Forth Worth Prairie Park Tour



Location: Fort Worth Prairie Park (directions below)

Date: May 24th

Time: 10 am to 2 pm

Please RSVP by May 14th to Eileen Porter reporter@... or
817-596-5567



The walking tour of the 2000 acre Fort Worth Prairie Park will be lead by
Jarid Manos, founder and CEO of the Great Plains Restoration Council. This
prairie is not open to the public. This is an opportunity that we should
not miss.



From the GPRC website www.gprc.org <http://www.gprc.org/>



Great Plains Restoration Council (GPRC) is working to protect 2000 acres of
the biologically richest remaining Fort Worth Prairie Ecosystem as an anchor
of urban tallgrass prairie wilderness, ultimately leading to a larger
network of core wildland reserves and biological corridors connecting this
lush remaining Fort Worth Prairie with the Western Cross Timbers. The State
of Texas General Land Office owns the property and is seeking to sell it to
developers



The Fort Worth Prairie Park is one of the most beautiful places on Earth,
and is of National Park quality, but still completely unprotected from the
bulldozers. It is a hidden crown jewel of Texas, and a national treasure
that must be preserved before it's too late. The original Fort Worth Prairie
Ecosystem is home to over 2,000 native plant species; it is our "prairie
rainforest." It is an important breeding and resting ground for
internationally migrating monarch butterflies and Central Flyway grassland
birds, whose numbers are crashing. Rock Creek and unnamed streams run
through it. All kinds of native wildlife live there, including two
genetically pure buffalo from the Fort Worth Nature Refuge, whose ancestors
come from the original Wichita Mountains Herd. There are threatened and
endangered species, a 300-year-old native Texas cedar elm tree, and more.



This rare, never-been-plowed, original Fort Worth Prairie tallgrass
landscape holds enormous ecological and cultural significance. It was a
meeting ground for numerous Prairie Tribes, including indigenous Caddo and
Wichita people who lived here. Escaped black slaves traversed these wild
grasslands as they headed for "this other country to the south" (Mexico)
that they'd heard about where they could reach freedom. There are frontier
ruins of a settler's old stone house from the 1850s, as well as a
mysterious, nearly 3 mile long handbuilt rock wall, and a burial ground. The
land survey dates back to a land grant from Juan Seguin that was given to a
soldier who fought at San Jacinto in the Texas Revolution.



The Fort Worth Prairie is one of the most endangered ecosystems in North
America. We've succeeded in stopping the bulldozers for now; the Texas
General Land Office has agreed to work with us toward a conservation
alternative. We need teams of neighborhood volunteers to make this a
county-wide push to a permanent success in 2008.



Driving Directions: The address is 10700 Old Granbury Rd, 76036

Take Hwy 377 south from Loop 820. Turn left (east) on FM 1187.
Turn left (north) on Old Granbury Rd. The gate is on the Westside of the
road and there is a white farm house. GPRC will put signs on Old Granbury
Rd before the gate.

OR take 35W south from Loop 820. Turn right (west) on FM 1187.
Turn right (north) on Old Granbury Rd. The gate is on the Westside of the
road and there is a white farm house. GPRC will put signs on Old Granbury
Rd before the gate.



Please wear sturdy shoes/boots, long pants, and a hat or cap. Please bring
water.





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