Big Thicket

State: TX
NPCA Region: Texas
Est. Date: 1974

Air Quality Conditions

View the Polluted Parks Report

Visibility

Unsatisfactory

Health

Unsatisfactory

Nature

Significant Concern

Climate Change Threats

Spanning seven counties and nine ecosystems, not far from the Texas-Louisiana border, Big Thicket National Preserve weaves together internationally renowned biological diversity with the rich history of many generations of people who have relied on this land for safety and survival.

Early European settlers referred to the area as “the Big Thicket” because of its lush, dense forest and canopies. But the region had been utilized for thousands of years prior by the Atakapa-Ishak, and later the Alabama-Coushatta people, who migrated westward in the late 1700’s and established this area as their homeland.

Fact Sheet

Big Thicket National Preserve

A Biological Crossroads of the Southeast

Protecting over 100,000 acres of wilderness, this region teems with a delicate tapestry of wildlife and has been called “The Biological Crossroads of America.” But increased extreme weather, and development are harming the Big Thicket and adjacent Southeast Texas communities – displacing wildlife, impacting park facilities and community infrastructure as well as changing the historical landscape.

NPCA is working to protect the parks from these impacts by restoring important native habitat and connect the landscape to ensure a resilient economic and sustainable future for Big Thicket and the southeast Texas region. We are doing this work in multiple ways including restoring the native longleaf pine ecosystem, recovering the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, strategic conservation and acquisition of lands to mitigate flooding risks and adapt to impacts of a changing climate, and enhancing recreational resources as a growing economic asset for local communities.

This area had its own very special qualities, but that you have to refocus your vision a little. It’s not a matter of geysers or mountains or waterfalls or anything like that. It’s a matter of looking at what you have and determining what’s interesting about this.

Maxine Johnston

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