About Gunter's The Big Thicket

“Someone once said that it’s not worth saving these places if we don’t use and enjoy them. So, if you aren’t in the Thicket, read this book. Better yet, take this book to the Thicket.” —Bob Armstrong

“Once a refuge for bandits, the jungly groves and swamps of the Big Thicket… now are an ecological treasure. In this book, the Big Thicket’s human and natural history unfold with anecdotal intimacy and many good stories about crusty backwoodsman. A hefty section on hiking makes this the premier book on an area famed for orchids and alligators, turkeys and bears.” —Books of the Southwest

“Anybody going into the Thicket will do well to read this book ahead of time and pack it with him in his sack lunch.” —F. E. Abernethy

When a bill creating the Big Thicket National Preserve was signed into law, it climaxed more than half a century of environmental debate, planning and destruction. The preserve opened new vistas for recreation.

In this revised and updated version, Gunter not only describes the history and rich diversity of the region saved from the bulldozers of real estate developers and lumber companies, but also the dimensions of the new Big Thicket Preserve. He makes it possible to plan a trip there by including descriptions of each stream corridor unit, maps and canoeing conditions, hiking trails, and camping facilities. He lists representative flora and fauna.

The book provides a background—both historical and biological—which will make clear just what the visitor to the Big Thicket is seeing; why it has mattered, and why it will continue to matter.