Fort Worth mayor vowed to conserve 10,000 acres of open space. Where does city stand?

Most years, the Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge commemorate an individual at the annual Fort Worth Wild! fundraising event, highlighting their conservation efforts.

This year, the city of Fort Worth, Mayor Mattie Parker and former mayors were honored for the city’s legacy of environmental protections, beginning with the 1964 designation of the wildlife sanctuary that became the nature center. 

To Parker, the award symbolizes the city’s dedication to “environmental stewardship” and conservation.

“I hope that this is just the beginning of conservation work across the city, recognizing that open space acquisition is a worthwhile endeavor,” Parker said ahead of the May 2 event. 

Fort Worth officials kicked off the city’s open space conservation program in late 2019 and later adopted a 137-page report outlining how it could preserve open space amid urban sprawl. In 2019, Fort Worth was losing around 50 acres of open space to development each week, mostly fueled by booming population growth.

This encouraged Parker to establish the Good Natured initiative in 2023, aimed at accelerating the city’s open space conservation efforts by setting a goal of acquiring 10,000 acres of green space by 2028.

Mayor Mattie Parker, center right, stands with Fort Worth City Council members and Tarrant Regional Water District leaders during a City Council meeting Nov. 28, 2023. The government bodies approved an agreement to collaborate on green space policy. (Haley Samsel | Fort Worth Report)

“The city of Fort Worth simply just needed to do more, mostly due to our rapid growth as a region,” said Parker.

As of today, Fort Worth officials have successfully saved a little over 1,000 acres of land from development. About 600 of those acres consist of open space, and parkland makes up the remaining acreage, said Allison Docker, the city’s green space champion tasked with overseeing open space initiatives. 

Fort Worth has spent millions in acquiring land through the open space program. Those acquisitions include land near the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge, Lake Arlington, Tandy Hills Natural Area and Rock Creek Ranch Park. More recently, city leaders made a $3.9 million purchase into 150 acres worth of open space in northwest Fort Worth. In February, the city made another $3 million purchase to designate two new parks in north Fort Worth as open space.

Parker said city staff intend on partnering with government agencies, such as the city’s water utility and the Tarrant Regional Water District, to have department-owned land contribute to the open space program. One such prospect is connecting the trails around Lake Worth to Fort Worth communities, activating an additional 500 acres of open space, according to Docker.

Fort Worth leaders also are looking to the city’s 2026 bond election to acquire more open space acreage. Among the proposed $800 million for the bond program, city leaders are recommending $185 million of that total be funneled into parks and open space, which would make the program the second-highest funded proposition on the ballot. 

Aside from public dollars, city leaders will consider further support of conservation easements — contractual agreements made with private landowners to not sell or use their land for commercial or residential development, said Docker.

Lake Worth is seen south of the Marty Leonard Lotus Marsh Boardwalk on April 22, 2024, at the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)

“People here want to partner on these efforts, and we’re just exploring preservation policies within the city that could help add to that as well,” said Docker.

Those partnerships are also extending to the parks and recreation department. The department’s advisory board and City Council are set to meet May 6 to discuss the proposed parks and recreation master plan. 

An update from the parks 2020 master plan, GREENprint Fort Worth, formerly known as Play Big!, outlines strategies for the city to prioritize access to parks, enhance environmental sustainability and forge connections across Fort Worth through its trails and public spaces for the next 10 years.

With the draft ready for review, parks staff hosted a series of public meetings from April 28 to May 1, inviting residents to provide feedback on the master plan’s proposed mission, vision, goals and strategies focusing on Fort Worth’s green space. 

“Our residents deserve to be a part of that equation,” said Parker.

Cynthia Slaughter, a Fort Worth native who attended an April 30 meeting at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden about the parks plan, grew accustomed to vast open spaces in her time living in Canada. Since being back in Fort Worth, she believes city staff have done well with keeping up with the city’s open spaces and parks.

She sees people actively using parks, particularly Trinity Park, which she believes is a result of Fort Worth’s focus on open spaces.

Even “smaller spaces,” such as neighborhood parks, act as a central connector, making open spaces accessible to Fort Worth residents, said Slaughter.

Parker sees the meeting between council and parks board members as the beginning of more planning and collaboration to come.

“I’m hopeful that it generates additional public interest and excitement around all of these different plans and how we’re going to coordinate them,” said Parker.

Following the joint meeting, Fort Worth officials will consider officially adopting the master plan during a May 13 council meeting. 

Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.

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