Statements
Mission
Friends of Radnor Lake protects, preserves, and promotes the natural integrity of the Radnor Lake State Natural Area through land acquisition, environmental education, and park support. Our nonprofit significantly augments public funding with private donations and volunteer support. We raise money for land acquisition, habitat restoration, and various park programs. Our 2,000+ volunteers help maintain trails, remove invasive plant species, and perform other tasks to help sustain the park.
Throughout 2023, Friends of Radnor Lake will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Radnor Lake State Park and State Natural Area.
Background
The organization that became Friends of Radnor Lake led the effort to preserve Radnor Lake and its surrounding acreage and played a vital role in establishing Radnor Lake as Tennessee's first Class II Natural Area. Our efforts realized a vision for Radnor Lake that began at the dawn of the previous century.
In 1913, the L & N Railroad purchased 1,000 acres in south Nashville's Overton Hills to build a reservoir to supply water for the steam engines at Radnor Yards. Soon after construction, birds discovered the haven too and began feeding there during their annual migration. Efforts to preserve Radnor Lake began in 1923 when an L&N executive stopped all hunting and fishing and declared the site a "Wildlife Sanctuary". The beginning of Radnor Lake as we know it today way born. During the six decades that followed, still under ownership of the L&N, Radnor went almost unnoticed by the greater community. Neighbors quietly hiked and biked around the lake and over the hills, enjoying the songbirds and flowers that found refuge there.
In 1971, efforts to commercially develop the property caught the attention of environmentalists and concerned citizens who sought to preserve the land in its natural state. By 1972, the Radnor Lake Preservation Fund, now Friends of Radnor Lake, was established and began a grass roots effort to save the lake. From petitions to bake sales to federal assistance, thousands of Nashvillians pulled together to raise the necessary funds to preserve Radnor Lake. Their efforts saved more than 700 acres from development, and in 1973, Radnor Lake was declared Tennessee's first Class II Natural Area. This was monumental, but only the beginning. Without the acquisitions on the surrounding ridge tops, construction runoff, septic field leakage, and pesticides would have polluted Radnor Lake.
In partnership with supportive landowners and groups such as The Land Trust for Tennessee and the Tennessee Ornithological Society as well as private funders and state government, additional tracts of land have been added to park and serve as a welcome haven to many species of plant and wildlife.
More than five decades later, visitors enjoy Radnor Lake every day of the year. We continue our dedication to the same environmental goal of protecting, preserving, and promoting the natural integrity of Radnor Lake, and are grateful for all the community members who support us.
Impact
Once Friends of Radnor Lake acquires land for the park, we then provide needed funds for environmental education, wildlife and ecosystem research, and park support. The combination of land acquisition and financial support for park programs has led to Radnor Lake becoming one of the largest contiguous pockets of wilderness (1,400 acres) in the United States in close proximity to a major city. Radnor Lake State Natural Area is visited by over 2,000,000 people annually. Its status as a protected ecosystem hosts a remarkable diversity and abundance of wildlife and plant life. Songbirds, herons, geese, wood ducks, otters, green snakes, rattlesnakes, frogs, toads, fish, turtles, beaver, wildflowers, blackberry bushes, wild roses, grand oak trees, flowering dogwood and many other members of the natural world live undisturbed. Our native grasslands initiative and invasive plant eradication have multiplied pollinator habitat and resulted in the return of Monarch butterflies as well as many other pollinating insects.
As Nashville and nearby Williamson County continue to grow by leaps and bounds, the threat to the remaining undeveloped land around Radnor increases proportionately. Friends of Radnor Lake, therefore, continues its efforts to acquire critical land parcels and significantly augment public funding with private donations supporting park needs that fall outside the State budget.
Needs
Current needs include $29,400 sponsorship for volunteer program; $25,000 for trail maintenance and repair projects; $12,000 for Junior Rangers Intern Program; $30,000 for Harris Ridge Trail project; $105,000 for continuing of native grasslands & pollinator habitat restoration and invasive species eradication; and, $39,000 for maintaining the Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center and funding interpretive programming needs. Park Support and land acquisition are ongoing needs.
CEO Statement
Friends of Radnor Lake is very passionate about Radnor Lake State Natural Area. This State park is a haven, a refuge, a sanctuary, and a wonderful place for family and friends to enjoy each other in a pristine natural area within minutes of downtown Nashville. In 2020, Radnor experienced an increase of 500,000 visitors over 2019 as people sought a safe, healthy place to walk, breathe, and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature. Since 2020, the park has continued to serve more than 2 million visitors annually.
This is a place we want to share and to protect. Radnor is enjoyed by school groups, educators, researchers, neighbors, and travelers who enjoy walking, birding, hiking, volunteering, and taking photographs. Development in the Oak Hill and Forest Hills area is rampant. This affects not only the seclusion of the natural area but also the ecosystem of wildlife and plant life.
One of our major goals is to evaluate the possibility of acquiring properties that add protection to the watershed, viewshed, plant and wildlife, and boundaries through grants, fundraising, and local, state, and federal aid. The actions taken now will have a permanent effect on the protection of Radnor Lake and its boundary. We greatly appreciate all of the 'friends' who support Radnor in a myriad of ways. Thank you!
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Environment - Natural Resources Conservation & Protection |
| Secondary Category: | Education - |
| Tertiary Category: | Environment - Land Resources Conservation |
Areas Served
Middle Tennessee
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Williamson |
