On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act (TWA). Since that time, our lives have never been the same. Today, we have more than 111 million acres of public land (an area larger than California) designated in our national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, and national conservation areas as wilderness.
TWA is a very different kind of law. Instead of telling us how to manage a particular piece of land, the hand of humans is virtually invisible, and landscapes, wildlife, and ecosystems are dominant with humans as visitors only.
In the words of TWA, “A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain … an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appear to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least 5,000 acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.”
TWA states very clearly why these lands have been set aside. In TWA, the U.S. Congress states, “In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify, all areas within the U.S. … leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.”
Congress stated how and why these lands were to be administered, “… and these shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character, and for the gathering and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment”.
Mechanized activities (bicycles, motor vehicles, chainsaws, etc.) aren’t allowed in wilderness. We visit wilderness on Nature’s terms and not our civilized ones. Wilderness is the embodiment of the wildness in us. It helps keep our natural instincts strong and ready. It provides a test for our species about how we can survive as a partner with and not against Nature. I like to say that wilderness is where “Nature, not humans, calls the shots”.
TWS proved so popular that citizens in the Eastern U.S. clamored for their share of wilderness after 1964. There are fewer public lands in the Eastern U.S. and many have seen the hand of humans. The U.S. Forest Service (FS) decided that lands in the East weren’t pristine enough to be designated wilderness. Congress (which solely designates wilderness) disagreed and determined that the Eastern U.S. (with its greater rainfall and milder climate) made “restoration to a primitive and natural condition” possible. Therefore the U.S. Congress passed the Eastern Wilderness Act on January 3, 1975.
In Texas, the battle for wilderness began in 1972 when President Richard Nixon directed the FS to identify wilderness areas in the Eastern U.S. The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, given a short deadline by the administration, inventoried and recommended 8 areas for wilderness. Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area (LLCWA) was one of those areas. A second FS inventory occurred in 1977 when 16 areas were considered. Only 3 of those areas were recommended for wilderness in 1979 by the FS. One of those was LLCWA.
In 1983, a bill was introduced in Congress to designate wilderness in the National Forests in Texas. After much pushing, cajoling, threatening, and public outcry, in October 1984, the Texas Wilderness Act was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Ronald Reagan. Five wilderness areas were established in the National Forests in Texas. LLCWA was one of those wilderness areas. A few years later after some boundary adjustments were made, LLCWA grew to 3,855 acres.
The beauty of LLCWA is many-fold. The entire drainage, except for a small part above Forest Road 211 (Bethel Road) and below the wilderness boundary near FM 149, is wilderness. Little Lake Creek starts small and ephemeral, picks up tributaries, and runs about 5 miles before it exits onto private land, crosses under FM 149, and flows into Lake Conroe.
The uplands in LLCWA are dominated by Loblolly and Shortleaf Pine, Post Oak, Winged Elm, Southern Red Oak, and Black Hickory. Many upland pine trees have been thinned out naturally by southern pine beetles. These dead, ghostly, standing snags and downed trees enrich the soil. Hardwoods, along with pines, have seeded in and are now dominating these naturally thinned areas. A few rare Black Walnuts exist in the uplands. These trees are some of the western-most Black Walnuts in the United States.
A real treat in LLCWA is found in the bottomlands. Huge Green Ash, Loblolly Pine, Water Oak, Sugarberry, Willow Oak, and American Elm fill the bowl-like floodplain of the mid and lower portions of Little Lake Creek. The midstory, understory, and shrub layers of this forest can be thick, but are very diverse. Some smaller trees include Arrowood Viburnum, Carolina Buckthorn, Little Hip Hawthorne, Parsley Hawthorne, Deciduous Holly, and Yaupon Holly.
When you go deep into LLCWA and hike along the languid waters of Little Lake Creek you feel a million miles from civilization. It’s a quiet place and provides the solitude one rarely experiences in our hurry-burry, rushing, civilization. Meditation and kinship with the forest are feelings enhanced by a walk along Little Lake Creek or one of its tributaries, Pole Creek and Sand Branch.
However, total silence is not found in LLCWA. You can hear a Pileated Woodpecker banging on a snag or Chickadees and Tufted Titmice swarming through the understory busily feeding and visiting. Barred Owls can be heard hooting in the distance and Red-Shouldered and Cooper’s Hawks dart through the wood or circle overhead looking for dinner. Tree frogs can be heard near ponds and wet places. Particularly in fall and winter, Wood Ducks are seen near beaver dams and Grey Squirrels are heard chattering overhead. It’s a living menagerie and you are welcomed back into this family.
There is no place like LLCWA in the 161,000 acres of Sam Houston National Forest. LLCWA is the only wilderness in this forest and it’s special in fact and due to its wilderness nature. The Sierra Club visits and celebrates the beauty, vibrancy, and wildness of LLCWA. May it always exist in our minds and as we leave only footprints and take only memories.
Photo by Brandt Mannchen.