One unique aspect of Big Thicket National Preserve is that it is divided into multiple chunks of land, called units. These unit include Turkey Creek, Big Sandy, Beaumont, Lance Rosier, Loblolly, Canyonlands, and more! In the next few posts, I'll be describing some of these units.
Big Sandy, located in Livingston, Texas, is the northwestern unit where I live. It's divided into the arid sandyland and longleaf pine upland ecosystems. Thousands of years ago, bodies of water dumped sand onto this region, creating small dunes and sandy hills. This created an ideal environment for multiple species of pine trees, including the longleaf pine, loblolly, and shortleaf pine. Arid sandylands also contain desert plants, like yucca and prickly pear cactus. In contrast, the longleaf pine upland hosts oak trees and grasses.
The fire managers employed by the National Park Service routinely burn sections of the longleaf pine uplands to prevent the brush from overgrowing, which increases the risk of man-made forest fires. The longleaf pine has adapted to a routinely burned environment, allowing these endangered, native trees to survive the fires while their invasive competitors perish.
If you want to visit Big Sandy, be sure to hike the Big Sandy Trail, Beaverslide Trail, or the Woodland Trail. You can even ride a bike or horse on the Big Sandy Trail, camp anywhere with a permit, fish in the creek, and go hunting with a license from October through February. Just be sure to "leave no trace" and carry out whatever you bring into the unit.