Author, Conservationist Honored by Friends of Fort Worth Nature Center – Welcome to the City of Fort Worth

Posted on April 28, 2022

Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge honored George Bristol today at their annual fundraising event, Fort Worth Wild.

Bristol sits on the Friends board of directors and was instrumental in securing $200,000 in Texas Parks and Wildlife funding for the Nature Center, including the improved Greer Island trailhead and l addition of facilities for visitors. More recently, he helped raise $450,000 for new bison viewing decks for the center.

For over 40 years, Bristol has been a successful entrepreneur, political organizer and lobbyist. He was appointed to the board of directors of the National Park Foundation by President Clinton and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt. Bristol formed the Texas Coalition for Conservation, where he advocated for better funding for Texas state parks. As president of this organization, he led a statewide effort that resulted in a constitutional amendment that permanently dedicated funding to national and local parks and historic sites. His statewide efforts continued when he helped renew and expand the Texas State Parks Advisory Board.

“I’ve always looked up to George as sort of the contemporary patron saint of state parks. He grew up using and loving state and national parks, but he also spent his life giving back to them, making them better than he found them,” said Carter Smith, executive director of the Department of Parks. and wildlife of Texas.

Bristol is the author of Glacier National Park: The Culmination of Giantsand his autobiography, Politics and Parksas well as a recently commissioned book on the history of the Texas state park system, to be published in 2023 – its centennial year.

Photo: George Bristol

Get articles like this delivered to your inbox. Subscribe to municipal news.