Friends of the James River Park - Helping Pony Pasture

While the James River Park System (which encompasses Pony Pasture & the Wetlands) is owned and operated by the City of Richmond, the City has not employed an adequate amount of personnel to steward the parks. The friends group, Friends of the James River Park (FRJOP), was established to have a community of citizen stewards that help advise the City on the needs of park system, organize volunteer days, and work on maintaining the park system's 20 + miles of trails. 

At Pony Pasture & the Wetlands specifically, FOJRP coordinates multiple volunteer days to work on trail maintenance, invasive species cleanup, and litter clean up. They also coordinate signups to have ambassadors at the park to tell visitors about the park or educate visitors on the importance of river safety. 

FROJP also coordinates fundraisers for the park system, including their annual "camera to canvas" fundraiser - which is an auction to purchase paintings based off of images of the City captured by local photographer, Bill Draper. 

This group also helped develop the James River Park system Master Plan in 2018, which was adopted by the City Council in 2020. 

The Friends of the James River Park make a huge impact on the almost 2 million annual visitors to the park system. They are the heartbeat behind the park. When visiting, make sure you thank them when you see them!

Volunteers work with FROJP to remove invasive species from the park



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