WARREN – On Sunday, March 2, the Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve (WRNPP), located near Warren on Lake Hyatt, conducted its annual prescribed burn.
Shawn Benedict, who works as preserve manager for the Southeast Texas region for the Nature Conservancy, oversaw the burn, along with members of the Warren Volunteer Fire Department, who assisted with resources.
Board members of the Watson Preserve, along with volunteers, were also on hand to see that the process was conducted safely.
The Watson Preserve, which is named for its founder Geraldine Ellis Watson, a late, self-taught botanist, artist and environmentalist, is open to the public year-round, free of charge.
It was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in 2009 by Watson, and boasts a diverse range of rare species of native plants, such as milkweeds, wild azaleas and four of the five species of carnivorous plants.
Watson, who had long led conservation efforts in the area, and died in 2012, had purchased the property on the shore of Lake Hyatt, which was a 10-acre spread, and built a cabin, where she lived.
Watson believed the land should be preserved for future generations to study the flora and fauna of the area, and deeded the land to the non-profit she’d founded.
Since her death, the WRNPP board of directors, along with many of the organization’s volunteers, have managed the preserve to honor Watson and her legacy, and the prescribed burn in one of the management activities undertaken, annually.
Anyone interested in visiting the Watson Preserve can get to it by turning east onto County Road 4770, off of US 69. Once on that road, the preserve is located off County Road 4777, about a half-mile down the first turn off, and about a quarter mile on the left on CR 4777.
Guided tours can be arranged by calling Pauline Singleton at 281-421-2469, or by emailing her at pollytx1@gmail.com. Donations can also be made out to the preserve and to honor Geraldine Watson’s efforts. Make a check out to “Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve,” and send to the attention of Brenda Peck at Citizens State Bank, PO Box 160, Warren, TX 77664-0160.
