By Brandt Mannchen

Recently, I visited two of my favorite places in Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF).  In my view, Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area (LLCWA) and Big Creek Scenic Area (BCSA) are the stars of wildness and beauty in SHNF.

LLCWA is on the west side of SHNF and is near the western boundary of the Piney Woods Ecoregion.  LLCWA provides me with a “sense of place” not only due to the beautiful bottomland hardwood and upland hardwood and pine forests but because it provides an example of how the Houston Sierra Club (HSC) makes a difference.

In 1984, the Texas Wilderness Act was approved and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.  Months before, the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club (LSC) met for an Executive Committee meeting in Bryan/College Station, hosted by the Brazos Valley Regional Group of the Sierra Club, which unfortunately no longer exists.

The HSC sent several of its members to this meeting (Hubert Davis, John Glover, George Smith, Jerry Akers, and Brandt Mannchen).  There still was jockeying going on about how large and the number of wilderness areas that the Texas Wilderness Bill would include.  Ned Fritz, from a group (Texas Committee on Natural Resources) allied with the LSC, thought that bigger wilderness areas should be advocated and that the total acreage proposed for wilderness should be similar to bills that had been introduced.

Ned wanted the LSC to drop support for the almost 4,000-acre LLCWA and provide more acreage for wilderness in Angelina and / or Sabine National Forests.  The HSC was against this because all other wilderness areas that the LSC supported in SHNF had already been dropped from the Texas Wilderness Bill.  The HSC opposed the LSC adopting Ned’s plan and stated that the Sierra Club should have wilderness near where its members were, which included SHNF.

The LSC supported the HSC and stated that LLCWA would stay in the Texas Wilderness Bill.  Without this advocacy by the HSC and support by the LSC you would have to drive 3-4 hours north to see, hike, and enjoy wilderness in East Texas.

I thought about this as I hiked the Lone Star Hiking Trail which travels through LLCWA.  I enjoyed the diversity of this small wilderness which on the uplands includes Post Oak, Southern Red Oak, Water Oak, Loblolly Pine, Shortleaf Pine, and Sweetgum canopy trees and in the lower canopy American Beautyberry, Eastern Red Cedar, Farkleberry, Winged Elm, Deciduous Holly, Parsley Hawthorn, Sassafras, Black Cherry, Black Hickory, Winged Elm, Eastern Hop Hornbeam, Little Hip Hawthorn, Carolina Buchthorn, Yaupon Holly, and others.

In the floodplain of Little Lake Creek, along other streams, and in wet places you find Arrowwood Viburnum, American Hornbeam, Southern Magnolia, Dwarf Palmetto, Black Gum, Honey Locust, Green Ash, American Elm, Common Persimmon, Cedar Elm, River Birch, Hackberry, Sweetgum, Boxelder, American Elderberry, and others.

The American Elm, Green Ash, Sweetgum, and Loblolly Pine in the LLCWA floodplain are large and potentially old growth trees which provide important structure for birds and other wildlife.  Truly a delightful place with Pileated Woodpeckers, American Crows, Northern Cardinals, and Gray Squirrels that greet you and make you realize that they need and have a home too!

BCSA is found on the far eastern side of SHNF, in an area that suspiciously looks like the “Big Thicket”.  That’s because it is!  Although people often think the “Big Thicket” is in Hardin and other farther east counties, San Jacinto, Walker, and Montgomery Counties also are part of the “Big Thicket”.

Here I found American Beech trees, about as far west as they grow in the United States, Southern Magnolia, White Oak, Swamp Chestnut Oak, and Water Oak canopies.  The flow of Big Creek is significant, and the water is cool, caramel colored, and gorgeous to see.  BCSA, when it was designated by the U.S. Forest Service in 1962, was called “Big Thicket Scenic Area”.

The lovely rolling landscape and the winding, clear, creek, make BCSA a “gem” to visit and enjoy any time of the year.

Without LLCWA and BCSA, Sam Houston National Forest, our nearest federal public forest land, would be much poorer.  We are lucky to have and enjoy them.  They need our support, protection, and care.  

Photo by Brandt Mannchen