News from the River (Cont.)

City Leaders Sign Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge Steel

The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is one of two signature bridges, both designed by Santiago Calatrava, featured in the Trinity River Corridor Project. The second bridge, the Margaret McDermott Bridge (I-30), will begin construction at a later date.

Hundreds of Volunteers Clean-up Tire Dumps in the Great Trinity Forest
Mega-tire Clean-up effort was a partnership between Groundwork Dallas and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Groundwork Dallas and hundreds of volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cleared tires from three illegal dumping sites in the Great Trinity Forest on Saturday, May 22, 2010. The volunteers represented the Dallas-Fort Worth Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, with participants coming from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Leaders from the Church, including Gordon Little, the Regional Representative out of McKinney, Texas, for the State Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, were on-site to welcome volunteers to the event and offer them a continental breakfast before a hard morning of work.

The 300 volunteers filled more than seven industrial-size 40 foot dumpsters with tires from the Bruton Bottoms and Petty Lane areas of the Great Trinity Forest, just east of Rochester Park.

Participants rolled the tires from the dump sites and collected them in designated areas for proper disposal. Councilwoman Carolyn Davis visited the clean-up sites to encourage the volunteers and to thank them for their efforts. Following the clean-up, the enthusiastic volunteers, all single adults age 18-30 from the Mormon Helping Hands program, were tired and dirty but happy with their contribution to the health of the forest. The Mormon Helping Hands program promotes community involvement and humanitarian efforts around the world.

The clean-up event was the largest tire removal project ever hosted by Groundwork Dallas and continued the organization’s efforts to clean up the 6,000-acre Great Trinity Forest. REI, Dallas Independent School District, Waste Management, and the City of Dallas were also sponsors of the massive clean-up. In addition, the City of Dallas Marshals Office had their officers on location and even had a chance to keep illegal dumping at bay during the clean-up.

It is important for everyone to watch for illegal dumping in Dallas and to contact the Marshals Office with information: http://www.dallascityhall.com/courts/city_marshall.html. The clean-up effort emphasized the negative effects of illegal dumping and hopes to discourage future dumping in the Great Trinity Forest and throughout Dallas.

Groundwork Dallas is a non-profit organization that improves access to the Great Trinity Forest by planning, constructing and maintaining nature trails, multi-use recreational trails and trail amenities in the forest. Through community-based outreach efforts that touch citizens, businesses and other organizations, Groundwork Dallas encourages the sustainable management and development of the Great Trinity Forest area.

Groundwork Dallas is a Local Trust in the Groundwork USA network, which is a joint effort between the National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program and the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfield’s Program.