News Release

Prescribed Burn in Big Thicket National Preserve

A firefighter uses a drip torch to ignite the forest's brush during a prescribed fire.

NPS Photo

News Release Date: January 29, 2021

Contact: Megan Urban, [phone]

KOUNTZE, Texas – Big Thicket National Preserve Fire Management will be doing a prescribed burn starting on Sunday, January 31st in the Big Sandy Creek Unit.

This prescribed burn is anticipated to burn approximately 1600 acres, located west of Lily Road and north of Sunflower Road. This prescribed burn will be a multi-day process, depending on weather and staffing. Big Thicket Fire Management will be supported by crews from Padre Island National Seashore and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

“Prescribed burning is an integral part of a healthy ecosystem and we are looking forward to continuing this process,” states Superintendent Wayne Prokopetz.

This is the start of a multi-week prescribed burn schedule for Big Thicket. Prescribed burns are a vital part of the Big Thicket ecosystem and it is one part of the reestablishment of a healthy longleaf pine tree habitat.

Big Thicket National Preserve is located in southeast Texas, near the city of Beaumont and 75 miles northeast of Houston. The preserve consists of nine land units and six water corridors encompassing more than 113,000 acres. The Big Thicket, often referred to as a “biological crossroads,” is a transition zone between four distinct vegetation types – the moist eastern hardwood forest, the southwestern desert, the southeastern swamp, and the central prairies. Species from all of these different vegetation types come together in the thicket, exhibiting a variety of vegetation and wildlife that has received global interest.

- NPS -