On July 31, 2026, the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club met with the Texas Conservation Alliance and the U.S. Forest Service (FS) in Angelina National Forest (ANF) to view several areas where the proposed Bannister Restoration Project (BRP), Phase III, will be implemented.
Before the Trump Administration eviscerated public participation, the Sierra Club and TCA regularly participated in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and FS Objection Processes. This was done for the BRP. One agreement that resulted from these efforts was that the FS would give the Sierra Club and TCA an opportunity to collaborate and provide input on each phase of the BRP, a process that Trump has eliminated.
The TCA requested these meetings to view and discuss areas where it and the Sierra Club want to see changes in the proposed implementation of the BRP.
The first place visited was Compartment 23, Stand 10, near Franklin Branch and its tributaries. We walked through Stand 10, a terrace near lower slopes and floodplains, and saw many large mature and or old growth hardwood trees including White Oak, Sweetgum, Black Gum, American Beech, Southern Red Oak, and White Ash. The Shortleaf and Loblolly Pines that were seen here were large but sparse. Stand 10 appears to be a hardwood stand.
The shade from the many large, mature or old growth hardwood and pine trees kept the shrub and small tree densities low so that it was easy to walk through Stand 10. TCA and the Sierra Club recommended that Compartment 23, Stand 10, be removed from the BRP because it’s a hardwood stand with low-density pine.
We next visited Compartment 23, Stand 5. This is a low pine density stand that has Loblolly Pine, Red Maple, Southern Red Oak, White Oak, Sassafras, Bracken Fern, White Ash, Sweetgum, White Oak, Shortleaf Pine, Canadian Black Snakeroot, Carolina Bucktorn, Coral-bean, Eastern Hop Hornbeam, American Beautyberry, Yaupon Holly, Laurel Oak, Water Oak, Pigeon Wing, American Hornbeam, Chinese Tallow, Japanese Climbing Fern, and Black Hickory. TCA and Sierra Club recommended that Compartment 23, Stand 5, be removed from the BRP because it’s a low-density pine stand.
We then visited Compartment 17, Stand 6. TCA and Sierra Club recommended that this stand should be removed from the BRP because it’s a low-density pine stand.
We visited Compartment 23, Stand 12, which has low-density pine (Shortleaf and Loblolly) and many hardwoods like Southern Red Oak, White Oak, Black Gum, and hickory species. TCA and Sierra Club proposed that Compartment 23, Stand 12, should be removed from the BRP because it’s a low-density pine stand.
We visited Compartment 23, Stand 4, which had sparse pine trees and many hardwood trees including White Ash, Shumard Oak (or perhaps Cherrybark Oak), Sugar Maple Yaupon Holly, White Oak, blueberry species, Fringe Tree, Farkleberry, and hickory species. Our recommendation was that Compartment 23, Stand 4, be removed from the BRP because it’s a low-density pine stand that has many large hardwood trees.
We last visited Compartment 17, Stand 8, which has two culvert blowouts on its entrance road. This eroding road sends soil into a perennial stream, which reduces water quality. Seepage areas, floodplains, and wetland vegetation including Netted Chain Fern, sphagnum moss species, Sweetbay Magnolia, Buttonbush, Sweet Gum, Black Gum, Sweetleaf, White Oak, and American Beech are affected by this erosion.
Sierra Club and TCA recommended that Compartment 17, Stand 8, should be removed from the BRP because it’s a low-density pine stand and because the entrance road has two culvert blowouts.
The Sierra Club stated that it has a concern about thinning (logging) proposed for BRP. The proposed thinning takes too much volume (Basal Area) from existing stands. The Sierra Club requested that the FS review the proposed thinning levels.
The Sierra Club stated that ANF was fortunate to have areas that have as many large and old mature and old growth hardwood trees as it has. Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF), in comparison has many fewer large, old, hardwood trees.
Both Sierra Club and TCA emphasized the importance of streamside management zones (SMZs) on floodplains and lower slopes and terraces of streams. These areas should be managed for hardwood trees because they are more suitable for hardwood growth (moisture, soil, topography) than pine trees. Larger SMZs are desired in floodplains, lower slopes, and terraces because they’re more suitable for hardwood ecology.
TCA and Sierra Club both requested that floodplain, wet, erosive, and steep soils not be logged. They want to continue to work collaboratively with the FS to make projects better. The FS stated it would consider the Sierra Club and TCA concerns and notify them in the future about what has been decided.