Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Flagler Ranch is 36 hundred acres of Texas Hill Country. Since George Matthews purchased it in 1992, he’s used an ecosystem management approach. Before his stewardship, the land had suffered 100 years of abuse.

03—As far as being overgrazed by cattle and sheep and goats.

Louis Scherer III manages Flagler Ranch, which he said, had too many white tail deer.

15—And through MLD3 permits, we have got the whitetails population down to one in twelve per acre. Since we’ve done that and the other management practices, our weight per animal, and antler growth has almost doubled.

Flagler Ranch is the 2010 Lone Star Land Steward eco-region award winner for the Edwards Plateau. Jerry Turrentine is a consulting biologist for the ranch.

17—We’re trying to integrate various techniques into an overall ranch management plan. We’re looking at food plots. We’re going to bring back some rare plants through some plantings. We’re going to do some reintroductions of forbes and grasses…we’re trying to be a learning area for other ranches in the plateau.

Water is vital in any ecosystem, and Joyce Moore with TPWD says Flagler Ranch has done an exemplary job of collecting it.

10—And so what the Flagler ranch has been doing, which is very innovative, is they’ve been placing these spreader dams along these drainages to capture every bit of rain that Mother nature does provide.

Learn about the Lone Star Land Steward Awards on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show; the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program supports our series… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 

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This is Passport to Texas

Texas Parks and Wildlife recognizes and honors private landowners for habitat management and wildlife conservation with the Lone Star Land Steward Awards Program.

A land steward is just somebody who just manages and takes care of their land. These folks are very committed to conservation, and maintaining healthy lands under their management.

Linda Campbell is program director for private lands and public hunting.

Each year we open the nominations in June, and anybody can nominate a landowner for recognition in Lone Star Land Steward. So we receive nominations through November. Our biologists in each of the eco-regions visit each of the nominees, and then make a recommendation to those that should be awarded the Lone Star Land Steward award for that eco-region.

Biologists visit nominated landowners who have managed their property for a minimum of 5 years, to evaluate their practices.

They talk with the landowner or the manager. They try to evaluate what types of management actions that they are undertaking. They look at their motivations and really what makes them special in terms of taking care of the resources under their control.

Find Lone Star Land Steward nomination forms on the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

Our show receives support from the Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

 

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This is Passport to Texas

Giant Salvinia is a South American aquatic plant that may have found its way into Texas waters via the aquarium trade.

:03—The biggest problem with it is, is that it has a phenomenal growth rate.

And that fast growth spells trouble for Texas lakes says Howard Elder, a Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist involved in managing giant salvinia.

:13—It can double the area it covers in five to seven days. It creates dense mat, which shields the bottom of the lake from the sunlight; it displaces native vegetation, and displaces fish species.

Texas Parks and Wildlife launches a multimedia campaign this month to educate citizens about invasive species, beginning with giant salvinia. At the time we recorded this show, a television PSA was in production.

:03 –Action. I am the Salvinia Monster.

Texas parks and Wildlife marketing director Darcy Bontempo says the spot is intended to increase awareness among anglers and boaters.

:19—The TV spot is part of a larger campaign, which we call the “Hello, Good-bye” campaign, created by our advertising agency, Sherry Mathews. One of the most important things we can do to prevent is actually to have anglers and boaters understand the role that they play. If they clean their boats, their trailers, their equipment. They can actually prevent the spread of giant salvinia to other lakes.

Visit www.texasinvasives.org to learn more about giant salvinia and other invasive species changing TX Lakes. That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 

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This is Passport to Texas

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment…and thus began the annual celebration of the planet called Earth Day.

2010 marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, and millions of people worldwide are gearing up for it. But a once a year celebration is useless if that’s where it ends. So I want to challenge everyone listening, to do something every day to care for Mother Earth.

What kinds of things can you do? Perhaps plant native plants that use less water and provide food and shelter for wildlife. Or take a ceramic coffee mug to the office instead of using disposable cups. Perhaps you could make sure to properly dispose of monofilament fishing line so it doesn’t harm aquatic life.

In addition, when camping, leave your campsite in better shape than you found it. Or, your stewardship goal might be to spend time with your family outdoors instead of inside with the television—because you’re no good to nature with a remote in your hand.

Mix it up, and add new earth friendly activities to your list every week…or at least every month. As for me, I plan to use less water inside and outside of my home, and install native flowers and shrubs when I redo my landscape. That’s just for starters.

What will you do? Go to passporttotexas.org and let me know. I could put you on the radio.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 

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This is Passport to Texas

Giant Salvinia is a fast growing exotic aquatic plant from South America that loves the warm, nutrient rich environment of Texas’ protected waters. This invasive species develops into large floating mats of vegetation.

The water under the mat is quickly depleted of dissolved oxygen due to the lack of sunlight and contact with the air’s surface; it becomes highly acidic and basically unfit for aquatic life.

Howard Elder is an aquatic habitat biologist. Giant Salvinia can be controlled in small areas using integrated pest management.

We can only conduct herbicide operations during the warmer months when the plant is actually growing.

In South America, where Giant Salvinia is native, natural processes, including a weevil, control the plant’s growth.

We have investigated this Giant Salvinia weevil, as we call it, as a bio-control agent. And research began in 2002 after the USDA approved its importation and use and distribution in the field within the United States. The initial results of Giant Salvinia weevil introduction offers great promise as a long-term inexpensive alternative in the control of Giant Salvinia infestations in Texas and throughout the South.

That’s our show… made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to eradicate invasive species from Texas waters.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 

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