The Power of Friends - North Texas Trails

Who are the Friends Groups that support your favorite trails and how can you support them

Introduction

You’ve probably seen signs or articles written (in this blog or elsewhere), about various “Friends of” organizations. Probably the most famous group in North Texas is the Friends of the Katy Trail, who in 1997 formed to create an extremely popular rails to trails project that converted an old Union-Pacific railroad line into one of the Crown Jewels of Dallas trails system: The Katy Trail.

But what exactly are these organizations, and how do they operate? And most importantly, what can you do to support the good works that they do to ensure that they can continue to work for the benefit of all residents in North Texas?

Read on to find out!

What a Friends Group Is (and what they are NOT)

Friends groups are typically formed by local citizens to support a park greenbelt or other public assets like libraries. They typically form as non-profit 501(c)(3) groups, and then form relationships with city entities. For instance, in Dallas, a friends group would sign an agreement with the Dallas Parks Department giving them certain powers and responsibilities.

Friends groups are important as they can do things that cities are prohibited from doing. For example, they are able to fundraise for park improvements, and solicit outside organizations for that support. These activities are critical to fund things that ever tightening city budgets can’t fund. For instance, Northaven Trail’s murals were done by the Friends of Northaven Trail, and the Bachman Greenbelt nature trail was fundraised by Friends of Bachman Lake.

Friends groups also can advocate and push city leadership for park improvements, and serve as a voice for the citizens in that regard. City employees might push internally for funds, but Friends groups can organize citizens to write to their council members or attend council meetings to express a point of view. Friends of the Dallas Public LIbrary for example organized their membership to attend budget meetings and district council meetings to express opposition to proposed cuts to the library budget.

Friends groups organize neighbors and interested parties into volunteers who pick up trash, remove invasive species and replace them with native plants and wildflowers.

Friends groups should have an intertwined mission with their public partners. For example, the Friends groups in Dallas all have a relationship with the Parks Department, and work in concert. While Friends groups are given permission to do improvements in these spaces, they still need to stay within the guidelines of their agreements, and any improvements belong to the city.

Friends of groups are not the government; they are independent non-profit entities and can not act as legal agents for the city. While they are important, and can push against city policies and procedures, ultimately the parks or public entities are run by the city and control these public assets. They are also prohibited from participating in political campaigns or endorsing candidates. Members of Friends groups can of course participate in political activity, but solely as private citizens and not as part of the Friends groups specifically.

DFW Friends Group Spotlights

There are lots of Friends organizations across the Metroplex doing good works, enhancing parks and trail systems, keeping them clean and advocating for future improvements and connectivity.

Here are just a few examples of Friends of Organizations, and what they are doing:

Friends of Katy Trail: Beyond helping to create the Katy Trail, Friends of Katy Trail also operates and maintains the trail, which has millions of visits annually. The trail is community funded, so they raise both private funds, and host events like the Katy 5k to raise money for landscaping lighting, security, signage, water fountains and the other amenities. They also bring in public art.
Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge: The Fort Worth Nature Center is a jewel of the area, and their Friends group is critical to raising funds that the federal / municipal budgets don’t cover. They also support the native bison herd, fund alligator nest monitoring and constructed the new boardwalk. Like many other groups, they also engaged in trash pickup, to restore trails from litter.
Friends of Northaven Trail: Northaven Trail has a very active Friends group that has been busy beautifying the area. Located in an ONCOR Easement, the trail has benefited from over 10 years of wildflower seed plantings, establishing pollinator areas across the length of the trail. Per the organization, this created the longest urban wildflower garden in the US. They’ve also fundraised for the new murals located by the new bridge, that spans Central Expressway connecting Northaven to the White Rock Creek Trail.
Friends of Bachman Lake: Friends of Bachman Lake (FoBL) have been busy caring for Bachman Lake, and also restoring the nearby Bachman Greenbelt. Beyond picking up trash in both locations, FoBL funded the nature trail in the greenbelt, built by Greenspace Dallas, and in 2026 started eradicating privet across the entirety of the 58 acre greenbelt. Their ultimate aim is to create a native plant arboretum, to advance outdoor education and recreations for the area.
Friends of the Dallas Public Library: Different from the others mentioned, Friends of the Dallas Public Library are focused on improving the public library system as a whole. From advocating for and raising critical funds to support the system, they’ve also funded initiatives to improve early childhood literacy, summer reading programs and GED support.

This is just a snapshot of the kinds of groups that support trails and public works across the metroplex. As you can see, each group is contributing to the benefit of their cities as a whole, doing important work that matters. There are many more groups than what I’ve listed above, in fact, there likely is a Friends of Organization in your own backyard, at a local park, trail or library that you enjoy.

Why do Friends Groups Matter?

Friends of groups play a critical role in the health of our neighborhoods and communities. As city budgets continue to tighten, they are able to supplement the lack of municipal dollars and act as a crucial safety valve to prevent the loss of necessary improvements or services.

Because they are outside of the local governments, they do have certain advantages as well. Yes, they need to work with the city to outline what they are able to do, once that permission is granted, they are able to move quickly. From buying equipment and applying for grants, to hiring ecological surveys and holding community educational programs, Friends groups can move quickly to fill that gap.

Fundraising is a critical component of how they provide value. Many larger companies or grants prefer donating to private non-profits rather than directly to governmental entities. Friends groups that are 501(c)(3) entities are able to accept gifts and use them on behalf of the donors for those improvements.

So as you can see, Friends of groups play a vital role in maintaining and improving these city assets, like trails, that we love to use!

Why You Should Support Your Local Friends Group

As trail users, we love to get outside and experience a well maintained space free of trash and full of wonder. Those things don’t just happen by themself. It requires a team of volunteers pulling together to enable these outcomes.

Beyond supporting nature, what else does volunteering with these groups do?

Health and Happiness: There has been a lot of research coming out about the health benefits of nature. From reducing anxiety and improving blood pressure, being outside is good for you. So participating in work days, like pulling invasive species or picking up trash, does you good, benefits nature and the broader community.
Make Friends: You often hear about a crisis of loneliness, and the difficulty of making friends. Joining a Friends group is an easy way to meet like minded people who enjoy the outdoors and want to make a difference. This is a great way to meet neighbors, city officials and other enthusiasts.
Benefits Are Easily Seen: Another perk of getting involved, is being able to see the changes you’ve enabled. A trash pick-up provides instant visual improvement. Raising money to install new trails or larger scale capital improvements takes longer to enable, but is very satisfying to see completed!

Bachman Greenbelt Volunteers — Irrigation System Install at Bachman Greenbelt

Your Call to Action

You can support your local advocacy organizations in a couple of ways:

Volunteer: Reach out to them. Most groups have websites and social media accounts so you can find out when a trash pickup event is occurring, or when there is a call for help to support specific initiatives.
Join: Friends of Groups, as non-profits have to establish boards that provide oversight and governance to ensure that the assets that they hold in trust, are used appropriately. They also set priorities for upcoming improvement activities and events. They are always looking for new board members or committee members. Joining one is a good way to give back and to meet new friends with common interests.
Donate: Friends of Groups always need money or supplies to enable their missions. You can donate during special events like North Texas Giving Day, but donations can be made at any time of the year. Money is the lifeblood for these groups to beautify and improve these spaces

Now that you know more about who these Friends are, think about how you can help make a difference and improve your local neighborhoods and nature spaces! Your greenbelt needs you!

See the “Ten Questions with Friends of Bachman Lake” article to learn more about how one Friends of Group operates, and how they overcome challenges to make a difference in their community.