Dallas image-makers love to tout the all that’s supposedly good and beautiful around here.
When they come across seemingly good news, they call a press conference, assemble the local media, and put on a nice big dog-and-pony show to demonstrate the wonders of Dallas.
That scenario played out, or at least that was the plan, Thursday when Dallas City Council members and a few of their closet friends boarded a bus bound for White Rock Lake to view 70 acres of unblemished, natural prairie grasslands.
The area came about, they said, as part of a multimillion dollar blah-blah-blah grant from the state, part of its State Wildlife Grants program in collaboration with Native Prairies Association of Texas, Connemara Conservancy, Texas Master Naturalists/North Texas, Audubon Society, Dallas Parks and Recreation, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
It was supposed to be a tour of an inner-urban nature oasis and reserve. Supposed to be.
When they arrived, as did the media, they saw 70 acres of freshly mowed, wide-open field. Apparently city mowing crews didn’t get the memo about the nature preserve, and, well, um, oops.
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. Hey, his lawn needs to be mowed.
