Spring Creek Forest Preserve

In 1978, Bobby C. Scott, a self-taught botanist, recognized some plants in a section of woods in Garland, Texas as indicators of virgin forest.

In 1988, Dallas County and the State of Texas purchased 69 acres (28 ha) of the land to set aside as the Spring Creek Forest Preserve.

[1][2][3][4] The preserve is situated in northern Dallas County, and features old-growth bottomland forest with a gentle, wide spring water stream that flows over a bed of solid limestone.

In keeping with the goals of the preservation society, the forest is kept as natural as possible so that visitors can step back in time and experience life as it was before the area was settled by the Peter's Colony in 1846.

Every February, nature walks are held by the society to celebrate the blooming of the trout lily (dogtooth-violet), a wildflower that is considered the harbinger of Spring for locals.

The majority of Spring Creek has been land locked by private housing developments and commercial office buildings along its entire ten-mile length for decades.

The Lee F. Jackson Spring Creek Forest Preserve, where official tours are held at 1770 Holford Rd., contains approximately 83 acres (34 ha).

The primary land owner was Ann C. Weary, an internationally know artist[citation needed] who sketched the trees in intricate detail.

Today, there exists a great quantity[not specific enough to verify] of undeveloped acreage, which could be preserved, on both publicly and privately owned land.

The city has allocated most of its park funding[citation needed] toward the construction of playgrounds and soccer fields, some built directly along the banks of the stream.

The middle waters of Spring Creek flow in the shadows of the Owen's Sausage farm/processing plant and several computer technology skyscrapers.

While it was hoped by many citizens[quantify][citation needed] for many years that the county would purchase the land, or in the least that the city Planning and Zoning Commission would only approve environmentally related businesses, it is now apparent that this is not the case[according to whom?].