BIG BEND — Earlier this year, the Big Bend Ranch State Park celebrated 30 years since it first opened as a state natural area. In the handful of years that followed, the natural area would become a state park, open to the public, and in 2009 get a “Friends Group,” a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the park’s staff and operations.

The Friends Group, Compadres del Rancho Grande, became Friends of Big Bend Ranch State Park last year, hoping to connect more with fans of the park and find more support for its group. Then 2020 proved to be a difficult year across the world. Despite that, the park saw its visitorship double in size, as people sought to socially distance in the great outdoors.

But the sudden growth also strained staff and resources. And in the meantime, the pandemic negatively impacted the Friends Group’s biggest generator of revenue: the Big Bend Ultra, which is normally held annually in the park. The race instead happened virtually, and while it found participants from as far away as Germany, the event’s revenues fell by about 88%, according to the group.

Richard Keith, a long-time area resident and park supporter, was elected as president of Friends of Big Bend Ranch State Park last year. Speaking about the funding and volunteer hours the Friends group provides, he said they work to make visitor experiences in the park even better, “by helping to maintain trails, building bird and wildlife viewing blinds and shade structures, protecting water resources, putting up bat-houses and funding backcountry equipment for the the Park’s staff, helping develop visitor center botanical gardens, and volunteering to help Park staff with events and operations in the Park.”

Financially, the group has been able to provide the park around $31,000, along with another $21,000 through administering grants, but hopes to increase that through growing membership ($50 a year), donations and more grants. “In the last year, these resources have grown considerably, but fall well short of the revenue generated by the Big Bend Ultra,” according to the group.

“There are so many ways to help,” Keith said. “And every donation that Park supporters make to the Friends goes directly towards benefitting the Park. Your contributions to the Friends won’t get lost into bureaucratic black holes; they will go directly to work for the Park.”

More information can be found at www.friendsofbigbendranch.com.