DISCOVER THE BIG THICKET

By Ella Tyler

During the last Ice Age, eastern hardwood forests, Gulf coastal plains, and Midwestern prairies all came together in East Texas in an area known to early settlers as the Big Thicket. In 1974, the Big Thicket National Preserve was established to protect the remnants of the area’s complex biological diversity. Because of its unique location, the preserve contains a mix of plants and animals characteristic of at least four different eco systems. Species native to southeastern swamps, eastern forests, central plains and the arid southwest all coexist in the Thicket.

The preserve’s biodiversity will be celebrated on Saturday, June 16, at the kick event for the “Thicket of Diversity” project, which is an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI). The inventory will match leading researchers with citizen scientists to identify every species of plant and animal living in Big Thicket National Preserve. And there are a lot – more than 85 tree species, more than 60 shrubs, 50 reptile species, and nearly 300 kinds of birds have already been identified. About 1,000 varieties of flowering plants, including 26 ferns and allies, 20 orchids and four of North America’s five types of insect-eating plants grow in the Big Thicket.

The 1936 report, Biological Survey of the East Texas Big Thicket Area, by H.B. Parks and V.L. Cory, played a significant role in the future protection of the Big Thicket, as did later work by 2005 CEC Synergy Award winner Geraldine Watson. Information gathered from ATBI will help park managers protect the preserve’s treasures from increasing threats from development, oil and gas extraction, and exotic species. National Parks Conservation Association listed Big Thicket National Preserve as one of the ten most threatened parks in the nation.

The event on June 16 will be at the Big Thicket Visitors Center, which is at the corner of Hwy 69 & FM 420, seven miles north of Kountz, from 9 am to 5 pm. It is about a two-hour drive from central Houston. Researchers will conduct a “bio blitz” in the area next week and show off their the results at the kickoff. The June 16 event also features lectures, a photography exhibition, trips into the Preserve with the scientists, a volunteer recruitment booth and a BBQ sale.

The Houston Sierra Club is taking a field trip to the kick-off event. To join a carpool or caravan, meet at 7:30 am sharp on June 16 at Rice University, Entrance 13A (off of Greenbriar) and look for a blue Plymouth Neon. Please RSVP to Brandt Mannchen at (713) 664-5962.

The Preserve’s website promises, “When you visit the Big Thicket, there will be no grand vistas or majestic mountain ranges to tantalize your eyes. However, you will see, when you choose to look closely around you, a unique assemblage of species–some endangered or threatened.

For more information about the project see www.thicketofdiversity.org.