Established in winter 2025, and located between the Dell Shelter and Pumphouse Rd., No Mow signs and ropes surround this 7-1/2 acres of parkland in order to protect tree roots of established trees, prevent further erosion, and allow newly planted trees, volunteer trees, wildflowers and grasses to grow and thrive. FOBP Friday volunteers will continue to care for the Reforestation Area by planting more trees this fall, watering, mulching high erosion areas to boost soil quality and removing invasive plants.

The number of Canada geese, which are federally protected and remain at Byrd Park, reached up to 330 in August 2019, with the domestic geese population estimated at 200 and adult geese producing nearly one pound of droppings a day.

Seeking to address the impact of the hundreds of domestic geese in the Park, Byrd Park Civic League named a task force to recommend solutions. The task force recommended what’s nicknamed “the RID approach,” which includes focusing on reducing, over time, the geese population through adoption programs; informing the public through meetings and working with park personnel; and discouraging feeding the geese through feeding programs.

(completed April 2024)

The edges of this man-made lake are lined with the original concrete block retaining walls. The top of the retaining walls are finished with concrete coping stone. As soon in the photo, the concrete block wall were missing pieces, revealing the earth berm behind the walls in several areas. The coping stones were urgently in need of replacement and the walls in need of repair to prevent further deterioration and eventual collapse of areas adjacent to the water’s edge.

Friends volunteers retrieved 240 coping stones from both Shields and Swan lakes and stored them until grant money was awarded from the Richmond Outdoor & Prosperity Fund. In April 2024, stone masons retrieved, replaced, and repaired over 500 stones, restoring the historic infrastructure of the lakes, which are utilized by countless families to fish, observe water fowl and picnic.

The Invasitors are a group of FOBP members, Richmond Tree Stewards (RTS), Master Naturalists, and others interested in improving the landscape in Byrd Park. The Invasitors work in the Park every Friday morning in the hot portion of the year and every Friday afternoon when it is cooler. Members are notified of each week’s project via a text from the organizer. Past and current projects include: Gillette walkways & garden, Poplar Vale Cemetery garden, Beacon Tree Meditation site, Carillon meadow, tree planting and tree trunk protection throughout the park. If you are interested in joining The Invasitors, please contact us.

Friends of Byrd Park is facilitating the repair of loose and missing cobblestones on the bridge and staircases that flank Amelia Street.

At the behest of Friends of Byrd Park, City of Richmond Dept. of Parks and Recreation contracted civil engineering firm Timmons Group to provide an Erosion Study for the area around Shields and Swan Lakes in Byrd Park. This study from December 2023 provides our roadmap for conservation efforts in that area of the Park.

In the spring of 2025, with the cooperation of PRCF (Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities) and DPW, volunteers designated erosion prone areas on the steep slope banks of Shields and Swan Lakes as Now Mow, No Spray with stakes and rope. This measure is a first step. Eventually we hope to convert these areas to meadows.