(music)
>> THE PERFECTION THAT'S IN
THE BALANCE OF NATURE IS
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF THE
CREATIVE GENIUS OF GOD.
HE SET IT UP.
WHETHER HE USED THE PROCESS
OF EVOLUTION, OR WHATEVER
PROCESS HE USED, I DON'T KNOW
AND I DON'T CARE.
BUT ONCE YOU GET TO KNOW ALL
THE INTIMATE DETAILS OF ALL
OF THIS, IT'S INCREDIBLE.
(dog barks)
>> SHE WOULD NEVER ADMIT IT,
BUT GERALDINE WATSON KNOWS AS
MUCH ABOUT THE ECOLOGY OF THE
BIG THICKET AS ANYONE.
FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY,
SHE HAS FOUGHT TO PRESERVE THE
FORESTS, ANIMALS, AND PLANTS
HERE, IN THE EAST TEXAS
PINEYWOODS.
>> I NEVER PLANNED TO BE
A BOTANIST.
I NEVER PLANNED TO BE
AN ECOLOGIST.
I NEVER PLANNED TO BE
A PARK RANGER.
I JUST SEEMED, SIMPLY SEEMED
TO DRIFT INTO THINGS.
>> TODAY, GERALDINE SPENDS
MOST OF HER TIME IN THIS 10
ACRE PRESERVE, CARETAKER OF A
TINY REMNANT OF THE BEAUTIFUL
VIRGIN FORESTS OF HER
CHILDHOOD.
>> I STOPPED, AND I WALKED
OUT ON THAT POINT, AND I SAID
THIS IS WHERE I'M GONNA SPEND
MY DECLINING YEARS.
(bird chirps)
DON'T YOU THINK THIS
IS A NICE SPOT?
ALL AROUND US THERE ARE
LITTLE SPOTS LIKE THIS.
IF WE JUST LOOK FOR THEM
AND PROTECT THEM
AND APPRECIATE THEM, YOU KNOW,
WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE THEM.
(music)
>> GERALDINE HAS LIVED HER
ENTIRE LIFE WITHIN A FEW
MILES OF THE EAST TEXAS
TOWN OF WARREN.
(vehicle/highway noise)
>> WARREN IS MOSTLY A
THROUGHWAY FOR A REGION
THAT PRODUCES WOOD
AND PAPER PRODUCTS.
IT'S AN INDUSTRY THAT
CONTRIBUTES BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
EACH YEAR TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY.
BUT WITH THAT ECONOMIC IMPACT
COME CONSEQUENCES.
(logging machines)
THE DECLINE OF THE BIG
THICKET STARTED WHILE
GERALDINE WAS STILL A CHILD.
HUGE OLD-GROWTH FORESTS
WERE CUT TO FUEL THE
FIRES OF PROGRESS.
AND THAT FUELED THE FIRE
OF GERALDINE'S ACTIVISM.
>> I WAS WITH THE PARK SERVICE
FOR 15 YEARS AS THE PLANT
ECOLOGIST AND ALL OF THAT TIME,
I WAS SCREAMING AND YELLING
AND JUMPING UP AND DOWN
"HOW ARE WE GOING TO SAVE
"THE WORLD IF WE DON'T
"UNDERSTAND IT?
"IF WE DON'T UNDERSTAND
WHAT MAKES IT WHAT IT IS".
(chain saws, trees falling)
>> BY THE 1960'S, 90% OF THE
VIRGIN FORESTS WERE
ALREADY GONE.
THAT'S ABOUT THE TIME THE BIG
THICKET ASSOCIATION WAS FORMED.
AND GERALDINE WAS ONE
OF THE FOUNDING MEMBERS.
>> SHE COULD TALK TO GROUPS
AND SHE WAS SO GOOD AT
EXPLAINING WHAT WAS UNIQUE
ABOUT THE BIG THICKET.
>> GERALDINE WAS AS COMFORTABLE
TESTIFYING TO CONGRESSIONAL
SUBCOMMITTEES AS SHE WAS
TALKING TO AUDUBON GROUPS.
AND HER BOOK
"BIG THICKET PLANT ECOLOGY"
ELEVATED HER TO NEAR ROCK-STAR
STATUS WITHIN THE BOTANY WORLD.
>> HER EIGHT ECOSYSTEMS THAT
SHE PUT TOGETHER GAVE EVERYONE
A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT
WE WERE TRYING TO SAVE AND WHY
WE WERE TRYING TO SAVE IT.
I THINK HER CONTRIBUTION
WAS JUST IMMEASURABLE.
>> IN THE OLD DAYS, THERE
WERE VERY FEW PEOPLE LIKE ME,
AND WE WERE CALLED THOSE LITTLE
OLD LADIES IN TENNIS SHOES.
>> BUT THOSE LITTLE OLD
LADIES TURNED OUT TO BE
A FORMIDABLE GROUP.
>> IT WASN'T A SMOOTH PATH.
AND THERE WAS CONTROVERSY
INVOLVED.
AND SO SHE STRUGGLED TO GET
THIS MESSAGE ACROSS.
BUT, SHE WAS VICTORIOUS.
>> THAT VICTORY CAME
WITH A COST.
GERALDINE AND HER FAMILY WERE
OSTRACIZED BY MANY PEOPLE IN
THEIR EAST TEXAS COMMUNITY.
>> THE 10 YEARS WE WERE TRYING
TO GET A BILL PASSED,
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT MY
CHILDREN WENT THROUGH.
>> BUT THE FAMILY STUCK
TOGETHER ...
THROUGH GOOD TIMES AND BAD.
AND ONE OF HER CHILDREN,
DAVID, GREW UP TO BE AS
PASSIONATE ABOUT CONSERVATION
AS GERALDINE HERSELF.
IT WAS DAVID WHO HELPED HER
MANAGE THE PRESERVE...
RIGHT UP UNTIL HIS DEATH IN
A CAR WRECK IN EARLY 2008.
GERALDINE WAS DEVASTATED.
>> I OFTEN THINK THAT I AM
NOT PROUD OF ANYTHING
THAT I HAVE DONE.
AS MY CHILDREN HAVE
GROWN UP AND GROWN OLDER,
AND MY HUSBAND IS GONE,
I THINK OF ALL THE DAYS
AND THE HOURS I SPENT OUT
IN THE WOODS AND THE FIELDS
WITH OTHER PEOPLE
WHEN I COULD HAVE BEEN
SPENDING TIME WITH THEM.
(Geraldine sighs)
>> BUT HERE, GERALDINE IS
NOT ALONE.
SHE HAS FOUND PEACE
AND PURPOSE...
AT ONE WITH HER LAND
AND HER HIGHER POWER.
(music)
>> AS SHE GETS IN THE CART
AND SAYS I'M READY TO GO.
>> GERALDINE IS STILL TRYING
TO SAVE THE WORLD.
ONLY NOW, SHE'S LIMITED HER
EFFORTS TO THESE 10 ACRES.
BUT WHAT SHE'S DONE
HERE IS REMARKABLE,
PROVIDING TANGIBLE PROOF
THAT LAND CAN BE RESTORED,
AND ECOSYSTEMS CAN BE REVIVED.
GERALDINE WOULD JUST CALL IT
PRESERVING EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
OF THE CREATIVE GENIUS OF GOD.
(music)
>> YOU KNOW, I WOULD RATHER
SOMEBODY KNOCK ME ON THE HEAD
AND THROW ME IN THE RIVER
THAN FOR ME TO SIT ON A SOFA
WATCHING SOAP OPERAS
AND EATING MYSELF INTO OBLIVION.
(music)