Houston and Nature Nivien Saleh, Ph.D.

In the previous episode we traveled back to a time when the Pineywoods featured mammoths and saber toothed tigers. Then we worked our way forward through the arrival of the first humans and their indigenous successors.
Today we’ll pick up the story at the arrival of first Europeans. Conservationist Jim Neal will tell us what the European presence meant - not only for the region’s native inhabitants but also for the flora and fauna of the Pineywoods.

The Pineywoods is a forested area in Eastern Texas and in the West Gulf Coastal Plain (a very wide stretch of Gulf coast that extends from the Mississippi all the way to the Lower Rio Grande Valley). To Houstonians the Pineywoods is just a day trip away.
Today conservationist Jim Neal introduces us to the region. He tells us of its trees and of Caddo Lake, which is the only natural lake in Texas. Then he takes us back in time to the Pleistocene, when a huge ice sheet covered North America and the wooly mammoth roamed the coastal plain. What was the region like, back then? What did it take for the regions early humans to succeed? Jim Neal has answers.

Have you wondered if anyone sees the big picture on caring for Houston’s bayous and waterways? I have, and that’s why I sat down with Brittani Flowers, the president and CEO of the Bayou Preservation Association. She tells us why our streams are such great assets and how we can leverage them to realize the promise of the bayou city. She explains why she is so skeptical of the big tunnelization project that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would like to bring to Houston, and describes some fun ways in which you and I can engage with her organization’s work.
Find the full episode transcript and episode links at  https://HoustonNature.com/23
 

The Smith Oaks Rookery on High Island, in springtime, teems with life. Several species of colonial nesting birds come here to raise their young. And they do so right in front of human onlookers, without signs of fear.
To give you a sense of the experience that the Rookery offers, I packed up my microphones and headed to Smith Oaks. There I met with Houston's expert bird guide Glenn Olsen. Join us as we explore some of the island’s hustle and bustle. Then get in your car, pay this magical place a visit and see for yourself.
Find the transcript and show notes at https://houstonnature.com/smith-oaks-rookery 

Kristi Rangel has many facets: By career she is an educator, public health official, and artist. By passion she explores African American connections to the land in Houston. When she talks, you quickly learn that her rootedness in nature runs deep. It starts with a three-times great grandfather who, although African, owned a large piece of property in Mississippi. It continues with her childhood adventures in family gardens and her adult efforts to bring raised vegetable beds to Kashmere Gardens Elementary School. In this episode Kristi tells her story. She also shares her thoughts on property ownership, the conflicted history that connects black Americans to the land, and the need to find healing in nature.

Does observing birds – as they jump from twig to twig, stalk prey, feed their young – bring you joy? Then, according to Sarah Flournoy of the Houston Audubon Society, you are a birder, whether you own a pair of binoculars or not.
Follow Sarah on her journey from beginner to expert birder. Find out why in Houston birding is such a big deal, and learn how you can connect with other bird enthusiasts through Houston Audubon.
Find episode resources here.