Anne Brown had tears in her eyes as she recalled when Merrill Gregg’s resume landed on her desk at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation 10 years ago.
From working for Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, Gregg made a life-changing decision to turn to a career in conservation, said Brown, the foundation’s executive director.
Merrill committed 110% to making a difference in conserving Texas’ natural land, Brown said. She hopes people understand the magnitude of her dedication.
“I’m so proud to call you a colleague and a friend,” Brown said to Gregg.
Since joining the state organization in 2016, Gregg went from focusing on major gifts and donations to leading in land conservations, developing conservation finance models and managing the foundation’s investment portfolio.
Gregg’s accomplishments earned her recognition at the Fort World Wild! event Wednesday, hosted and awarded by the Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge. Every year, the nonprofit honors an individual for their work and dedication in urban conservation.
As Fort Worth grows, the community’s well-being depends on natural areas to make the city an enjoyable place to live, Gregg said.
“I’m so proud to be a Fort Worthian and to be part of this community,” she said. “I’m super excited about what we will continue to accomplish together.”
Merrill Gregg, director of land and conservation finance at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, was honored at the May 6 Fort Worth Wild! event at the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge for her work in conservation. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Protecting Fort Worth’s parks, historically natural areas
Although Gregg previously worked in banking, a daily routine in nature wasn’t completely new to her.
She reminisced on growing up on her family’s farm in Virginia, where she often rode her pony and explored nearby streams.
Gregg’s background in finance helped in her transition to protecting natural spaces. She arrived at a time when the foundation was navigating different approaches to funding conservation projects.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill prompted the organization to think about how to acquire large sources of funding without added costs — such as interest — while ensuring dollars are allocated across much-needed conservation projects.
Since joining the foundation, Gregg helped parks and wildlife officials collect and allocate $10 million in loans to protect 3,500 acres across the state.
But her dedication to conservation doesn’t stop there. Gregg made it a goal to give back to Fort Worth in smaller ways.
Hundreds of people attended the May 6 Fort Worth Wild! event held at the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Gregg serves on the board of Streams & Valleys, a nonprofit focused on enhancing the Trinity River and riverfront recreation. She is also a community adviser for Good Natured, Mayor Mattie Parker’s city initiative to protect and acquire 10,000 acres of green space by 2028 amid booming population growth and development.
Under the initiative and the city’s open space conservation program, Fort Worth officials protect and fund green spaces, including the nature center and the future Rock Creek Ranch Park. With support from Gregg, the 350-acre Rock Creek area is slated to serve as Fort Worth’s largest community park in the southwestern portion of the city.
Since establishing the open space program in 2019, the city has prioritized acquiring and protecting land at the nature center. That has largely been possible through the support of green space supporters such as Gregg, nature center manager Jared Wood said.
“This place in Fort Worth is in amazing hands,” Wood said.
Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge manager Jared Wood spoke to attendees at the May 6 Fort Worth Wild! event held at the nature center. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
To Gregg, the nature center speaks to her passion for saving land across the state, including in Fort Worth.
“For over 60 years, visitors have been able to step back in time and see what Fort Worth was like in the early 20th century,” Gregg said.
Gregg described conserving open space as a shared effort. She made sure to commend those in the crowd, including Fort Worth’s open space conservation team, as city officials navigate the region’s rapid growth in business and industry.
“Conservation is really about people. It is about the private land owners that share this boundary and think generationally about land stewardship,” Gregg said. “It’s about the parks staff and volunteers who show up every day to make this place run.”
The Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge pictured May 6. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.
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