A five-acre nature center established on reclaimed land about twelve years ago. It serves as a place for the local community to access a nature area without driving, and as an outdoor classroom for neighboring schools. It is located in north Oak Cliff, 7 minutes west of the Bishop Arts District.
Volunteers plant native grasses and other native plant seeds, remove invasive plants, maintain and beautify the trails and entrance area. They also lead nature walks and help with school and neighborhood events at the site.
2023 Activities – 45 volunteers with 2,760 hours of service performed
- Prairie Restoration:
- In 2022 and 2023 large areas of privet were removed two areas. In 2023, the areas were weeded and planted to create thickets of native plants.
- The entire Nature Center including the prairie and butterfly garden continues to be managed by adding Backland Prairie plants and seeds and removing introduced and aggressive plants.
- Workdays are held every Sunday to accomplish these tasks; several volunteers work on the project daily. Workdays were held for a few groups throughout the year. Young Men’s Service League sent volunteers most weeks.
- Education:
- Twelve Hills volunteers mentored a 2023 class project team. The team learned how to restore disturbed land to Backland Prairie through a hands-on effort.
- Twelve Hills hosted a one-day Trinity River Crew teen internship program. Interns learned about the Backland Prairie ecosystem and participated in a service project. This program is run by Trinity Park Conservancy and GreenSpace Dallas.
- The Nature Leaders program was held in the spring. 24 students completed a 14 week afterschool program where they learned about all aspects of the Backland Prairie, about outdoor ethics and how to lead nature walks. They led nature walks for their peers over a period of a week. Many of the class walks were rained out.
- Walks for St. Cecilia’s Catholic School held in October. Topic – nature at night.
- Several walks were held for preschool children in partnership with Rosemont Early Childhood PTA and Rosemont Primary School.
- Mount St. Michaels’ 4th grade also visited.
- We continue to participate in the MathFinders NSF grant, https://gomathfinder.org/ “encouraging students to love math by helping them see it everywhere”.
- Outreach:
- Six community nature walks were held; they provided AT for NTMN as well as education for the local community.
- Twelve Hills participated in Oak Cliff Earth Day at Lake Cliff Park.
- We hosted a gathering and gave a presentation for the Oak Cliff gardeners Gardens Tour and Plant Swap,
- A prairie festival planned for the end of October but was cancelled because of rain.
- An informational kiosk was begun and should be completed in the first half of 2024.
- An Eagle project created plant labels especially for the butterfly garden.