Big Thicket Reporter - 2006/04/07

PRESERVE STRATEGIC PLAN STUDY TACKLED

BTA convened a group of planners November 6 and again on December 2, 2005 to discuss development of a Strategic Plan for the Big Thicket National Preserve. The next meeting will be held February 17, 9:00 AM at the BTNP Field Research Station in Saratoga.

The impetus for the study came from the office of Cong. Kevin Brady, who asked what the Preserve should be like in five years - or ten years. The study Steering Group includes Dr. Bruce Drury, Chair, Ellen Buchanan, Ken Pelt, Wendy Ledbetter, Maxine Johnston, with the Preserve represented by Pete Hart, Chuck Hunt, and Curtis Hoagland. Resource consultants include Tammy Fisher (Cong. Brady's staff), Professors Pete Gunter and Paul Harcombe, Andy Jones (TCF) and Billy Hallmon.

Organization for the Plan involves five committees. Highest priority is (1) Land Acquisition and Development - highest priority, Bruce Drury, temporary chair; Joe Liggio, Judy Allen, Jerry Rashall, Paul Stone, Chuck Hunt, Fulton Jeansonne, Bill Hallmon. (2) Preserve Management and Operations, Kathryn Walker, Chair; Judy Aronow, Carol Flatten, Steffy Yearwood, Edwina Lewis, Supt. Pete Hart. (3) Resources Management, Maxine Johnston, Chair, Jan Ruppel, Jeff Pittman, Wendy Ledbetter, David Lewis, Cathy Albrecht, Mike Hoke, Dr. Paul Harcombe, Curtis Hoagland. (4) Public Use and Support - Local and National, Rose Ann Jordan and Cathy Johnston, Co-chairs, Ellen Buchanan, Ann Roberts, Ken Pelt, Rocky Chase, Steve Buser, Tucker Conley; Matt Fagan, and Dr. Pete Gunter. (5) The Public Information Committee has not been appointed.

Scoping Session: Julie Shackelford, The Conservation Foundation, will serve as facilitator for a scoping session scheduled March 11 at the Field Research Station in Saratoga from 9:00 AM-2:00 PM. The Steering Group anticipates that committee reports will be presented at the April 8 BTA board meeting.

Joyce Almaguer-Reisdorf has agreed to review committee reports and to draft the final report into a document for Steering Committee and BTA board approval. Widespread distribution and public review is tentatively scheduled for October at the BTA annual meeting and Big Thicket Day.

OF SUPERINTENDENTS

The new interim superintendent for Big Thicket is Pete Hart, an NPS retiree whose last assignment was at New River Gorge National River in West Virginia. Hart reported for duty on January 9th, accompanied by Mike Snyder, Intermountain Regional Director, NPS. Former Interim Supt. Mike George departed on Jan. 12.

Snyder, Hart and George met with local officials and BTA representatives before conducting a Preserve staff meeting, which was followed by a "welcome-and-goodbye" reception hosted by the BTNP Staff Association. Cong. Kevin Brady attended the reception and visited with these officials.

Snyder candidly characterized Big Thicket leadership for the last few years as "revolving doors," which Pete Hart later described as "musical chairs." Snyder indicated that permanent leadership will be sought and a new superintendent in place by May. Although NPS cannot require a long-term commitment, Snyder indicated they would ask for a 4-5 year pledge.

Pete Hart: Pete Hart grew up in New England and graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont. He later earned an MA Degree from the University of Colorado where he did field work at Rocky Mountain National Park. He served as an army engineer officer both in the U.S. and in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star.

Hart entered the National Park Service (NPS) in 1968 as a park ranger at the Grand Canyon. He later worked at Mount Rainier and Grand Teton National Parks where he was primarily involved in search and rescue and climbing management. Further assignments included district ranger in Yosemite and chief ranger at both Cape Cod national Seashore and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 1990 he became superintendent at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. Hart then served an extended detail as acting chief ranger of NPS in Washington, D.C. In 1995 he was appointed superintendent of New River Gorge national river, Gauley River National Recreation Area and the Bluestone National Scenic River all in West Virginia.

Hart retired from the NPS in 2001 and completed a 2168 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine during the spring and summer. After relocating to Livingston Montana, he returned to the NPS as the acting superintendent of Glacier National Park in early 2002. In 2003 he spent several months as interim superintendent of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area in western Colorado. The following year he again returned to Glacier to fill in as deputy superintendent.

Hart's wife Sally is a retired special education teacher. The Harts have two grown children-- Chris and Wendy.

BTA. NEWS

The BTA board met Saturday, January 21 in at the Field Research Station. Interim Supt. Pete Hart reported on his background and philosophy. He talked about plans for a headquarters building and a proposed facility for the fire management group at Woodville. He informally and amiably fielded questions from the board on issues ranging from visitation to land acquisition to strategic planning. Hart was scheduled to meet with NPS officials in Denver the following week.

Other action during the meeting included adoption of the 2006 budget. The board appointed two new directors, Kathryn Walker of Beaumont and Wendy Ledbetter of Silsbee. President Ellen Buchanan called for volunteers to serve on the Nominating Committee for 2007 officers and board members. Ann Roberts, Rosalie Rogers, and Jeff Pittman agreed to serve.

CONSERVATION CORNER

Big Thicket Science Conference: The Planning Committee for the next Science Conference met January 27 at the Field Research Station. The agenda included reports on committees and discussion of logistics, fund-raising, field trips, websites, etc. The Conference is tentatively scheduled for March 2007. Wendy Ledbetter of Nature Conservancy chairs the Planning Committee. Dr. Paul Harcombe is again Program Chair. BTA continues to manage registration.

Nature Conservancy: The Nature Conservancy accepted a conservation easement on two tracts totaling 62.31 acres owned by Temple-Inland. Located on and near the southeastern boundary of the Sam Houston National Forest, the agreement will protect flatwood hardwood forested wetlands and marsh lands from incompatible forestry practices, livestock use, conversion to pasture and the threat of habitat fragmentation. Additional acreage in the area may be protected with future mitigation agreements.

The Texas Trailing Phlox Work Group met January 11 to discuss various aspects of restoration and management of this endangered plant. The group will be assisting the Big Thicket National Preserve with surveys for naturally occurring plants in February with students from St. Michael's College in Vermont.

Rush Creek Visit: December 7, 2005 the Preserve's D.W. Ivans led a field trip into Rush Creek Ravines (former L-P Living Legacy protected area) for Ted Eubanks, Fermata; Andy Jones, Conservation Fund; and Ann Hamilton, Houston Endowment, accompanied by Chuck Hunt and Maxine Johnston. There was some hurricane damage, but less severe than in other areas.

Pyramid Magnolia Inventory on May 13, 2006

By Sandi Elsik

Temple-Inland Forest Products Corporation (TI), well known for its strong conservation ethics, owns a tract of land in western Newton County that has a population of Magnolia pyramidata, the pyramid magnolia (MAPY). This is one of the rarest magnolias in North America, rare throughout its southeastern USA range, and occurring in Texas only in Newton and Jasper counties. TI is trying to determine appropriate protections for this MAPY population, and volunteers can help by assisting in the inventory to ascertain the greatest concentration and size of trees. MAPY has a compact crown, a unique leaf shape, and beautiful creamy-white flowers. If we are lucky we may see flowers, but MAPY blooms irregularly, so we cannot guarantee blossoms.

The work will consist of dividing into teams and walking through the forest on a grid pattern to find the trees, which we will number, measure, flag, record, and finally, locate by GPS. We will teach you to recognize MAPY and to perform the simple inventory procedures, a blend of methods used by foresters and ecologists. Your leaders will be Paul Stone, Conservation Forester with TI, and Sandi Elsik and Warren Pruess from Paul Harcombe's Ecology Lab at Rice University.

Meet at 9 AM, Saturday, May 13, 2006, in the parking lot at Brookshire Brothers in Newton, which sits back a little from the SW corner of the intersection of Highways 87 and 190. Brookshire's has breakfast (deli) and snack items available (if needed), restroom facilities, and space to leave cars if anyone wants to carpool. Wear long pants and closed toe shoes; bring water and insect repellent. Binoculars would be helpful to identify MAPY at a distance. We should be finished around midday.

We are flexible in the number of people that can do this survey, and we don't need an absolute RSVP, but it would be helpful in gathering supplies and equipment to have a general idea of how many to expect. Please email Sandi Elsik elsik@rice.edu if you are interested in helping or have questions.

This is an extraordinary opportunity to contribute to a conservation effort and to return a favor to our friends at TI.

Of Ivory-bills and Grants

Exciting news comes from Cecilia M. Riley, Executive Director, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory in Lake Jackson, to wit: Chuck Hunter at the USFWS reports that his office has awarded the GCBO a $100,000 grant to survey East Texas for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker! The project is led by John Arvin, Research Coordinator for GCBO. Riley says, "John gets lots of kudos for writing such a great proposal and most importantly, for believing in the existence of the Lord God Bird. Though this is a reduction in what was requested to do ALL of the proposed work, it will make for a VERY good 1st year start and is a great opportunity for additional matching funds."

Neches River Trek: On MLK weekend, Jan. 14-16, the Golden Triangle Sierra group canoed the Neches River led by Joe Murphy and Gerald Langham. Twelve participants embarked from FM 1013 bridge east of Spurger and canoed approximately 40 miles to the US 96 bridge at Evadale. Planned before Hurricane Rita, the group got an eyeful of nature's carnage.

Post-Rita mayhem was visible in low depth of the River and, therefore, high and wide sandbars. Trees toppled along the banks of the River left a thin curtain of vegetation, and erosion exposed roots of trees suggesting that more trees will collapse into the River. Most of the houseboats were damaged. While debris made navigation challenging, the canoers capably overcame the obstacles. Usually, Neches River field trips include visits to the numerous oxbow lakes and backwater cypress sloughs, but the water was too low and hiking impeded by felled trees.

PRESERVE OVERVIEW, By Ann Roberts

Staff: The Preserve staff A.R. (after Rita) is huddled in cramped offices and trailers as well as corners of the Maintenance facility and the Visitor Center. To say that spirits are flagging is understatement. Interim Supt. Pete Hart is in Denver juggling alternatives - a modular building? Rented quarters? It would take a miracle for Cong. Kevin Brady and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to find funding for a proper headquarters building, but we hope they will keep trying!

Promotion: After several months of commuting from Washington, former Supt. Art Hutchinson's appointment as Special Assistant to the NPS Director is now confirmed.

Fire Management Facility: The firebugs (Jeansonne and team), who have shared offices with the Texas Forest Service, may have better facilities for offices and equipment pending. Land has been donated in Woodville at US 69 and funding may be available.

Trails: BTNP announced recently the re-opening of trails closed after Hurricane Rita. Among the trails now open to public use are three Turkey Creek Unit trails: Kirby Nature Trail, Pitcher Plant Trail and Sandhill Trail. Also open are the Sundew Trail in Hickory Creek Savannah Unit and the Birdwatcher's Trail in the Menard Creek Corridor Unit. Other trails remain closed because of safety concerns. For additional information contact 409-951-6700.

Field Research Station: Dr. James Speer, Indiana State University, Prof. of Geography and Geology, received funds from Indiana State University to conduct research on trees felled by Hurricane Rita. Dr. Jim Jordan, Prof. Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences at Lamar participated in the project. The study addresses "Stand-Age Structure and Disturbance History of the Big Thicket Biological Preserve: Examining Successional Dynamics and the Role of Disturbance."

The group arrived December 10th (driving 14 hours from Terre Haute) and left on December 17th. The group included seven researchers, who were joined by some Texas dendrochronologists. The Beaumont Enterprise ran a story on the project Dec. 19, 2005. Doctoral candidate Chris Gentry will return to Big Thicket March 11-17 with a team of 3-4 researchers to continue the study.

EVENTS, 2006

Feb. 25 - Black Creek, Rosier Unit. BTA and Houston Sierra join forces to explore Archer Fullingim's "Holy Ghost" Thicket. [936-262-8522] Extensive hurricane damage expected.

TRAIL WORK: BTA attempts to flag and to maintain several trails damaged by Hurricane Rita. Surveys and re-flagging work needed. [936-262-8522 phone / fax] [Note date changes]

• CANCELLED: Mar. 18, Old Wagon Road, Jack Gore Baygall Unit, 9:00-3:30
• CANCELLED: April 15. Bear Thicket Trail, Lance Rosier Unit 9:00-3:30

STRATEGIC PLANNING WORKSHOP

• Mar. 11, Julie Shackelford, Facilitator, BTNP Field Research Station, Saratoga, 9:00-3:00

INVENTORY:

• May 13 - Pyramid Magnolia, Leader: Paul Stone (Temple-Inland) and Sandi Elsik (Rice)

BTA BOARD MEETINGS [quarterly; second Saturday; usually at BTNP-FRS, Saratoga]

• April 8 - Strategic Plan reports
• July 8
• October 14, Big Thicket Day