Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve was established in 1976, after years of much struggle by Austin citizens and others. At various times in Wild Basin’s history, there has been some effort to review the past, but the story of the preserve, how it came to be, what it has developed into, and the many important people who have been involved, has remained largely undocumented. In recent years, we have seen growing interest in gathering the pieces and the people to compile the Wild Basin story. This story is as unique as the land that makes up the Preserve, and has played a significant role in shaping Austin’s environmental focus all these years.
Now, well into our fifth decade, we are reflecting on our beginnings and the seven remarkably courageous, passionate, and persistent “Little Old Ladies in Tennis Shoes” that rallied an entire community – against all odds (“a snowball’s chance in hell!”) – to set aside more than 200 acres, forever. The Wild Basin History Project is an initiative to document and share the unique and important history of Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve that includes workshops, oral history interviews, archival work (documents, photos, videos), and the possible production of a Wild Basin documentary, book, and exhibit.
Over recent weeks, former Wild Basin staff and photo-communications students from St. Edward’s University conducted and filmed oral history interviews with three of the living Wild Basin Founders – Flo Macklin, Martha Hudson, and Flora McCormick. The photo-communications students, Juan Diaz and Holcombe Huddleston, have been awarded a Hook Wild Basin Creative Research Fellowship to support their work filming the oral history interviews and producing a short documentary about the founders and their roles in establishing the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve. The interviews were designed and conducted by Wild Basin’s first Environmental Education Director, Judy Walther and the first Preserve Manager, Terri Siegenthaler, both of whom are still actively involved with Wild Basin and the history project. The oral history project has injected fresh inspiration and enthusiasm into Wild Basin and energized many advisory committee members, staff, and volunteers. We look forward to sharing more news about this project with our broader community of friends and supporters.