Once a wilderness of forests, prairies and wetlands,in February 1964, the Fort Worth Park-Recreation Board designated land for the Greer Island Nature Center & Wildlife Refuge, "a wildlife sanctuary and nature preserve." The area comprised "Greer Island, some 55 acres plus the surrounding water and shoreline, making about 380 acres in all" – and eventually became the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge.
At 3,621 acres, it is one of the largest city-owned nature centers in the United States. More than 20 miles of hiking trails allow access to the natural wonders of the refuge. The FWNCR offers a variety of education programs and hikes for individuals, schools and families, and a lot of passive recreation, so visitors can canoe, kayak, walk and bird.
Throughout 2014, the urban center celebrates 50 years of providing sanctuary for wildlife and wildlife enthusiasts. Anniversary celebrations kicked off on March 22 with a 50th Anniversary Founders Plaque Dedication, followed by a bird-watching hike for attendees. On April 26, a VIP celebration dinner, "Fort Worth Wild," was held at the Nature Center's Broadview Park, which featured Texas Parks and Wildlife Executive Director Carter Smith. In May, the center held its annual Buffalo Boogie and the Snakes of Tarrant County exhibit at Hardwicke Interpretive Center.
The 400 guests at the VIP celebration dinner enjoyed a meal catered by Bonnell's Fine Texas Cuisine, with music by 5 Second Rule. The event included a silent auction, which featured such items as multiple plein air paintings, a camel trek in the Davis Mountains, a quail hunt on a private ranch and limited edition collection of bird paintings by twin brothers Stuart and Scott Gentling, just to name a few. Live auction items included naming rights for the center's new bull bison and a bronze bison sculpture commemorating the center's 50 years, which was cast on site by sculptor Vincent Villafranca.
The auctions alone brought in $39,000.
"I'm thankful to the crew and staff, who have been working on the event for two years," said Suzanne Tuttle, the center's manager. As proud as we are of everything the Nature Center has accomplished since 1964, we're equally excited about what the next 50 years will hold."
The Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge was established as a non-profit organization on June 1, 1974, by 40 people who shared the common goal of "preserving and protecting the natural and cultural resources." Since then, the Friends has evolved from hands-on administration of Nature Center programs to the Center's largest nonprofit financial supporter.
The Friends will sponsor a juried art show titled Broadview: A Spectrum of Nature, featuring original 2D and 3D artwork. The exhibition and benefit sale will be open to the public Nov. 7-23 at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.
"We are a landscape that's native to North Texas and native to the Fort Worth area," Tuttle said. "We offer a lot of educational programs to help kids learn more about their native landscape and if they've never been exposed much to the outdoors, to get that exposure. People can get in touch with that landscaping and kind of reclaim that sense of place and what makes Fort Worth and North Texas a special landscape to live in," she said.
