The Lost Pines chapter serves primarily Bastrop and Caldwell counties of Central Texas (click here to find a statewide list of chapters). These counties are predominantly in the Post Oak Savannah and Blackland Prairie Ecoregions. In addition, our area includes the unique “island forest” of the Lost Pines, the westernmost extent of the loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), separated by about 100 miles from the pine forests of East Texas. Species in the Lost Pines are particularly adapted to the drier conditions here, and provide unique habitat for varied flora and fauna that can be seen in Bastrop and Buescher state parks and other nearby natural areas. You can learn more about what makes these parks so special and see pictures of them by visiting our “State Parks & Natural Areas” page; you can also find many links to information about the native plants, animals and ecology of the Lost Pines region on our resources page.
- Just a Little Grumpy
It was a clear balmy day on the plains, the grass dancing an intricate ballet on the wind. An adolescent coyote was cavorting like a young balloon out on holiday. Just weeks from his mother’s tutelage, finding food was a bit like dumpster-diving—an occasional mouse here, a lizard there—he was hungry. Then he glimpsed an… Read More → - The Five Amigos
It ain’t easy being a Texas rabbit. There’s floods, droughts, freezes, wildfires, scorching heat, tornados and only two seasons (summer & everything else). Add to that: ten ecoregions, all with their own terrain, climate, water issues and plant life. And, with an average lifespan of only 15 months, rabbits are nature’s most popular meal. They’re… Read More → - Back Roads Nature–Lake Somerville State Park
A lone eagle drifts up high in lazy circles, searching the massive expanse of water below for fish; a heron lifts on slow sliver wings. Gentle breezes nick the surface, shimmering pinpoints of light across the mirrored lake. Sparkling with the muted luster of good pearls, 11,000 acres of water sprawls in the late afternoon… Read More → - The Woodwide WebAh, the forest. Rich, verdant and vast. Great columns of sentry-like conifers tower over a diverse floor of understory, shrubs, vegetation—all interwoven into the loamy earth by a symbiotic act of trust. Our nation’s southern pine forest stretches from the southeastern coastline to somewhere just west of Bastrop, Texas. From the air, it sprawls hard… Read More →
- A New Kind of Victory Garden
As I sit watching rain pour over the front eave in long silver strings . . . I think about water. By 2025 two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. Ecosystems around the world will suffer even more. Over half the world’s wetlands have disappeared. Climate change is altering patterns of weather and… Read More → - Glorious Grass!Rains come in May and October in Central Texas. I didn’t read about it in a book, just living here forty years has taught me that. So when I bought $300 worth of native grass seeds in late September, surely planting time was soon to come. Day after day we waited, pulling deplorables like grass… Read More →