Members of Arlington Conservation Council and the Arlington Organic Garden Club founded the Molly Hollar Wildscape on half an acre in 1994 to trumpet ecosystem preservation and the benefits of native plants. The organizations did the heavy lifting — literally, as in boulders — plus helped to match $3,000 from their meager treasuries with a like amount from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the game was on.

Thirty thousand volunteer hours later, the wildscape has expanded into a splendid four-acre enhancement of a last lone stretch of the Eastern Cross Timbers, which runs through central Arlington but has been devastated by development.

Tucked away in one of the city’s most popular parks, the wildscape serves as a living lab, the natural elements providing a backdrop for programs and tours.

It beckons, on many levels, the tree hugger and the good corporate citizen.