Big Thicket Reporter - 2006/09/28

BRADY "EARMARKS" FUNDS FOR BIG THICKET

According to his website, Cong. Kevin Brady earmarked $5.04 million for Big Thicket National Preserve enhancement, including the Forest Legacy Project and another $500,000 for Preserve Headquarters relocation. The Senate supported $2M in LWCF for the Big Thicket and $2.045M for the Forest Legacy Program. The LWCF dollars will be used to complete International Paper acquisitions in the Village Creek corridor. The FLP dollars will be the first in a multi-part easement to protect the east side of the Turkey Creek Unit.

The support of all the conservation groups contributed to this, but the job isn't done until the appropriation bill gets signed. Keep those calls and letters flowing. Write huge "thank-yous" to Cong. Kevin Brady, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Senator John Cornyn

Andy Jones, The Conservation Fund reports that:

• (a) TCF closed the 200-acre minor boundary adjustment to NPS; that tract is between the Visitor Center and Village Creek;
• (b) TCF closed all property held in Hardin County to NPS mid-July; that includes all tracts previously owned by IP on Village Creek plus a couple of old LP tracts go to NPS at this time as well;
• (c) TCF is continuing efforts to preserve the +/-6,000-acre Cypress-Tupelo swamp near the Beaumont Unit and has been able to leverage significant funds to do this; an appraisal discussion with the land owners is pending;
• (d) Discussions with John Hancock are ongoing: our primary goal is to complete the Village Creek corridor; we will then move on to the next priorities.

BTA NEWS

STRATEGIC PLAN: At the July BTA directors meeting, the planning group presented the draft BTNP Strategic Plan for approval. The Plan was prepared by four committees that included board members, community and academic leaders with BTNP personnel as consultants. Discussion was led by the Plan editor, Joyce Almaguer-Reisdorf.

The plan is available as a PDF File or a Word File.

The plan responds to questions from Cong. Kevin Brady, 8th Congressional District, who wanted to know the Big Thicket Association's vision for the Preserve. Encouraged by the National Park Service Intermountain Region and Big Thicket National Preserve officials, the Big Thicket Association formed a Planning Group and mobilized consultants and community leaders to formulate the plan. Committees addressed the issues of Land Acquisition, Conservation and Development; Preserve Operations: Funding, Staffing and Leadership; Resource Management; and Public Use and Support, Local and National.

Several amendments were offered and will be incorporated in the Plan. The board adopted the Plan as amended and agreed to publish, distribute and publicize the document. A public forum to discuss the Plan will be held on Big Thicket Day, October 14, 2006.

B.T.A. AWARDS: The Awards Committee, chaired by Fred Allen with members Rose Ann Jordan and Cathy Johnston, reported at the July directors meeting and recommended honorees for 2006.

Leta Parker Honored with Lubbert Award: The Thomas Lubbert Superior Achievement Award honoree this year is Leta Parker, Program Assistant, BTNP Visitor and Resource Protection Division. Parker's service spans 19 years from June, 1987 to the present time with promotions from clerk, to secretary, to program assistant. As the original architect and organizer of the hunting program, she continues to serve that program, and in addition, maintains records for law enforcement and prepares documentation for federal and state court cases. Her interest and enthusiasm goes beyond her own division and involves work with other Preserve programs.

Billy Hallmon recognized with R.E. Jackson Conservation Award: The R. E. Jackson Conservation Award for 2006 recognizes the contributions and achievements of Billy Hallmon that spans over 35 years.

Perhaps his most enduring contribution was a systematic survey of the proposed Preserve units in 1973-74 that included: conducting one year of intensive and comprehensive field work and mapping; producing a manuscript that described vegetation zones, unit development, visitor use, and cultural history. Those recommendations were submitted to the Big Thicket Association and Big Thicket Coordinating Committee for approval, then submitted to Cong. Charles Wilson and to the National Park Service. The maps and recommendations were incorporated in park planning.

In addition Hallmon drafted exceptional brochures that helped to educate and to mold public awareness of the need for preservation of Big Thicket. Another brochure effectively addressed the issue of Southern Pine Beetles "control." As a BTA board member, and later as president of the Big Thicket Conservation Association, he led efforts to de-authorize Rockland Reservoir, drafted proposals and maps for the BTNP Addition Act, and worked tirelessly on issues that affected the Preserve.

In recent years Hallmon chaired TCONR's Neches River Task Force, working diligently with coalitions to establish the Upper Neches National Wildlife Refuge. As part of that effort, he publicized the benefits of ecotourism from the Refuge and a proposed Neches National Scenic River.

Hallmon joins an elite group of Jackson Award winners that includes Cong. Charles Wilson, the late Arthur Temple, Geraldine Watson, Claude McLeod, Paul Harcombe, Edward C. Fritz, Pete Gunter, and Charles Hunt.

PRESERVE OVERVIEW, by Ann Roberts

THICKET OF DIVERSITY: an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory: BTA in cooperation with BTNP is sponsoring the "Thicket of Diversity." At the June 15 meeting, Dr. Jerry Cook was elected chair of the Executive Council; Gillian Bowser, Vice-Chair; and Dr. Bruce Drury, Secretary. Wendy Ledbetter and Maxine Johnston also serve on the Council.

David Lewis (seated, white T-shirt) lead a mushroom foray in the Rosier Unit

The first data-gathering activity for the ATBI was a mushroom foray in the Rosier Unit led by David and Pat Lewis. The participants included 35 folks, among them the president of the Mycological Society. Despite exceedingly dry conditions, participants managed to find some interesting specimens.

An Exotic Plant Management Team removed the cane "wall" at the Field Research Station and will also work on a Voth Mill project and other exotic plant management projects. Eric Worsham and Pat Wharton are supervising the projects.

A Restoration Technical Advisory Team begins work at the Preserve the week of August 14, according to Resource Management Chief Curtis Hoagland. The team will be looking at Hurricane Damage and various restoration opportunities.

NPS Director Fran Mainella, the 16th NPS director and the first woman director, resigned recently after nearly six years of service, requesting that the resignation be effective on a mutually agreeable date. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne applauded her strong leadership and mentioned her effort to get 6,000 park improvement projects underway while tripling cyclic park maintenance support.

Charles "Chuck" Hunt is doing a hitch as interim superintendent at Fort Davis Historical Park, and there's speculation that the appointment may be permanent. The Preserve staff will "farewell" Chuck with a luncheon at the Maintenance Complex on August 8th. Chuck, the Man with the Vision, made a Texas-size difference here, and he will be missed.

Ecosystem Analysis hike on the Kirby Nature Trail for the Student Conservation Crew

Mead Westvaco generously funded two BTNP programs this summer. The Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program was funded with $1,500, and a scholarship of $1,000 was provided for a summer intern. Will Watkins, Kountze ISD Middle School teacher, was selected for the T-R-T award, and he contributed actively to all of the summer activities, including a "Community in Action" program at Camp Niwana in Woodville for 80 at-risk students. Donna Neely was also on board for the T-R-T program. Monica Griffith received the intern scholarship, and her work ranged from field trips for school groups to bird-banding. All of the summer EE/Interp recruits worked with the Student Conservation Association group on several projects from June 20 to July 8.

Then University of Texas Medical Branch launched an "invasion" with their "YES" group of underprivileged youth who visited the Preserve in three groups of 24 each between July 16 and 21. The Interp staff arranged night-light and star-watch programs for the middle school students.

Texas Christian University's Biodiversity's Institute for Environmental Studies led by Dr. Tony Burgess were in residence at the Field Research Station from June 11-18. The group participated in Curtis Hoagland's bird-banding project and enjoyed a fungus tutorial with David Lewis. Dr. Burgess writes that the FRS was a "comfortable retreat when the heat and bugs proved annoying ... a lavishly-stocked library of both useful and entertaining references; a classroom-teaching area where we could spread out specimens, microscopes, identification books; a drying oven for our plant press, and a well-appointed kitchen."

EAST TEXAS MISCELLANY

ENTERGY GRANT FOR SCIENCE CONFERENCE

Entergy recently announced the award of an Environmental Stewardship Grant to support the Big Thicket Science Conference. The $5,000 check was presented to Wendy Ledbetter, Conference Chair, by Susan Gilley of Entergy. The Science Conference will be held March 22-25, 2007. Previous conferences were held in 1996, 1999 and 2003, and Entergy has been a sponsor for all the previous conferences.

The event usually attracts 200-300 scientists, researchers, resource managers, students, and the public. Other sponsors include federal and state agencies as well as universities and non-profit organizations. Ellen Buchanan, president of the Big Thicket Association, was joined by Wendy Ledbetter, chair of the Conference Planning Committee, in expressing sincere thanks for Entergy's generosity. This Environmental Stewardship Program makes possible many projects that benefit our area, she said.

There will be plenary and concurrent sessions addressing ecological processes, inventories and taxonomic studies of the region's biota, studies of rare communities and organisms, management of natural resources, environmental monitoring and GIS applications. A call for papers has been mailed and information is available on science conference website. BTNHT Acquires Eight Acres: Big Thicket Natural Heritage Trust members contributed funds to help purchase eight acres on Village and Beech Creeks adjoining the BTNP Village Creek Corridor unit. The purchase was made possible by generous gifts from the Magnolia Charitable Trust and the Big Thicket Association.

Black Bear Task Force: The Black Bear Task Force MET July 27 at "Treetops in the Forest" Education Center near Davy Crockett National Forest and Big Slough Wilderness. Dr. Jeffrey Pittman represents BTA on this Task Force.

Pineywoods Experience: Mayor Guy Goodson and Dean Conwell, Executive Director of the Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau, joined with The Conservation Fund and Fermata, Inc. for a meeting of Beaumont/Golden Triangle citizens and members of the Pineywoods Advisory Council: August 1, 2006, in City Council Chambers.

The Pineywoods Experience is a large-scale initiative aimed to revitalize and protect the economy and environment of the Pineywoods region of East Texas. Julie Shackelford of the Conservation Fund and Ted Eubanks of Fermata, Inc. explored Beaumont/Golden Triangle's role in this regional development plan as the Southern gateway to the Pineywoods Experience.

CONSERVATION OUTLOOK

Nature Conservancy News: USFWS Botanist David Rosen and Larry Brown of the Spring Branch Science Center made a field visit to Sandylands. David is studying the extent of invasive sedges in southeast Texas. While scouting David and Larry identified eight species of sedge previously not recorded for the preserve.

Rick Hammer, Graduate Student of Texas A& M University to begin his work on DNA sequences of the endangered Texas Trailing Phlox. With the plant's growth habit it is often difficult to identify individual plants in a population. Leaf tissue collected will be evaluated to assist in identifying individual plants. This information will assist in maintaining accurate occurrence records of the number of individuals in a population and in reintroduction efforts of the species.

Led by Larry Belles, TNC State Fire Coordinator, 734 acres were prescribed burned at the Sandyland Preserve. The fire team included Bob Boensch, Conservation Forest Technician from the Silsbee office , Nature Conservancy staff members from Austin and Ft. Hood, and USFWS personnel. Dave McHugh, former FMO for Big Thicket National Preserve served as a volunteer.

Kerr-McGee has begun seismic investigations on the lower half of Sandylands from the railroad tracks south. They expected to have work completed by early fall.

Upper Neches River National Wildlife Refuge: Neches River aficionados were celebrating from Palestine to Beaumont and across the state and nation. The Neches River National Wildlife Refuge was approved by USF&W. A few cautious types suggested that there may still be a few administrative hurdles to clear.

BTA worked with a coalition of groups to support the Refuge. Andy Jones, The Conservation Fund, says "we are off and running on initial land acquisition and associated fundraising."

EVENTS:

October 14, 2006 - Big Thicket Day

March 22-25, 2007 - Big Thicket Science Conference