About Us

Mike Street Mark Porter The Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit scientific-research organization, as recognized by the Internal Revenue Service, comprised of volunteer investigators, scientists and naturalists.

The organization had its genesis on May 30, 1994, when Craig Woolheater (now TBRC Chairman Emeritus) and his fiancee saw a very large, hair-covered, bipedal creature while driving on an unlit two-lane highway between New Orleans and Alexandria, Louisiana. He began researching the bigfoot/sasquatch subject intensely, joined several related Internet discussion groups, and then co-founded the Texas Bigfoot Research Center in 1999. The group was active in pursuing field investigations and evidence collection, and regularly conducted public informational meetings all around Texas.

Jeremy Wells In the fall of 2001, Woolheater and the TBRC decided to organize and host a yearly bigfoot conference in Jefferson, Texas. Wildlife biologist Dr. John Bindernagel headlined the inaugural affair, and the event was immediately established as the preeminent bigfoot conference in the United States. At the 2005 conference, the City of Jefferson proclaimed the third weekend in October as "Texas Bigfoot Weekend" and awarded Woolheater with a framed proclamation and the key to the city. In December 2006 Woolheater and group leaders announced plans to reform as a non-profit tax-exempt entity. The new organization, the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy, was officially incorporated in January 2007.

With a diverse, dedicated, professional, and talented roster of approximately forty members, including biologists, and other professionals, the TBRC pursues education and research activities pertaining to the centuries-old “wildman” or “hairy man” phenomenon in North America. The TBRC proposes that the source of the phenomenon is a biological entity, probably an unlisted large primate. The organization is actively engaged in activities designed to test that hypothesis.

Tod Pinkerton Ken Helmer The all-volunteer non-profit TBRC is funded by membership dues, fundraisers, and the annual Texas Bigfoot Conference, in addition to donations and grants. The TBRC uses all income to proactively pursue its mission statement; none of the budget, or contributions above the budget, is used for member salaries or labor compensation, member travel or meal expenses, etc. It is governed by a seven-person board of directors elected by the general membership. After having served honorably as Chairman since the group's inception, Craig Woolheater resigned in 2010 to pursue other activites; he maintains a loose affiliation with the organization and was given the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus and Co-Founder.

The TBRC desires to enhance the credibility of bigfoot/sasquatch research and facilitate a greater degree of acceptance by the scientific community and other segments of society of the likelihood of a biological basis behind the sasquatch phenomenon.

TBRC Chairman Emeritus and Co-Founder Craig Woolheater accepts the framed proclamation and the key to the City of Jefferson from Corby Alexander, Jefferson City Administrator.