PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
JULY 2015
the rock entrance to Soldier Spring Park. Both she and
her husband have served on the Weatherford Parks and
Recreation Advisory Board. Laura was on the board
when the 2010 master plan was developed but never
approved.
They both have strong opinions about not adding
any additional trails or development of any kind to the
open spaces of the park. “We like that park because of
the natural beauty,” said Laura Anderson. “It’s a natural
study area that we thought needed to be protected,” she
continued. They point to the park’s history calling it
“the actual first historical park,” in the city. The group
has a Facebook page and claim to have several hundred
signatures on a petition stating that “we do not need, nor
do the majority of citizens want more recreational opportunities in this park.” They point to an increase in traffic
at Soldier Spring Park of walkers and families because of
the “disruption of bicycles on the paths at Heritage Park
and Holland Lake Park.” Both of these paths are part of
the Town Creek Hike and Bike Trails, which opened to
the public in the summer of 2011. The Andersons believe
that any trails created in city parks should be created and
maintained by the Parks Department’s budget paid for by
city taxes. Although the trails that have been built over
the years are not natural to the park, they were sure that
the trails were based on those, “used by wild animals,”
said Anderson.
PCT asked the couple if their opposition to adding the
mountain bike trails have anything to do with the fact
that they live across the street from the park. Michael
Anderson answered, “Absolutely. We want it to stay just
the way it is.”
Lawrence Colvin is a 30-year Weatherford resident
who has amassed years of experience creating trails and
recreational opportunities for communities and mountain bike riders. He has been president of the Fort Worth
Mountain Bikers’ Association (FWMBA) from 2007 to
2014, a group that has worked with the City of Fort
Worth, Tarrant County and the Tarrant Regional Water
District to develop trails in Fort Worth’s city parks. The
FWMBA is the winner of the Texas Recreation & Parks
Society Award as its Outstanding Service Club in 2014.
Its nomination came from the City of Fort Worth’s Parks
& Community Services Department. Colvin is also a
board member of the Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association as well as an advisory board member of the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Texas Trails. He is a civil engineer and
landscape architect with more t han three decades of experience developing projects on private and public lands.
The Fort Worth group that he led has built non-paved
single-lane trails in Gateway Park and Marion Sampson
Park in Fort Worth and donated over 10,000 hours of
volunteer service to the City of Fort Worth. The 11 miles
of trails built and maintained by the group at Marion
Sampson Park have vistas that overlook Lake Worth.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price is an avid bike rider and
has begun several initiatives to get more citizens involved
in bike riding, including Bike FW and Fit Fort Worth, that
is sponsoring a Tour de Fort Worth beginning July 5. It is
a 21-day exploration of Fort Worth on bikes. Fort Worth
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has worked closely with the FWMBA in both Gateway
Park and Marion Sampson Park. The mayor was asked if
she considered the mountain biking group a good partner
for the city of Fort Worth. “The Fort Worth Mountain Biking Association has become a great partner through our
adopt a park program. They’ve even gone on to win an
award through the Texas Recreation and Park Society for
their outstanding service and volunteerism as they work
to build, maintain and operate mountain bike trails,”
Price said.
“Mountain biking is a legitimate recreational activ-
ity. The mountain bike clubs are providing a valuable
service to the community. They provide free labor and
free recreation to hundreds of thousands of Texans,” said
Colvin. In fact, most visitors to Dinosaur Valley State
Park in Glen Rose just south of Granbury have enjoyed
hiking and exploring on trails built and maintained by a
mountain bike club. “There is a 12-mile trail at Dinosaur
Valley State Park, all maintained by a mountain bike
club,” explained Colvin. One of the biggest benefits to
state parks and municipalities alike is the indemnification
of the trails when a mountain bike club comes in to build
and maintain trails on public land. “We want to come
in as a club, we want to come in with our insurance and
take responsibility for the trails. The trails that are out
there now are the responsibility of the City of Weatherford, even though people are out there building trails