Latest GPRC News

Mark Your Calendar: Fort Worth Prairie Park, Saturday, April 4

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:53:03 -0500

GPRC Fort Worth Youth are working on restoring native tallgrass prairie to the pipeline cut at the Fort Worth Prairie Park this Saturday, April 4. Volunteer opportunities are available for the public, as this will be a large, ongoing project.

Tuesday March 3, 2009

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:00:00 -0600

Ittleson Foundation Funders’ Breakfast NYC 8;30-10 a.m.

Feb 13-21, 2009

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:25:00 -0600

Houston Endowment just completed a fact-finding trip through the Texas Plains that included visits to GPRC West Texas project areas, as well as to Fort Worth, where they observed a Youth InterACTION session and later visited the Fort Worth Prairie Park. Out at Caprock Canyons, State Park, GPRC secured agreement on release of the first three buffalo bulls for our new 12,000 acre Cynthia Ann Parker Wilderness Recovery Project. Also identified was the first backcountry site for creation of a large, very remote prairie dog town that will be protected for a very long time. Needed now: Mesquite and cedar removal.

Saturday, Dec 19, 2009

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:26:00 -0600

Plains Youth InterACTION Christmas Party 6-9 p.m at GPRC headquarters., sponsored by Judge Maryellen Hicks.

Youth trip Nov. 15 2008 to Old Fort Parker, where Cynthia...

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:06:22 -0600

Youth trip Nov. 15 2008 to Old Fort Parker, where Cynthia Ann was first abducted by Comanches

GPRC Youth InterACTION Fort Worth kids will travel to the Fort Parker site in Limestone County, TX

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:30:00 -0600

GPRC Youth InterACTION Fort Worth kids will travel to the Fort Parker site in Limestone County, TX Saturday November 15th, where Cynthia Ann Parker was born, and taken from her Anglo family to live with the Comanches. (Cynthia Ann is the namesake of GPRC’s new 12,000 acre project in West Texas).

On Saturday we will learn and understand the start of Cynthia Ann’s story, the frontier Anglo presence on the tallgrass Blackland Prairie (now almost extinct), and the Black slave/ (and rare freedmen) presence too on this once fertile, wild Texas area. Youth will see how the story arc continues out to our Cynthia Ann Parker Wilderness Recovery Project 200 miles northwest of Fort Worth, where they have begun active restoration.

Fort Worth Jaycees and GPRC have agreed to a formal partnership, and will jointly work to permanently protect the 2,000 acre Fort Worth Prairie Park as our primary goal.

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:31:00 -0500

Fort Worth Jaycees wants to help raise $5.5 million within the next 6 - 8 months toward this goal, $5 million which will go toward direct acquisition of this endangered prairie tract, and $500,000 of which will go toward GPRC’s programs and efforts in support of the Prairie Park and its emerging Ecological Health movement.

The public is enthusiastically encouraged to participate in this campaign. For further information, please contact GPRC at 817 838 9022 or the FWJC at http://fortworthjaycees.com or 817-713-0358.

FORT WORTH PRAIRIE PARK HIGHLIGHTED AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:54:00 -0500

PRESS RELEASE
September 21, 2008

For Immediate Release
Contact:Coletta Strickland (817) 838-9022 or info@grpc.org
Great Plains Restoration Council

FORT WORTH PRAIRIE PARKHIGHLIGHTED AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCEGPRC

Youth Leader Kabongo “KB” Kabuta (age 17) and Jarid Manos to speak FORT WORTH, TX - Fort Worth Prairie Park - Our own “Prairie Rainforest”, a 1,983 acre remnant of Fort Worth’s unique and endangered tallgrass prairie ecosystem and the local non-profit, Great Plains Restoration Council (GPRC), are being featured at the 2008 International Urban Parks Conference being held in Pittsburgh, PA Sept 21-23, 2008 - www.UrbanParks08.o rg or www.gprc.org

GPRC was asked to attend and present because of its leadership role in protecting the Fort Worth Prairie Park. GPRC’s approach is considered unique because it works to heal and strengthen human health through the action of healing and strengthening the prairies and plains.

The Fort Worth Prairie Park is southeast of Lake Benbrook and the State of Texas General Land Office wishes to sell it for development. A coalition of elected officials, churches, community groups and non-profits support protecting this original prairie habitat as an urban park because of it’s G1/G2 “globally endangered status”, its very high plant diversity, its nesting grounds for Western Hemisphere migrating grassland birds and monarch butterflies, and the health and educational services it provides to a local populace with very little access to native prairie open space. GPRC’s efforts were supported by a unanimous resolution of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court.

Jarid Manos, Founder and CEO of Great Plains Restoration Council, and Kabongo Kabuta (age 17), who is a student at Arlington Heights High School and one of the senior youth leaders in GPRC’s Plains Youth InterACTION program, will present during two panels:

“Young Voices in the Parks”
“Building a Truly Democratic Urban Parks Movement”

With attendees from over 500 governmental, business and NGO representatives from across the country and internationally, this is the largest urban parks conference this year. Great Plains Restoration Council is the only non-profit being featured both days. Local Associate members of the Conference are Streams & Valleys and Carter & Burgess, Inc.

Mr. Manos and Mr. Kabuta are also invited guests at the Teresa Heinz dinner and the book signing by famed Last Child in the Woods author Richard Louv, who will speak on the rising deterioration of children’s health and development that is due to the destruction of the Earth’s natural ecosystems and children’s increasing alienation from and lack of interaction within wild nature. Mr. Manos will also host a book signing for his book - Ghetto Plainsman - a story of survival and renewal that has implications for everyone and our endangered Earth.

# # #

U.S. needs a Great Plains Trail, by GPRC Board Chair Frank Popper

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:53:00 -0500

U.S. needs a Great Plains Trail, by GPRC Board Chair Frank Popper:

By Scott Wails,

Deborah Popper

and Frank Popper

PRINCETON, N.J. — Our country has 26 National Scenic or Historic trails that draw visitors from everywhere. The tourist or native can hike, say, the Appalachian Trail in the East or the Pacific Crest Trail in the West, savoring the Shenandoah Valley or the Sierra and Cascade mountains. Or they can explore the Gulf Coast on the Florida National Scenic Trail… READ MORE.

Jarid Manos speaking at Unity Church, September 14

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:18:43 -0500

Jarid Manos speaking at Unity Church, September 14:

Jarid will be the guest speaker at Unity Church on Sunday September 14.

Our kids were one of the main beneficiaries for the backpack...

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:13:39 -0500

Our kids were one of the main beneficiaries for the backpack drive, and GPRC thanks Men of Essence for their generosity in support of our youth.

Back to Nature and Ready for Guests in the Great Plains

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:24:40 -0500

Back to Nature and Ready for Guests in the Great Plains:

New York Times Article
By JOSHUA KURLANTZICK Published: June 8, 2008

This year, Men of Essence’s Kickoff Event will take place...

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:46:00 -0500

This year, Men of Essence’s Kickoff Event will take place at the home of one of our esteemed sponsors, Mr. Michael Troupe. The address is 6903 Clearhaven Drive, Dallas, Texas 75248

Unity Church to tour Fort Worth Prairie Park, June 7th, 2008

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:43:42 -0500

Unity Church to tour Fort Worth Prairie Park, June 7th, 2008

Sundance Channel: PEOPLE OF COLOR DON’T CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:50:32 -0500

Sundance Channel: PEOPLE OF COLOR DON’T CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT:

“People of Color Don’t Care About the Environment.” Unfortunately, you’re likely to hear this dismissive comment far too often among lawmakers and media types—and even from some environmental activists.

Fortunately, it’s not true.

MIT TechTV Remaking Environments

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:47:00 -0500

MIT TechTV Remaking Environments:

Restoration and Remediation as Solutions?

See the video PART 1 and PART 2

Panelists: Brian Donahue, Jarid Manos, Kathryn Morgan, Jae Rhim Lee

Moderator: Dale Joachim

Friday, April 11, 2008

60 Oglala kids to venture to Harney Peak sacred site in the Black Hills (South Dakota)

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:02:02 -0500

Thursday, April 17, 2008 - This Thursday, 60 Plains Youth InterACTION kids in the GPRC-Thunder Valley youth leadership development program will travel from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to Harney Peak where they will learn firsthand the cultural importance of this Lakota Sacred Site. Understanding Lakota cosmology and the ancient places of importance to Lakota people are part of the participatory education inherent in Youth InterACTION’s Ecological Health developmental process.

Jarid Manos speaking at MIT

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:42:11 -0500

GPRC’s CEO Jarid Manos speaking at MIT, Friday April 11 at the “Disruptive Environments: Academics, Activists and Journalists in Conversation at the MIT Museum”

Saving the Wide-open Prairie

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:12:03 -0600

Saving the Wide-open Prairie:

Environmentalists want to keep power transmission lines out of a pristine Fort Worth park

UTA Grad student project on prairie preservation wins award

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:58:00 -0600

UTA Grad student project on prairie preservation wins award:

Please join us in congratulating a multidisciplinary team of UT Arlington graduate students who have won the Student Project Award from the Midwest Section of the Texas chapter of the American Planning Association.

Download the Prairie Park Report