Bowie Nature Park has a written rulebook, and it is public. Since 2008, a conservation easement held by The Land Trust for Tennessee has set what can be built in the park and where, and city minutes since then show no vote to amend it. A question posted in a Fairview Facebook group on Sept. 30 asked who was trying to "get rid of the park trust." The Fairviewian reported that it found no proposal before the city to remove or change the park's protections.
The easement does not lock the park in place. It sorts the land into zones and sets up an approval process that the city has used several times. The only proposal on the record to change what the easement covers would put more of Dr. Evangeline Bowie's original gift under protection.
Two layers of protection, written twenty years apart
The first layer is Dr. Bowie's own. Starting around 1954 she bought worn-out farmland in Fairview, filled gullies, built dams and planted more than 500,000 loblolly pines with help from her sisters Anna and Byrd. On Dec. 22, 1988, she deeded the land to the City of Fairview "for use as a nature park." The gift totaled 722 acres.
That deed came with its own conditions, known as the Bowie Deed Restrictions, and they still apply. The land must serve as a wildlife preserve or park. Hunting is banned. Firearms and fireworks are prohibited, except for firearms carried by law enforcement, and alcohol needs specific approval. The deed also let the city sell pieces of the land as long as the money went back into the park. That is how Bowie Commons came to exist. In 2008 the city sold 5.9 acres to SouthStar for $450,000 to create a park fund, and that land is now the shopping area.
The second layer came in October 2008, when the city placed most of the park under the conservation easement. The city still owns the park. What it gave up permanently was the right to develop the land, and it handed The Land Trust for Tennessee the job of enforcing that. The easement covers about 681 of the 722 acres. The rest went to City Hall, the fire hall and community service building, a city "Out Parcel," and the tract sold for Bowie Commons. The full 35-page document is posted on the park's website.
The park is zoned, and each zone has its own rules
The trails you walk sit mostly in the largest zone. The parking lot, Nature Center and playground sit in a much smaller one, where building is allowed with the Land Trust's consent. Here is how the acreage breaks down under the easement, as summarized by The Fairviewian.
| Area | Approximate acres | What the easement allows | Who signs off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural area | 597 | Kept "in its natural state." No new structures except as the easement provides, no paved roads, nothing built within 50 feet of Little Turnbull Creek and its tributaries | Low-impact trails, bridges, benches, kiosks and picnic shelters are specifically allowed |
| Recreational Activity Area | 55 | Roads, parking, Nature Center buildings, picnic shelters, horse areas, trails, playgrounds, and fishing areas on Lake Van can be built or expanded | Land Trust's prior written consent |
| Northern Activity Area | 28 | Includes a Future Park Improvement Area of about 14 acres for restrooms, gardens and water features, plus about 10 acres set aside for future municipal buildings | Land Trust's written consent "in Grantee's sole discretion" for the improvement area |
| Outside the easement | 41 | City Hall, fire hall, the outparcel, Bowie Commons | Not covered |
Some uses are banned across the whole property: golf courses, athletic fields, paved airstrips, mining and any further subdivision. Special events and festivals are allowed, including temporary stages, parking, toilets and food sales, as long as they are not "irremediably destructive" of the park's conservation values. Camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, picnics and educational programs remain city rights. Any timber work has to follow a forestry plan "reasonably satisfactory" to the Land Trust, and stands of mature hardwoods are protected.
How the approval process has worked in practice
When someone says a park idea "needs land trust approval," they usually mean the process in the table above. The city sends a request, and the Land Trust has 30 days to answer once it has the paperwork. If it doesn't answer, the city can send a second notice. If that one also goes unanswered for 30 days, consent is treated as given.
City minutes since 2008 show this process in use, according to The Fairviewian's review:
- 2013: the Land Trust approved a forestry test plot.
- 2014: it approved a power line through the park.
- 2015: it approved a maintenance building by letter, calling it "a permitted use."
- 2015: it turned down a forestry plan it found insufficient.
That is three approvals and one rejection, all handled one project at a time. The minutes show no vote to amend the easement itself.
Changing the easement takes both parties
Amending the easement is a separate and much harder step than approving a project. The document says it "may be amended only with the written consent of Grantee and Grantor," which means both the Land Trust and the city have to agree, and any amendment "shall be consistent with the purposes" of the easement. It grants its protections "in perpetuity," and neither side has a clause that lets it end the easement. If the city violates the terms, the Land Trust can go to court to stop the work and require the land to be restored. Tennessee's Conservation Easement Act of 1981 also says an easement is not "automatically extinguished because of violation of its terms or frustration of its purposes."
There is one exception, carried over from the original deed. If the park were ever conveyed to the State of Tennessee, the deed restrictions would end. The easement would end too, unless the state expressly accepted it. The Fairviewian found nothing in public records suggesting such a transfer has been proposed.
The one proposal to change what the easement covers involves the outparcel. That land was part of Dr. Bowie's gift but was left out of the easement in 2008. In April 2025, Commissioner Carolyn Roberts proposed adding it to the land trust agreement. On Dec. 4, 2025, Vice Mayor Chris McDonald proposed using 10 acres of a city outparcel for a botanical garden funded through the Tree Bank account. Commissioner Roberts said she would prefer to see the outparcel placed into a land trust, and Commissioner Wayne Hall supported that idea. In February 2025, commissioners debated a proposed police training facility next to the park, and several asked staff to look at other locations.
As of The Fairviewian's review, none of these proposals would remove any protected land from Bowie. That review covered the recorded easement and city minutes since 2008. It did not cover a search of Williamson County deed records, and the paper said it would update its story with anything new. The Fairviewian also invited every candidate for mayor and city commission to say where they stand on the park and the easement, with answers published in their own words before early voting began Oct. 14.
This post describes a recorded document in general terms. It is not legal advice, and anyone with a specific question about the easement should talk to a qualified attorney or contact The Land Trust for Tennessee at 615-244-5263.
Who pays for the park
Fees cover very little of what the park costs. Trails are free for hikers. Riders pay $2 a day per bike or horse, and Fairview residents and the 37062 ZIP code are exempt, according to the park's trail page. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, the city projects $600 in trail fees and $1,750 in picnic shelter fees. The Parks Department's general-fund budget this year is $870,126, which covers the whole park system, including Veterans Park and the Historical Village.
The cleanup after Winter Storm Fern shows the gap. On April 8, 2026, the Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to use Tree Bank funds for debris cleanup, removal of dead or hazardous trees, and replanting at Bowie. The cleanup was estimated at about $150,000, roughly 250 times this year's projected trail fees. Volunteer work in the park runs through Friends of Bowie Nature Park, a group that first met in 1994 and now works under an agreement the board approved 4-0 on Aug. 21, 2025.
The rest of October at the park
The park is open daily from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., and entry is free. The Nature Center is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon. The 17 miles of trail are mostly shared with bikes and horses. Foot-only sections run at Lake Van, Upper Lake, along Little Turnbull, and around the Treehouse Playground.
- Yoga in the Park: Oct. 24 and Oct. 31 at 10 a.m. at the Playground Gazebo, led by certified instructor Anna Shalray. Donations are encouraged.
- Trunk or Treat: Saturday, Oct. 24, 4 to 6 p.m., with decorated vehicles and treats. This year it replaces Fall Fun Day, which was canceled.
Dr. Bowie's land also includes a second park. Veterans Memorial Park at Evergreen Lake, at 7106 Black Pine Road, came to the city from her estate after her death. Commissioners designated it a public park in June 2012 and gave it its current name the following year. The roughly 11-acre park has a pond of about 3.3 acres, a mostly flat natural-surface loop of about 0.44 mile, benches, picnic areas, flagpoles for each military branch, and gravel parking for about 30 cars. The city held its grand opening on Sept. 26 and thanked the community partners who helped build it.
Walking to Bowie is also getting easier. TDOT's Fairview Boulevard project is adding curb, gutter and 5-foot sidewalks on State Route 100 from the Fairview Community Center to Bowie Lake Road. The new sidewalks run on both sides of the road between King Road and Cumberland Drive/Crow Cut Road. TDOT estimates substantial completion by the end of October 2026, with the crosswalk and permanent signal at Crow Cut Road and Cumberland Drive expected by the end of November. TDOT notes that both dates are subject to change. The project was originally scheduled to finish by Aug. 31, according to city minutes from Sept. 17. Once the work is finished, the westbound sidewalk will run along Fairview Boulevard to Bowie Lake Road, a short walk from the park entrance at 7211 Bowie Lake Road.
If you own land near Bowie, or you want to understand how protected land shapes the parcels around it before you buy or sell, CHORD Real Estate can help with the research. Request your personal Real Estate Concierge, and we'll gather the recorded documents and local details that apply to your property.
