Theresa "Terry" Hershey has been described by her peers in Houston as "a force of nature." She has made conservation her life's work. Her contributions have made a different at local, state and national levels. She is an indefatigable advocate, imaginative visionary thinker, and a catalyst/mediator with a capacity to bring different interests together to resolve conflicts and reach consensus.

Hershey's commitment to conservation was nurtured by her family. The family home comprised a half-block of property in Fort Worth. After her parents' deaths, she donated the property to the city of Fort Worth and it is now Wright-Tarlton Park, Hershey's parents' family names.

Her first advocacy venture into the parks and recreation field occurred in the 1960s when she learned that Buffalo Bayou, the main river in central Houston on which her home is located, was being straightened and stripped of vegetation. In 1969, after a year of unsuccessfully fighting the Corps of Engineers and local officials, she took the case to her local congressman, George H. W. Bush, who agreed with Hershey's position and successfully represented her case before the House sub-Committee on Appropriations. When Bush was elected President, he appointed Hershey to various environmental boards including his Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality.

Hershey played a central role in the development and effectiveness of many local environmental groups as well. For example, the League of Women Voters started an Environmental Resource Committee and Hershey was the first chair; she was a founding member of: the Houston Audubon Society; the Sam Houston Resource Conservation and Development Board; Urban Harvest (which stimulated development of community gardens); the Memorial Park Conservancy; the Park People; and the San Jacinto Air Conservation Committee. In addition, she was an original member of Billboards Ltd.; Green Ribbon committee; Tress for Houston Committee; and many other similar groups.

Hershey was on the board of National Recreational Parks Association for nine years in the 1970s and 1980s, and then agreed to serve on it again for three years from 2000-2003. She was vice chair of the board from 1979-80. She has served as a board member of the National Recreation Foundation since 1989. There are three other national boards of conservation organizations on which she has served: the Trust for Public Land (TPL), the Audubon Society, and the National Association of Floodplain Managers Foundation. In addition, she established a family foundation committed to environmental causes, the Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation.

There is an unrelenting high energy level about her. She never seems to tire. The intellectual and physical stamina and the intense commitment to the conservation cause are an inspiration to all those with whom Terry Hershey interacts. People quickly recognize the sincerity of her commitment. In her view they also recognize the "rightness" of her causes. When these qualities are combined with her strong personality and keen intellect, there are few who are capable of resisting here will.