Did you know that East Texas has 675,000 acres of forest and grasslands? Did you know that Texas boasts some of the most ecologically significant forests in the U.S.? When I started my internship with the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club in January, I didn’t know either of those facts. The U.S. Forest Service manages approximately 675,000 acres of forests and grasslands known as the Forests and Grasslands of Texas (NFGT). The NFGT includes four national forests: Sabine, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston and Angelina National Forests and one grassland: Caddo-Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) National Grassland. My job this semester is to research the importance of the NFGT and what threats it is facing. This information will be used to inform Sierra Club visitors and volunteers of what needs to be done to conserve the NFGT for the future.
