The Texas Legacy Project: Stories of Courage & Conservation

"No Student should graduate from a Texas high school without reading this book... or even memorizing it."---Bill Moyers

In a state where most of the wildlands are feneed in or marked with signs that say, "Keep Out," The Texas Legacy Project reminds us not only what is at stake but why "the open space of democracy" matters to the souls of all Americans. Private lands, working lands, lands that still hold the spirit of wildness make this book a compliation of commitment...that celebrates passionate engagement in the places we call home.---Terry Tempest Williams, naturalist and author of Finding Beauty in a Broken World

"This book gives us an important chance to listen to nature, learn from nature's students and stewards, and protect our shared conservation legacy for our children and grandchildren."---Larry Schweiger, president and CEO, National Wildlife Federation

"The Texas Legacy Project confirms the incredible value of efforts by individuals who, like John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, and Theodore Roosevelt, dedicated much of their lives to controversial ideas that turned out to give great benefit to the public."---Don Henley, recording artist, environmentalist, and founder of the Caddo Lake Institute in Texas and the Walden Woods Project in Massachusetts

"A splendid new book, The Texas Legacy Project: Stories of Courage and Conservation, drawing on an impressive archive of personal reminiscences made available through the Texas Legacy Project, describes in the heartfelt and plain-spoken words of its narrators how Texas came to develop such an impressive commitment to natural resources and the environment. Through these `citizen journeys' emerges a tackle box of tools, documented to have worked in the past, that have the promise of extending the Texas legacy to a whole new generation."---Henry Foster, former head, The Nature Conservancy, Yale School of Forestry, and W. Alton Jones Foundation

"Texans have good reason to be proud of their abundant wild-life. It attracts nature enthusiasts from around the world. That's no accident. Dozens of colorful Texas personalities toiled most of their lives to protect the wildlife we now enjoy. The Texas Legacy Project: Stories of Courage and Conservation brilliantly captures their stories in their words. It's a must-read for anyone who cares about Texas. Hopefully, it will inspire the next generation of Texas conservation leaders."---John Flicker, former President and CEO, National Audubon Society

"We hope these stories celebrate everyone who works to protect and restore their backyards---large or small, exotic or familiar."

A city dweller's vacant lot...A rancher's back forty...A hiker's favorite park ... When the places that we love are threatened, we can be stirred to action. In Texas, people of all stripes and backgrounds have fought hard to safeguard the places they hold dear.

To find and preserve these stories of courage and perseverance, the Conservation History Association of Texas launched the Texas Legacy Project in 1998, traveling thousands of miles to conduct hundreds of interviews with people from all over the state. These remarkable oral histories now reside in an incomparable online and physical archive of video, audio, text, and other materials that record these extraordinary efforts by veteran conservationists and ordinary citizens to preserve the natural ligacy of Texas.

This book holds stories from more than sixty people who represent a variety of causes, communities, and walks of life---from a West Texas grocer fighting nuclear waste to an Austin lobbyist pressing for green energy. Each speaks from the heart in personal reminiscences and first-hand accounts of battles fought for land and wildlife, for public health, and for a voice in media an politics. These impassioned accounts remind us of the importance of protecting and conserving our natural resources in our own backyards ... wherever they may be.

The Texas Legacy Project is a companion to the interactive website, www. texaslegacy. org. Hard-copy records of the archive are available at the Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

David Todd (l.) is the founder, coordinator, and interviewer for the Conservation History Association of Texas. He has worked as an environmental attorney, environmental donor, and cattle rancher, and has served on the boards of Audubon Texas, the Texas, Conservation Alliance, Texas League of Conservation Voters, and Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.
David Weisman (r.) is the director, cameraman, cataloger, and video editor for the Conservation History Association of Texas. He has been producing award-winning educational documentary and nonfiction film and video works since 1982, specializing in issues of social awareness and environmental concern.