SAVING NATURE IN DALLAS

In 1857, New York City wisely set aside 840 acres of green space in the center of Manhattan that otherwise would now be covered with asphalt. That act of foresight produced Central Park. Now Dallas has a chance to save more than 800 acres of a unique geological site located only 20 minutes from downtown.

Greenhills Center, near Duncanville, includes steep, chalky bluffs and meandering streams that are part of the 100-mile-long White Rock Escarpment. The land, in the words of Greenhills’ director, Dr. Geoffrey Stanford, is “superbly hospitable” to such rare wildflowers as the trout lily, and to experiments with native grasses and ornamental shrubs like the Mexican buckeye.

To keep Greenhills green and thriving, Stanford has organized the Greenhills Foundation to raise the $2.5 million needed to buy the land and set up an endowment to maintain it.

Dave Fox of Fox and Jacobs, which owns the land, is offering it to the foundation for $1.5 million, about $4 million less than the price of a similar-sized plot of land at nearby Mountain Creek Lake. A single large donation could bring about a name change for Greenhills.