Land and Legacy: Preserving Natural Texas

Join experts to explore the history of Texas conservation efforts, examining successes, failures and next steps. The evening's program will include a conversation about protecting our environment with historians and environmental experts who will explore the impetus for and context surrounding conservation efforts of the 20th century and today. Panelists will share specific examples of environmental challenges and preservation efforts in Texas from the local, state and national levels.

This program is held in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service and the Bullock Museum's latest special exhibition, Journey Into Big Bend.

Please note: RSVPs to this event are currently at capacity. There will be a standby line at the door and if space becomes available, guests in standby will be seated on a first come first served basis.

About the Panel

Neel Baumgardner is a historian and hiker who teaches courses in American Studies and history at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Baumgardner's research focuses on the development and protection of national parks and wilderness areas. His book in progress, titled Unbordering North America examines the creation of international parks along the periphery of Canada, Mexico, and the United States including Big Bend and the Maderas del Carmen in Texas and the northern Mexican state of Coahuila.

Douglas Brinkley is a professor of history at Rice University, the CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Audubon. The Chicago Tribune has dubbed him “America’s new past master.” His recent Cronkite won the Sperber Prize for Best Book in Journalism and was a Washington Post Notable Book of the Year. The Great Deluge won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. He is a member of the Society of American Historians and the Council on Foreign Relations. In his most recent book Rightful Heritage, Brinkley examines the environmental legacy of FDR and the New Deal.

As director for The Nature Conservancy in Texas, Laura Huffman establishes conservation strategy to help protect the integrity of Texas’ vast natural resources. She also provides public policy leadership, which has helped expand the state’s vast network of green space and parkland. Over the past 50 years, the Conservancy has worked with state and federal agencies to help develop a number of beloved public areas, including Big Bend, Enchanted Rock State Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Padre Island National Seashore and Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. Huffman is also a founding director of the Conservancy’s North America Cities program, and is a prominent voice on smart urban growth and the intersection of municipal development and natural resources. Huffman is an adjunct professor at New York University and a highly sought-after speaker on topics ranging from leadership and public service, whole-system conservation, freshwater protection and creating sustainable, resilient cities.

Journey Into Big Bend education programs sponsored by:

Big Bend Chamber of Commerce	Forever Resorts, LLC	Gage Hotel	Visit Big Bend

Support for the Bullock Museum's exhibitions and education programs provided by the Texas State History Museum Foundation.