Ike McWhorter

Silsbee | Conservationist

Mr. McWhorter was the first employee hired by the Texas Nature Conservancy, and worked for over 25 years to serve the Conservancy as director of the Texas Nature Conservancy’s Piney Woods Bioreserve and manager of the Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary in the Big Thicket area near Silsbee. Mr. McWhorter was also the Texas chapter’s state fire manager and used prescribed burning since 1978 as a measure to control devastating wildfires, reduce invaded hardwoods, help recover the endangered red cockaded woodpecker, and restore the more open, parklike landscape of the longleaf pine ecosystem. As well, he has been involved in outreach efforts to cooperate with private forestland owners, such as Louisiana Pacific and Temple Industries, to manage their woodlots in a more sustainable manner, by reintroducing fire, and by turning away from clearcutting toward selective management.