Big Thicket Preserve
Today, Geraldine Watson & The Big Thicket National Preserve. The University of Houston presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them.
Geraldine Watson Photographer Unknown
The Big Thicket National Preserve is located about 80 miles east of Houston, TX. Designated in 1974 as the very first national preserve in the U.S., this ecological crossroads is now UNESCO recognized as one of the most critical regions for biodiversity on the continent. But if it weren’t for the tenacity of advocates like Geraldine Watston, we would have lost this priceless treasure before we even realized what it was.
Map of the Big Thicket Biosphere Reserve
The importance of the Big Thicket dates back to the last ice age. With much of North America covered by glaciers, northern tree species, like American Beech and Sugar Maple, moved south to survive. When the ice melted, these species stayed, along with the Longleaf Pine of the Southeast, the Prickly Pear Cactus of the Southwest, and the Little Bluestem of the Great Plains.
With more than 240 grass species, 800 herbs and vines, and over 1,000 types of flowering plants, some found nowhere else on earth, the Big Thicket is a veritable smorgasbord of American forest, plains, swamp, and desert species, all coexisting in a melting pot as diverse as the American people themselves.
But now back to Geraldine Watson. Born in 1925 to a family of lumber sawmill workers dating back 4 generations, Geraldine was raised in deep East Texas, where she had a front row seat to both the natural beauty and rampant deforestation of the Big Thicket. Her love of nature inspired her to study biology and become an unstoppable advocate for the local flora and fauna. She wrote a weekly conservation column for the local newspaper, became a founding board member of The Big Thicket Association, and used every avenue to argue that the Big Thicket’s unique ecology was both understudied and needing protection.
Geraldine Watson surveying a dead cypress, 1973 Photographer Unknown
Her efforts came at a cost, with Geraldine and her family enduring years of death threats, personal attacks, and alienation from the powerful logging industry. Still, she persisted, testifying before Congress in 1974 with her famous words, “How are we going to save the world if we don’t understand what makes it what it is?” Her argument worked, and on October 11, 1974, the last remaining 3% of the historic Big Thicket region was indefinitely protected.
Geraldine’s legacy extends beyond the borders of the preserve. She taught us the importance of studying and protecting nature, showed us how impactful a single person can be, and hopefully she inspires you to plant a native tree, start a pollinator garden, or be a voice for nature in any way you’re able.
I'm Doctor Stephen Cook at the University of Houston, where we're interested the way inventive minds work.
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Bibliography
Big Thicket Biosphere Reserve Map - Big Thicket National Preserve (U.S. National Park Service). (n.d.-a). https://www.nps.gov/bith/learn/management/big-thicket-biosphere-reserve…;
Creation of big thicket national preserve - big thicket national preserve (U.S. National Park Service). (n.d.-a). https://www.nps.gov/bith/learn/historyculture/creation-of-big-thicket-n…;
Geraldine Watson - Big Thicket national preserve (U.S. National Park Service). (n.d.-a). https://www.nps.gov/bith/learn/historyculture/geraldine-watson.htm
Penny Clark, “Watson, Geraldine Ellis,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed July 01,
2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/watson-geraldine-ellis.
Watson, G. E. (2006). Big Thicket Plant Ecology: An Introduction. United States: UNT Press, University of North Texas Press.
This Episode first aired July 15, 2026.