Friends donates 3 acre Park addition to City
Friends of Steele Creek Nature Center and Park recently gave the City of Bristol Tennessee a big New Year’s gift. How big was it? Almost exactly three acres! And, more than its size, was what it contained!
After years of effort, Friends was able to purchase a three acre lot just off of Skyline Drive and to donate the land to the City with important deed restrictions. Although the land is not currently accessible by road or trail, it contains a short segment of Trinkle Creek, a tributary of Steele’s Creek that hosts an important population Tennessee dace. According to Kevin Hamed, former Nature Center Manager/Naturalist and expert on the Tennessee dace, the State of Virginia has been investing major funding into protecting and restoring its habitat as it is endangered in Virginia; in Tennessee it is listed as a species in need of management. With the addition of this parcel to Steele Creek Park, the entirety of Trinkle Creek is now within Park boundaries which will help to protect the creek and its important ecosystem.
There are no plans to allow public access to the Park from Skyline Drive. However, the addition will allow for access to the remote area of the Park by City staff in case of emergencies.
Purchase of the land was made possible by the Friends’ Land Acquisition Fund, established several years ago by a generous donation from Sharon and Powell Foster. It is hoped that, in the future, this fund can be replenished so that additional land might be acquired for protection and donation to the City.
Feel free to contact us by e-mail if you’d like to know more about this recent addition to the Park, or if you’d like to know how you can help us in enhancing and protecting the Park.
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