By Brandt Mannchen

At the end of February, on behalf of the Sierra Club, I visited Big Creek Scenic Area (BCSA) and Compartment 96 where a unique and rare plant, the Sabine Wake-robin (Trillium gracile), lives. There are only a few populations of this “cool” plant in Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF), and the Sierra Club visits each year to observe how it’s doing.

But first, you’ve got to get there.  If you haven’t driven north recently on I-69 past Cleveland, Texas, don’t!  You talk about changing the landscape!  The Texas Department of Transportation is building a high-profile (in height) and high capacity and intensity (in width and number of lanes) expansion of U.S. 59.

It’s very challenging to get through the morass of dirt moving and concrete pouring.  I finally did and breathed a sigh of relief after dump trucks serving this massive construction project turned off Red Road and stopped following me.

Whew, I thought the coast was clear.  But no such luck.  As I drove north on Red Road, also called Forest Road (FR) 221 by the U.S. Forest Service (FS), and entered SHNF I found the road in terrible condition, full of 100’s of holes, ruts, dips, and potential washouts.  Some places had been repaired with fresh 2-3-inch-wide rocks, but many places had not. 

Road maintenance is needed to smooth out FR 221 to make it suitable for normal vehicle use.  Even with the high clearance Honda CRV SUV that I drove it was difficult to maneuver on FR 221.  Maintenance of this road is needed as soon as possible, I thought.

I next visited Compartment 109, Stand 25, on the left side of FR 221A.  This is where a natural forested wetland depression is found.  There had been some tree blowdown in this depression, probably due to Hurricane Beryl, but I was glad that it hadn’t been logged as part of thinning projects.  The Sierra Club for several years has urged the FS to avoid logging this unique landscape feature.

Finally, I arrived In Big Creek Scenic Area (BCSA).  I was looking for “spring ephemeral” (herbaceous) plants that bloom in late winter or early spring before full leaf out of trees occurs in the forest.

Some of the “spring ephemerals” that I found in BCSA included Southern Cranefly Orchid, Sabine Wake-Robin, Spring Cress, Butterweed, Walter’s Violet, and another violet species.  There also was profuse blooming of Carolina Jessamine throughout the forest.  Several species of ferns, including Netted Chain Fern and perhaps Lady Fern were seen.

The Sabine Wake-Robin in BCSA, in most instances, hadn’t bloomed yet, although some had.  Probably another week or two would bring blooms from these forest interior plants.

It was nice hearing Red-bellied and Pileated Woodpeckers near Big Creek as I hiked slowly. I soaked in the sunny calm, of one of my favorite places in SHNF and felt my tension and anxiety fade away.

I next drove to Compartment 96 and stopped in the parking lot of the Lone Star Hiking Trail (LSHT) at the corner of Butch Arthur Road and FM 945.  My goal was 150 yards north on the LSHT.  Here a seemingly more dense population of Sabine Wake-Robin exists than in BCSA.  This population near the LSHT is doing well and there were more plants blooming than at BCSA.

I also drove to the end of Richards Road in Compartment 96.  This is where the Sierra Club and FS met to view an area that has many Southern Magnolias. There are more Southern Magnolias here than any other place that the Sierra Club has visited in SHNF.  Because of the profusion of Southern Magnolias, the Sierra Club now calls this area “Magnolia Corridor”.

Although logging has occurred on the western part of Compartment 96, no logging of “Magnolia Corridor” has occurred yet.  The Sierra Club has urged the FS in its implementation of the Butch Arthur Project to ensure that “Magnolia Corridor” isn’t logged so that this unique area will maintain its unusual density and number of Southern Magnolias.

It was a good visit!  It’s nice to know that Trillium gracile, even during the dry, hot, and then cold weather that we have had appears to be doing well.  It’s blooming for its future and that’s great.