By Brandt Mannchen
One of the joys of the apparent downturn of Covid-19 is that the Sierra Club can get back to enjoying the freedom of the wild, while we do the good conservation work that our organization does. There is joy in networking to protect our forests particularly when it is outdoors!
This freedom and joy was exemplified recently, when the Sierra Club met with Mike Lange, Texas Conservation Partners, and we visited the Dow Woods Unit of San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge and a potential new tract that may be acquired.
This area consists of the Columbia Bottomlands of Brazoria County. The Columbia Bottomlands is a unique coastal forest of Live Oak, Pecan, Shumard Oak, Burr Oak, Water Oak, Hackberry, Green Ash, and many other trees.
Dow Woods has about 330 acres of Columbia Bottomlands and Bastrop Bayou flows through the middle of this important migratory bird habitat. It was exciting to meet Mike, and along with Dave and Brandon, to hike these natural forests and explore more acres.
It was fascinating to find plants that I didn’t know. Mike and Brandon used their plant ID applications and gave me their names. These included Raven’s Foot Sedge, Browne’s Savory, Virginia Jump Seed, Texas Pinkroot, White Avens, and Bear’s Foot. There were blooming wildflowers wherever we found openings in the forest along with blackberries and greenbriars, which reminded via their thorns not to get too close.
The scattered, large, Live Oaks were very impressive. The largest we measured were over five feet in diameter. One was hollow inside and big enough to hide a Black Bear, which used to roam this area.
Northern Cardinals, White-eyed Vireos, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers called in the canopy and tree frogs sang songs in the lichen, resurrection fern, and Spanish Moss nooks and crannies of large Live Oak, Cedar Elm, and Sugarberry trees.
On Bastrop Bayou, we saw a male Wood Duck, stunning in its plumage, and Red-eared Turtles and Spotted Gars floating in the tea-stained water while nearby Dwarf Palmettos, Switchcane, and trees hung with Spanish Moss gave the area a Southern Louisiana feel. It’s good, to get back out in Nature.