Robert C. Burleson, Jr.

Robert Clair "Bob" Burleson, Jr. made his living in courtrooms, but he made his mark in life by working to conserve Texas' natural beauty and rare archaeological sites. Burleson died Monday, April 20, 2009 at his home. A memorial service will be held at 3:00 PM Monday, April 27 at First Baptist Church in Temple with Rev. Bruce Burleson and Dr. Michael Thomas officiating. Visitation will be held in the church fellowship hall following the service. Burial will be private. Protecting the state's delicate ecology meant protecting the state's future. "If you have a reverence in your heart for the natural world, if you feel like that your time on earth is really very short, you don't necessarily have the right to use up all the resources of the earth for your own personal benefit," he said. A member of the firm of Naman, Howell, Smith & Lee and a fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Burleson practiced mostly in medical malpractice, product liability and complex litigation. His accomplishments were numerous: -- Member of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission 1968-1975. -- Founder, Texas Explorers Club, which led the effort to create the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. -- Chairman of the Southwest Regional Advisory Committee, National Parks Service. -- President of the Texas Archeological Society, drafting and helping to pass the Texas Antiquities Code. -- Leader in the creation of the Texas Organization for Endangered Species. -- Organizer of a successful effort to protect peregrine falcons. -- Former executive director of American Whitewater Affiliation and editor of its magazine. -- Recipient of the 1976 Texas Outdoor Writers Association's "Conservationist of the Year" Award. -- A leader in establishing the Natural Resources Division at Texas Parks and Wildlife. "His insight and knowledge was superb," said Stephanie Turnham, director of the Bell County Museum, where Burleson served on the board for five years. "Bob's compassion, concern for the welfare of people and their quality of life was utmost. That's why he supported the museum. He knew it had the power to make the community better. He helped develop the board's mission and worked on the museum's long-range planning." He cheerfully served as "parking lot attendant" each year for the museum's annual Christmas open house fundraiser, leaving many to joke the museum had the "highest-paid parking attendant in the county." Burleson also helped preservationists and archaeologists through legal mazes to protect antiquities for future generations. Dr. Michael Collins, research associate with the Texas Archeological Research Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, first met Burleson through the Texas Archeological Society. When Collins' research crews needed to study native prairie habitats, Burleson and his wife, Mickey, opened their natural meadows and acreage so scientists could take soil and pollen samples. Then, beginning in 1998, when Collins became involved in studying the Gault Site in southwestern Bell County, Burleson again stepped forward to help. The site, which had been continuously occupied off and on for 14,000 years, is considered rich in early Native American artifacts. However, it had been plundered for years, and scholars were concerned about its future value for researchers. "Bob knew the landowner," Collins said, "and, with his love of archaeology and his acquaintances, he worked with the landowner in a competent and gentle way. That laid the groundwork for the property to be acquired by the Archeological Conservancy (a non-profit group based in Albuquerque, N.M.)." Among its ancient treasures, the Gault Site has yielded 21 engraved stones considered the earliest securely dated engravings in North America, dating to about 11,200 ago. He was a statewide leader and expert in collecting and preserving endangered plants and their seeds from once-plowed meadows and removing invasive and non-native plants. He was also an expert in Blackland Prairie birds and re-introduced vegetation that attracted beneficial animals and insects back into the area. Rachel Carson's books on the earth's fragility inspired him to explore what he called "the unintended consequences of human activity," he told the Texas Legacy Project in 1999. He preached that theme for decades. In 1978, he advocated "some restraint on taking prime agricultural land out of production in order to build houses. . . . If the land is totally ravaged, it can't be recovered. But there may come a time when houses must be torn down to grow crops." He and his wife, the former Mickey Fulwiler, restored their 500-acre farm between Troy and Oenaville into a natural tall-grass prairie as it would have been before farmers settled and cultivated the land. Native tall-grass prairie once occupied more than 20 million acres in Texas, now reduced to less than 1 percent of that and even less in the Blackland Prairie. The Burlesons adapted decades-old farm equipment to suit their conservation purposes. With their careful land management, original Blackland Prairie plants returned including more than 80 varieties of wildflowers, many of which had not been seen since the late 1800s. Appointed to the Parks and Wildlife Commission by Gov. Preston Smith, Burleson met stiff opposition from Houston-area lawmakers because of his opposition to shell dredging that harmed marine life. Nevertheless, he was confirmed. However, Gov. Dolph Briscoe disappointed environmentalists when he refused to reappoint Burleson to another term. He was "the commissioner most in tune with the concept of preserving wilderness areas and habitat for wildlife," according to the . Burleson's work in rural Mexico, near Big Bend National Park, included medical and dental ministries and numerous construction, crafts and educational projects. Burleson co-wrote "Backcountry Mexico," published by the University of Texas Press, as well as detailed canoeing and hiking guidebook to the Rio Grande River Canyons of Texas. He and his wife also co-wrote a tall-grass restoration guide, "The New Southern Reconstruction: Home Grown Prairies." Born in Temple on Oct. 24, 1937, Burleson was the son of Robert Clair Burleson Sr. and the former Ruth Bowmer. He is survived by his wife, the former Mickey Fulwiler; two daughters, Clair Burleson and Lea Burleson Buffington; and two grandchildren. Memorial donations may be made to: Native Prairies Association of Texas, 2002 - A Guadalupe St. PMB 290, Austin, TX 78705-5609; Texas Land Conservancy, P.O. Box 162481, Austin, TX 78716; Scott & White Cancer Institute, 2401 S. 31st St., Temple, TX 76508; Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children, Inc., 19051 F.M. 2484, Killeen, Texas 76542-5068; or Buckner International Mexico Mission, c/o Buckner Foundation, 600 N. Pearl Street, Suite 2260, Dallas, TX 75201.