Lone Star Nature News Vol. 3.0
Some Big News from me...and updates from around the state.
Since I wrote last week, our power was restored on Wednesday evening. We went into the weekend with high heat and humidity and I was so thankful our air conditioning was back on for the long weekend. Nevertheless, Houston’s storms were followed by storms in Arkansas, the Midwest, and through Kentucky, with more power outages and other devastation to those regions. And yesterday we had a little chaser to it all when a strong system blew through DFW in the morning, making its way into the Houston region just after lunchtime. I had just barely managed to finish up some field work with coworkers and we’d high-tailed it to a nearby gas station for cold drinks and the restroom when the radar warned us not to leave and attempt to drive back to the office. Instead, we sat under the gas station canopy for 30-40 minutes waiting out the line of storms that blew out the power in the vicinity of where we were at as well as rocked the truck we were sitting in. A few times the rain blew in sideways under the canopy and beat against the back windshield leaving me wondering if I was going to have to duck into the seat if the window blew out! If it isn’t Houston, it is somewhere else in the US or beyond, and these intensifying storm systems are sadly/scarily becoming our new normal.
The last Lone Star Nature News was back in March and I figured it was time for Volume 3.0 since May is coming to an end quickly.
First off, some news from me:
I’m writing a book!
Last week I signed a contract with the University of Georgia Press for their imprint Milestone Press to write a hiking guide for the Big Thicket region. It all came together a bit randomly after I pitched another book their way last October and was turned down for that project, but some emailing back and forth between the editor and me turned into a book proposal a few months later, and then a book contract to ponder a few months after that, and finally last week I made it official!
I’m totally nervous but also very excited! It’s a lot of work, something I’ve been working on since this last December when I wrote the the proposal, and will continue to be a lot of effort through the end of 2025, when I’m supposed to have a final manuscript in. I’m aiming for next summer, ideally, but I’m not a single, 20-something with ample free time to be a dirtbagger for months on end, so I’m doing the work between a full-time job, and having a kid and family to attend to as well. The Big Thicket is deep in my heart and this book is sorely needed. There hasn’t been a book about the Big Thicket released in more than a decade and almost all of the original folks who worked to get the Big Thicket turned into a National Preserve have all passed away.
I hope to update more as I write and will of course be adding the Big Thicket into my writing here soon!
Sam Houston National Forest Closures
Extreme flooding in early May in Walker and Montgomery Counties caused significant road and trail damage to many areas of Sam Houston National Forest. That’s led the Forest Supervisor for the National Forests and Grasslands of Texas to close a large number of roads and trails within the forest. You can click through to read the closure order. The kicker? Closed until June 2026. It’s not great. Especially because this national forest is so close to the Houston region and is a very active forest for recreation, not only for hiking but for equestrian and ORV use in certain areas. The whole forest isn’t closed just certain roads and trails but when you start looking at the list it really makes accessibility for most people difficult. So yeah, you can park on the side of one of the open roads, or any of the TxDOT managed roads, and bushwhack in, but there are few people who will do that. Sam Houston NF is posting updates on Facebook with openings as they occur, which some roads have been repaired enough for use. I have never liked the approach to closures this NF region takes for events like this—there were large sections of the Lone Star Trail closed during the drought in 2011/2012 because of dead trees. Yes, you could walk in the forest *off* the trail with dead trees, but not on the trail. I personally prefer how some of our other public lands operate—go where you want, explore how you please, know the risks when going out there. Half the time bridges are out on these trails anyway and you have to wade across a small creek or turn around. Definitely check social media and their website if you plan to use SHNF this summer and fall.
4C Trail Trail Closure/Opening
Most of the 20-mile 4C Trail in Davy Crockett National Forest has been closed since 2019 (!!!) due to tornado damage. A small southern portion is open to hikers but the majority of it remains closed and it looks like some bridges are actively being worked on. I didn’t realize it was still closed until someone brought it to my attention when I shared the news about the Sam Houston closures and then coincidentally the forest service posted this update to their FB feed a few days ago. We have some serious problems with funding and personnel if we can’t fix trail systems after 5 years.
Comment Period for State Flood Plan
This just came across my newsfeed this morning so I haven’t had a chance to review it all, but Alejandra Martinez of the Texas Tribune reports that the Texas Water Development Board is seeking comments for their first ever state flood plan. Details and more information about where to comment are on the TWDB website and comments are open until 5pm Monday, June 17th. Especially if you are in a flood prone area in the state, your comments are needed!
1500 acres in Travis county to become public park land
A few weeks ago I wrote about the Roy Creek development that will be adjacent to several areas near the Pedernales in Travis county. Thankfully, other legacy ranch landowners are willing to work with the county to sell RGK Ranch for public use instead of to developers, which they had knocking on their door. Paired with another 475 acre purchase abutting Reimers Ranch park, this will be another piece in long-term conservation for Texas hill country biodiversity and hopefully future recreational opportunities for the public.
The Central Texas Water Crisis
After moving back to Texas in 2010 and finally beginning to settle in the Houston region in late 2011, I briefly flirted with the idea of moving to Austin. Part of me wishes I’d cashed in on buying there before it became unaffordable and the other part of me is glad I’m not contributing to the draining of the Edwards Aquifer.
Some climate models suggest Texas is in for violent swings between brutal drought and punishing floods, according to Jay Banner, a hydrologist at the University of Texas. But at some point, “drought” may stop being the correct word. Droughts, after all, are theoretically temporary. Long-term projections suggest that the “dry line”—a boundary between the parched air of the desert Southwest and the humid breath of the Gulf of Mexico—is growing wobbly, leaving its traditional home along I-35 and moving ever eastward. As it does, Central Texas will fall into the arid weather patterns of West Texas, and drought will not be an exception but the basic state of Austin’s ecology.
-via Austin Monthly
On a similar note: Illegal dam reporting on the rise via KXAN
Save the Cutoff!
Last year, during the fight to save Fairfield Lake State Park, I became aware of another public access fight called the Cutoff, which provides access to an oxbow of the Trinity River in Henderson and Navarro counties. In 2022, a new landowner illegally blocked access along a TxDOT owned right-of-way that hunters and fisherman have used for over a hundred years to access the public natural resource. The group that formed to save this public access has been working diligently to get the illegal fencing torn down and access restored but the landowner isn’t budging, despite TxDOT sending cease and desist letters. Oh, and don’t forget to watch to see the ties between this and FLSP! Click through to go to Alexander Neal’s video over on Instagram.
Prairie or Warehouse??
via @Flora_of_the_american_interior
Boy, do I have an essay brewing about how many warehouses seemingly spring up and sit empty for years on end. What a waste.
Texas Mountain Lion Update
After more than 7,000 public comments, TPWD finally began to take steps to regulate mountain lion hunting in Texas. Thanks to anyone who left comments after seeing my post here a few weeks ago. It’s only the beginning and it says a lot that we were able to get to this point. More public education, more communication with TPWD and hunters, and maybe we can have more effective hunting regulations that allow mountain lion populations to rebound how they should.
And lastly, something to listen to this coming week:
If you’ve never listened to Joey Santore of the Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t podcast before, you’re in for…a lot! I was going to say treat but between the Chicago accent, and the f-bombs, that might be pushing it for some of y’all. Anyway, he always has long episodes so find some time to pull weeds, go for a walk, or turn it on during a commute, and listen to some botanical talk about the Rio Grand Valley and how you should Kill Your Lawn.
Have a Texas nature or environment related article to share? Please reply to this email or leave a comment below in Substack!
Next week I’ll be writing about Fairfield Lake State Park on the one-year anniversary of its permanent closure.
Misti writes regularly at Oceanic Wilderness and In the Weeds. She hosts one podcast, Orange Blaze: A Florida Trail Podcast, and recently retired The Garden Path Podcast.
Congratulations on the book deal, Misti.
Nice!! Can’t wait to put my order in!