Duncanville Nature Conservancy

05/02/2026

Heads-up: the students of Village Tech are doing Ladd Preserve guided tours at 10 12 and 2pm today. Show your support. Come out as soon as you can and sign up and participate. Get your "Ladd" on! You may be able to scan the QR to sign up.

https://m.signupgenius.com/ #!/showSignUp/10C0945AFA62EA0F4C43-63794290-mosaic?useFullSite=false

05/02/2026

Time to get your "Ladd" on today 9 to 3! Come to Village Tech across from the Ladd Preserve to the Mosaic Festival. The photos show all of the displays, benches and work done on behalf of the Ladd Preserve. Come out for Ladd tours given by the students. It is a beautiful day for nature and kids.

04/24/2026

Heads up nature lovers. Here is a great chance to learn, observe and educate with some of the best. Get your nature on.

04/22/2026

🌎 Happy Earth Day from the Duncanville Nature Conservancy!

Today is a reminder of how important it is to protect and celebrate the natural spaces that sustain and inspire our community. One such place is our Charles F. Ladd Nature Preserve—a 50-acre sanctuary in southwest Duncanville along the peaceful path of Ten Mile Creek. With its shaded woodlands, limestone creek beds, native Blackland Prairie plants, and wildlife ranging from birds and butterflies to beavers and river otters, the preserve offers a unique opportunity to connect with nature right here at home. Visitors can explore soft-surface trails, stroll boardwalks through wetlands and prairie, and enjoy scenic overlooks and outdoor classrooms designed for learning and reflection.

Established through the generosity of the Ladd family and supported by the City of Duncanville, the preserve stands as a living classroom dedicated to education, conservation, and community engagement. In the spirit of Earth Day, we’re excited to share an opportunity to get involved through the City of Duncanville Ladd Preserve Advisory Committee. If you’re passionate about preserving and shaping one of our community’s most treasured natural space, we encourage you to apply and help guide its future: https://www.duncanvilletx.gov/city_hall/government/boards_commissions

04/12/2026

Thanks to everyone who came out to work on the pop-up trail project. Lots of folks came out, many with kids in tow, (and thanks to DeMonica Gooden, city councilwoman at large for participating) showing how it takes a village - and it is a ton of fun. Kudos to the Indian Trail Master Naturalists who did a great job initiating and marking the trail and working with the City to coordinate and deliver mulch. The Duncanville Nature Conservancy did all it could to support the effort and the group effort landed with an almost complete trail. Roughly 90 cubic yards of mulch was placed (almost 1,000 wheel barrow loads...lots of hard hand work but also thankful for the spunky tractor that could). There is still some smoothing and spreading work to do but it is close...and it was already in use Saturday morning. Almost 1 mile long and starts and ends at the parking lot. Another hooray for civic engagement and interest. Sore muscles definitely worth it.

04/08/2026

Pop Up Project: This Friday, April 10th, 9am, show up to spread mulch on the first soft trail designed and planned by the Indian Trail Master Naturalists at the Charles F. Ladd Nature Preserve. We have a tractor to spread mulch piles on the trail; bring a garden rake to spread it. If you have one handy, wheelbarrows will be useful. Meet at the Ladd Preserve parking lot on Cedar Hill Road just north of Danieldale. The weather will be beautiful; hands are what we need. It will be fun. Make a difference.

01/06/2026

The New Charles F. Ladd Nature Preserve Sign is UP!
The Duncanville Nature Conservancy met with the Parks Commission a few weeks ago and in very positive conversations with the Board and Parks, approval was given to install the sign. The DNC freshened up the sign and prepped it for install. Bart and Jonathan at Parks orchestrated looking for underground utilities and digging the holes and members of the Nature Conservancy along with help from the Master Naturalists and Parks set the sign.

Many thanks to Mark Croysdale and sons, of Lone Star Printing (and member of the DNC) for the thoughtful design and creation of this sign custom built from Oklahoma custom milled eastern cedar. And many thanks to the citizens of Duncanville and supporters of the Duncanville Nature Conservancy. The sign is at the corner of Danieldale and Cedar Hill Roads. Swing by to take a look. More great projects to come at the Ladd and in Duncanville. Happy New Year!

12/23/2025

The link to comment on clean water rule changes:
https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/COE_FRDOC_0001-1000?fbclid=IwVERTSAO25MpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR5fKqI-Mlp8qAiNxrzh-A5f0QJe6eSNoVlFc82QQ-68vhciK7BQLjrgjzagNw_aem_cRA3tlcEerBTsBYgcn5jwQ&sfnsn=mo

12/23/2025

This may be important to you so here is an update. Congress passed the Clean Water Act (CWA. Same session, on a bipartisan basis, also passed the endangered species act, clean air act, and marine mammals protection act) in 1972. This article gives an update on the rules changes that could affect streams and wetlands.
There are 14 days remaining to comment. Link will be posted.
Let us know if you enjoy information like this.

'This Would Have Serious, Real-World Impacts.' Why the EPA's Rule Change on Water Protections Would Be a Disaster for Fish and Wildlife | Outdoor Life

Conservationists are sounding the alarm about the EPA's proposal to strip Clean Water Act protections from many of our streams and wetlands.

11/30/2025

There is something special about this. Reminds us everybody is somebody.

Wilford the bear makes a bed and takes a long nap in the Angeles National Forest on July 6, 2022. As if he wasn’t already lovable enough, check out this gent...

11/27/2025

"Thanksgiving at the Ladd Preserve"
The morning drifts in softly through the trees,
With golden light that warms the quiet air;
We walk the paths made patient by degrees,
And feel the love that shaped this place with care.

The Ladd advocates, and our citizens - hundreds, began this hopeful dream—
A fragile seed they guarded into grace;
They saw in tangled woods a hidden gleam,
A future home, a cherished, healing space.

Now Duncanville’s Conservancy holds true,
Its steady hands restoring field and stream;
Through seasons turning old to bright and new,
They keep alive the heart of Ladd’s first dream.

And here, together, fellowship grows deep;
In every step, a story shared and blessed.
On Thanksgiving, may this moment keep
Our gratitude in nature’s quiet rest.