HoustonChronicle - Conservationists alarmed at Big Thicket plans

"Oh, where are the young people we need to save the Thicket," sighed Watson on a recent overcast day as she sat on the deck of a small house she keeps on the shore of a lake at her preserve. "Our generation is getting too old. We're dying out."

Getting support for the Big Thicket has been tough because unlike in some other areas, there are no majestic mountains to look at, no massive waterfalls and no grand canyons. There are small hills, modest waterfalls and ravine-like canyons that offer fine scenery -- but only to those willing to tramp through bug-infested deep woods to get to them.

Some of the most astounding things, like the insect-eating sundew, are no bigger than a 50-cent piece at their largest. Still others are much bigger. Signs at the trailheads warn visitors not to confront the feral hogs known as "piney woods rooters." Mountain lions roam through the woods, and there have been increasing signs that black bears are returning.

But most of those creatures are elusive and as hard to spot as the delicate orchids that bloom in the deep shade of the forest canopy.

Johnston spends much of her time showing those wonders to visitors just to get more support for her beloved Big Thicket.

She says she can hear Miss Alice's voice urging her onward. "You've got to save the Big Thicket again, Maxine. You've all got to just get out there and save it again."