This Saturday, hundreds of volunteers will descend upon White Rock Lake to leave their footprint on East Dallas’ beloved reservoir and leisure spot.

On the heels of a landmark centennial celebration in 2011 and in pursuit of reforesting the area around White Rock Lake, volunteers will gather to plant 150 trees Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Environmentally engaged citizens of the Lake area can participate in the White Rock Lake Reforestation Project, hosted by the City of Dallas Parks Department and four other volunteer-based groups – For the Love of the Lake, the White Rock Lake Conservancy, White Rock Lake Foundation, and Groundwork Dallas.

Volunteers will install new forestry near the Stone Tables picnic area by Dixon Bay, which is on the east side of White Rock Lake near Buckner and Lake Highlands Drive. The trees planted Saturday include American, Elms, Cottonwood, Pecan, Sycamore, Cedar, Elm, Black, and the Willow species. 

In 2008, the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department requested the inception of a White Rock Lake initiative that would promote the upkeep of the lake area; thus, the White Rock Lake Conservancy was born. According to the organization’s website, the group “supports implementation of Dallas’ White Rock Master Plan through major fundraising initiatives and development expertise to meet significant park needs.” Additionally, the City of Dallas outlined a “Top Ten List For White Rock Lake,” conservancy Executive Director Rachel Wright said.

“One of [the goals on the list] was the reforestation. [The city of Dallas] provided volunteers and trees and irrigation,” Wright said. “This is the first event that we’re doing, and we’re going to do a series of them over the next three or four years.” 

Wright said the trees have already been purchased by the City of Dallas, but before they were bought, volunteers, the lead forester for the city, and a select band of “citizen foresters” surveyed the lake area to determine White Rock Lake’s greatest needs. 

The citizen foresters who will be among the some-300 participants on Saturday were trained in a monthly course lasting five months, taught by Dallas City Forester Karen Woodard. The course, which is sponsored by the Urban Forest Advisory Committee, has graduated at least 50 foresters since it was first offered in 2007 and offers curriculum that teaches planting skills and how to identify disease and pathogen in forestry. 

About two months ago, the conservancy executive said that volunteers “identified species of trees that needed to be replaced” and assessed how many trees were needed to re-populate the lake area with new, healthy vegetation.

Wright said many trees around White Rock Lake are between 70 and 100 years old.

“If you look around White Rock Lake, you can see the ones that are really in need of replacement,” she said. 

There are multiple initiatives in the community to preserve the history and beautification of White Rock Lake – once known around these parts as “The People’s Playground” – as well as numerous events revolving around the East Dallas fixture, like the annual Dallas Marathon (formerly known as the White Rock Lake Marathon) that situates runners around the water.

Saturday morning, Lake neighborhood residents will congregate with For the Love of the Lake for the monthly Second Saturday Shoreline Spruce Up, a venture aiming to clean trash throughout White Rock Lake Park. Participants are beginning the “spruce up” at 8 a.m. at the For the Love of the Lake office, and breakfast items will be provided for volunteers. Then, they will join in on the reforestation efforts.

The director of the conservancy said that in the talks preceding the reforestation event, volunteers and Lake enthusiasts expressed a desire to plant trees not only to enhance the aesthetics of the Lake community, but to replenish a site that was long known as the primary water, boating, and swimming source in Dallas for the next round of residents and patrons.

“We’re just planting the trees for the next generation of White Rock Lake users,” Wright said.

Although the project’s volunteer capacity is already exceeded for this go-round, Wright said there will be another tree planting this year, either in the fall or early winter.

“We have had such a great response that we definitely know that we have enough infrastructure to do one or two more,” she said.