect beloved open spaces.

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THANK YOU for helping improve the health, equity, and climate outcomes for communities in Texas and beyond.

We could not do this without you.

TEXAS ADVISORY BOARD We are so grateful for our outstanding volunteers!

Tim Maiden, Simmons Bank, Senior Vice President

Asheya Warren (Chair), PRAXIS Strategic Consulting, Founder/

Steve Martin, Frost Bank, Executive Vice President

Principal, CEO Charles Elk (Vice Chair), Oncor, Vice President, Dallas Customer Service Drexell Owusu (Secretary), The Dallas Foundation, Chief Impact Officer

Christina Mintner, Parkland Health & Hospital System, Senior Vice President Heidi Pandya, Sg2, Principal Consultant Gunnar Rawlings, Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep, Corporate Work Study Program & Strategic Initiatives, Vice President

Bobby Abtahi, Law Office of Robert B. Abtahi

Andrés Ruzo, National Geographic Society, Explorer

Chris Applequist, Generation Housing Development, Principal

Jim Shipley, Beck Group, Senior Project Manager

Tillie Borchers, Real Estate Professional

Enisha Shropshire, Vector Strategies, Founder/

Lucy Burns, Billingsley Company, Partner

Chief Impact Officer

William B. Chaney, Gray Reed, Partner

Tamela Thorton, ULI Dallas-Ft. Worth, Executive Director

Chantel Cheatham, Pizza Hut, LLC, Director of Legal

Taylor Toynes, For Oak Cliff, Cofounder/CEO

Peter Lewis, Scheef & Stone, LLP, Partner

Joan Walne, Dallas Park and Recreation Board, Former

Sharon Lyle, Ensemble, Founder & President

President

Robert Kent Associate Vice President Texas State Director robert.kent@tpl.org

Join us Help ensure everyone has access to the outdoors. Every park we create, schoolyard we transform, trail we extend, and landscape we protect is thanks to supporters like you. tpl.org/donate/tx

COV ER , TOP: © JASON FLOWERS; L A RG E: © ERIC SWANSON; THIS PAG E: © JASON FLOWERS

Ray Garvin Texas Director of Philanthropy ray.garvin@tpl.org 3000 Pegasus Park Drive Suite 752 Dallas, TX 75247