SPRING IN THE BIG THICKET
By Ella Tyler
The Houston Outdoor Group and the Piney Woods Wildlife Society are each sponsoring day trips to the Big Thicket on Saturday, May 13. The Big Thicket seems like this impossibly mysterious place in East Texas. Photos of the area always show canoes and trees draped with Spanish moss, conjuring up visions of elaborately outfitted excursions requiring lots of time. However, the instructions for these two trips suggest nothing more complicated than bringing plenty of water, a broad brimmed hat, sunscreen, and lunch.
The Big Thicket is where, during the last Ice Age, eastern hardwood forests, Gulf coastal plains, and Midwest prairies all came together. According to the Handbook of Texas Online, the Big Thicket is a unique biological crossroads of at least eight different plant communities: “The Big Thicket is possibly the most biologically diverse area in the world. Cactus and ferns, beech trees and orchids, camellias and azaleas and four carnivorous plants can all occupy what is called the thicket, along with the pines, oaks, and gums common to the rest of East Texas.”
Big Thicket National Preserve occupies about 100,000 acres in twelve units scattered through Hardin, Liberty, Polk, Tyler, and Jasper counties. The visitor’s center is north of Beaumont near Kountze. This was the first national preserve, created in 1974. In 1981, the preserve was designated an International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and, in 2001, the American Bird Conservancy recognized the preserve as a Globally Important Bird Area.
The Houston Outdoor Group’s ornithology group is taking a birding trip led by Tom Kihn. The group will leave Houston at 6:30 am on May 13 and return after 5 pm. To join this trip, contact Adam Wood at (713) 515-1692 or . Non-members are welcome.
The Piney Woods Wildlife Society’s trip begins with a visit to Watson Pinelands Preserve. This is the home of 2005 CEC Synergy Award winner Geraldine Watson, whose work identifying the plants of the Big Thicket demonstrated the unique diversity of the area and made saving it possible. After that, the group will visit one or more units of the Big Thicket National Preserve. The group will meet at 8:30 am at Mama Jack’s Restaurant, 215 North Pine Street, Kountze. For details, contact Al Barr at (281) 443-6629 or . To learn more about the Big Thicket, see http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/gkb3.html.