Daniel Wayne "Dan" Lay

Dan Lay was a pioneering Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist, hired by its predecessor agency in 1938. He led the state’s first nongame wildilfe project, focusing on recovery of the red-cockaded woodpecker. Much of that bird conservation work occurred in Sam Houston National Forest, home to some of the woodpecker’s principal colony sites. He was also an accomplished author, with over 40 journal articles to his name, as well as the insightful and poignant book co-written with Joe Truett, The Land of Bears and Honey: A Natural History of East Texas.