An abandoned camp in Lake Worth, which now attracts illegal campers, vandals, and arsonists, has become a target for city officials and local residents.
Once used by the Boy Scouts of America, Camp Leroy Shuman has fallen into disuse, with some saying the city has not done enough to maintain it and keep trespassers out.
“If that were our property, holy cow, we would be getting a fine every day,” said Mark Maxwell, a long-time resident of the area, according to the Fort Worth Report.
Maxwell, who regularly reports issues at the campsite, would like to see the city block off entrances to prevent people from gaining entry to the campsite. He said people often come onto the property to poach deer and chop down trees.
Another proposed solution to mitigate the illegal activities in the abandoned site is placing it under Fort Worth’s new “green space program,” which was created by Mayor Mattie Parker’s Good Natured Initiative.
“Maybe if it’s adjacent to a park, like this one on Lake Worth, maybe we can integrate it into our parks system where the park department doesn’t own it per se,” Mark McDaniel, deputy city manager, explained at a recent parks and recreation advisory board meeting, per KERA News. “The water department [would] still own it as an enterprise operation, but we’re maintaining it and making it available and accessible to the public.”
Maxwell, for one, would like to see the city maintain the property and incorporate its trails into the city’s existing system. Others say the site should be protected because it is home to several rare plants and flowers.
“The natural flora on this site are unusual in the Fort Worth area and particularly beautiful,” said Kate Morgan, president of the Fort Worth chapter of the Native Prairies Association of Texas, per FWR.
Morgan said she believes that the campsite could be made a destination for hikers and bird watchers if its trails were better maintained and invasive species were removed.
Reyne Telles, Fort Worth city spokesperson, explained to FWR that the variety of problems at the campsite requires multiple departments within the city to deal with them.
According to one city official, however, the issues at the campsite are under control.
“I think that we are handling it, maybe not as swiftly as the residents out there would like, but we are handling it. And I promise we have not forgotten them,” said Nita Shinksy, who manages city-owned property near Lake Worth, per FWR.
In nearby Dallas, some 1,557 instances of vandalism have been logged by City officials this year amid an ongoing officer shortage, according to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard.