Margie Elizabeth Neal

While a THC marker for Neal already exists (installed 1988), it does not give full coverage to her significant conservation contributions. As owner and editor of the East Texas Register in Carthage (1903-1930), and as the first woman elected to the Texas State Senate (serving 1927 to 1935), she was very influential.

Coming from the Pineywoods, Neal issued editorials criticizing the “cut out and get out” clearcutting philosophy, publishing data on the dwindling standing timber remaining, and lamenting how the “cathedrals of pine” were becoming a “stump-covered wasteland”. From her seat in the State Senate, she argued for tax policies that would encourage forest replanting, and pressed for development of state forests as models of restoration. In other work at the Senate, she sponsored a 1927 bill which allowed the state to accept 24 donated parks, formally launching Texas’ state park system; in 1931, she staged a filibuster opposing leasing the Sabine River bed for oil drilling, seeking to protect Longview’s water supply.

Choosing not to run again for the State Senate, she moved to Washington, D.C. in 1935, where she worked at the National Recovery Administration, helping advocate for the Lumber Code, opposing wasteful cutting, and promoting reforestation. She also played a role in helping deploy Civilian Conservation Corps funds and labor to Texas for reforestation, erosion control and park infrastructure.