Big Thicket National Preserve

Honoring Excellence in Management and Administration The 2025 Director’s Awards celebrate outstanding contributions in management, administration, IT, and information management. These awards recognize individuals and teams whose innovation, service, and impact strengthen the National Park Service’s mission.

As we reflect on 2024, we offer you a list of 24 interesting and exciting science and nature events from parks of the national park system. From awe-inspiring celestial events to celebrating anniversaries and conservation wins, 2024 was filled with amazing moments.

Learn about the rare, fire-adapted grass called Silveus' Dropseed, which was recently rediscovered in the longleaf pine wet flatwoods in Big Thicket National Preserve.

At Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas, the presence of bats yields several ecological benefits while roost trees offer the vital havens they need to thrive. Researchers conducted a species inventory to assess the bat population and health of their preferred habitat. Two at-risk species— Rafinesque’s big-eared bat and southeastern myotis, require old-growth wetland forest habitats with hollow trees for survival.

Trees shade us from the sun, provide homes for wildlife, stabilize Earth’s surface, and produce food for humans and animals alike. Some are massive, and others are miniscule by comparison, but what makes one better than the other—we’ll let you decide! Check out our iconic trees below and find your favorite!

On October 12, 2024, Big Thicket National Preserve hosted its 50th Anniversary Celebration, a festive day to celebrate the past, present, and future of America's first national preserve.

Following emancipation, formerly enslaved Blacks built communities in Big Thicket and southeast Texas. They lived off the land by homesteading, hunting, and foraging.

Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios.