It was in 1966 that Terry Hershey and her neighbors discovered bulldozers clearing land near Buffalo Bayou. Amazed to find out the Army Corps of Engineers had planned to straighten the bayou for flood control but hadn't notified the public, Hershey called her local county commissioner and was promptly rebuffed. Determined, Hershey and the Bayou Preservation Association managed to persuade the county commissioners to temporarily delay the project. Knowing she'd need more firepower, Hershey turned to newly elected Congressman George H.W. Bush for help, who once called her a "force of nature for nature." Their work culminated with the passage in 1972 of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to notify the public of their plans if it could have any negative environmental impact. Not long after that, the Buffalo Bayou project was dead. Today, 55 years later, Bayou Preservation Association is still protecting the wellbeing of our community’s citizens and environment. Our mission is to celebrate, protect and restore the natural richness of all our bayous and streams. And our vision is a network of healthy bayous, streams and watersheds.