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.
- Back Roads Nature–Dinosaur Valley State Park
Mankind has always had doubts about his existence, and in the absence of facts he has been known to make his own. There was once a debate about man’s arrival on earth and a Paluxy riverbed, near Glen Rose, Texas, became famous for controversy surrounding evidence of fossilized human footprints—right beside those of dinosaurs—implying the… Read More → - Public Enemy No. 1
They’re listed in TPWD’s Texas Most Unwanted Plants and Animals, and they’re right up there with feral hogs and zebra mussels. When found on personal property in Texas, you can kill as many of them as you want without a license. And it’s the same for licensed hunters anywhere in Texas—no limit—provided you aren’t making… Read More → - It’s Raining Raccoons!
Our subconscious is limitless, like the cosmos. That’s why dreams are so weird and implausible. You’re walking in the woods. It’s a nice day, still dark on the road, the dawn barely stirring on the hills beyond. Walking through an archway of trees, you welcome the first tender, chilly gleam of September daylight. Suddenly, as… Read More → - Back Roads Nature, Purtis Creek State Park
Meandering is what happens when there are no boundaries. Creeks are fickle meanderers. They’re one of those serendipity occurrences of nature. With the exception of earthen banks, not much will hold a creek back. Creeks are not easily blocked by obstacles; they merely slide around them. They’re not good with reliability or schedules either. In… Read More → - Tequila’s Little Brother from Texas
The light is still young; a new day has just been born. The day seems stunned and not quite ready to begin. The high desert wind blows constantly—without tenacity you will die here—this inferno of parched landscape, this temple of torment. Life either avoids the daytime sun or powers down to survival mode. Rain comes… Read More → - Tigers are Always the First to Pounce
My name is Harry Thorax, reporting live from the beautiful (and packed) Plainfield Entomology Auditorium. It’s an honor to participate in this inaugural event—the first annual Western Hemisphere Tiger Beetle Convention, otherwise known as “Tiger Con I.” We are here in New Hampshire to cover this epic gathering of tiger beetles, and I don’t have… Read More →