The Bachman Lake Greenbelt: 40-acres of potential

by Amanda M. Forrest

As one of the newest board members of the Friends of Bachman Lake, our president and Susanna Brown invited me to join her and some fellow outdoor enthusiasts to explore the Bachman Creek Nature Area, which is an exciting initiative that the board of FOBL is taking on this year (and for many years to come). For those of you who don’t know about this area, and don’t feel bad…I had zero clue this was even a part of our little area of Dallas…it is an area with such amazing potential and with the caring eye of Susanna and the help of local business such as RootedIn, it really has the potential to be the Arboretum of Bachman Lake!

We sprayed ourselves down with bug spray and sunscreen and walked into the entry of the field with a big open area where I could mentally picture little kids running around playing hide and seek in the tall wildflowers. I could also envision all members of our community heading off for a nature walk to learn about all the plants and flowers that are native to our area of Dallas and Texas in general. My mom has always been very into plants (she taught biology for almost 30 years), but for a very long time I wasn’t interested and could barely keep an air plant alive! I am not sure if it’s getting married, getting older, or just wanting to help our planet as much as possible, but I couldn’t learn and listen and understand enough to fill my cup with knowledge of this beautiful area, and more importantly learn how I could help with this special project.

Daniel Cunningham from RootedIn, also known as the TXPlantGuy, was our guide to everything that we could put on eyes on. He mentioned one of the ground covers was the biggest patch that he had ever seen in his career and then we moved on another section of the field with some wildflowers and native trees with a ton of potential once we have the ability to help clear out some of the wild privet which has taken over at the base of most of the trees which can stunt their growth.

We continued on our walk and entered into the canopy section of the Bachman Creek Nature Area and you instantly feel like you are transported to another country. You cannot hear the planes flying over you from Love Field, you look up to see big branches of trees who have been providing for this area for over 100 years, and the temperature drops a good 15 degrees due to the shade provided. We scanned the area and in it’s current state there is a lot of debris and trash (☹), but walking down the “paths” and see where the bridges could be built and benches could be added, it was invigorating to let our imaginations run wild. This area truly is a recreational jewel of northwest Dallas and something we will all enjoy and cherish as a community for many generations to come. If you have questions or want to help, please let us know…there is room for all levels of interest, and we cannot wait to keep you updated on the progress of this amazing project!