Northeast Texas is ripe with vast areas of countryside and thick woods as well as irreplaceable bottomland hardwood forests which provide habitat for native species and Texas wildlife. The land is nurtured by farmers, ranchers, and families who have owned property for generations, as well as some who have moved to the region in recent years to build a life and a home.
Bill and Joyce Wilson, the founders of Wilson Combat and owners of Lehigh Defense, fall into the latter category as they purchased 8,600 acres in the far-right corner of the Lone Star State and moved there from Arkansas. But the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir force their plans to change unless lawmakers remove it from the State Water Plan.
The Wilsons named their large property Circle WC Ranch and use it for multiple purposes – including a personal airstrip where Joyce, who is a pilot, takesoff and lands regularly. “We live on it, but we also use it for a lot of business,” said Joyce. If Marvin Nichols is built as proposed, damming a stretch of the Sulphur River to create a reservoir to feed the DFW region’s insatiable water appetite, their property, their home and their world-class professional hunting lodge and related businesses would be under water.
