[…pull…*shotgun*.]

When the Texas Legislature gave schools the green light to sponsor off-campus shooting sports, lots of kids jumped at the chance. A segment on this month TPW PBS TV series called Shooting for State gives viewers a chance to see these kids in action. Producer, Karen Loke.

44—These students can do anything from football, cheer-leading or nothing at all. Shooting sports is good for everybody.

Every student must take a hunter education safety class before they can even participate—so it’s very safe. I’ve heard that these students that take shooting sports are more responsible. It encompasses all of the aspects of what school is supposed to be about.

Thanks, Karen.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife TV Show featuring this segment airs the week of May 20th. Check your local listings.

The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series, and works to increase shooting sports in Texas.

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

While your mother may have many virtues, something she probably doesn’t have is three distinct ecosystems; but our mother does.

11—As you move from one ecosystem to the other, seeing the different plants and animals that live in each one of those ecosystems, just really shows you how varied the state of Texas is.

Leah Huth is Superintendent of Mother Neff State Park. The ecosystems are a river bottom, where you can fish free along the banks of the Leon River, as well as a limestone escarpment and prairie.

24—We have over three miles of hiking trails that go up through a natural limestone escarpment; and the hiking trails take you through where the golden cheeked warbler likes to make their home. Then, if you take the trail all the way to the top of the park, which is over 250 acres, is a natural prairie. And right now the wildflowers are coming out, so spring is here and it’s just absolutely beautiful.

The park, in north Central Texas, is a one-stop family weekend vacation destination.

18—We have enough diversity here to where every member of the family could find something that they enjoy. There’s road biking, they could also do hiking, we have birding, we’ve got butterflies. Of course, there’s fishing in the Leon River. And if you desire just to put up a hammock, there’s opportunity to do that as well.

Learn more about this gem of a destination at texasstateparks.org.

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

Governor Pat Neff may have named Mother Neff park for his mother, but Isabella Neff got the ball rolling by willing several acres of the family homestead to “the people.”

11—She put it in her will in 1916 that she wanted part of the homestead to be a park to the pubic for religious, educational, fraternal and political purposes.

Leah Huth is Mother Neff State Park Superintendent. Even before Neff’s passing, Huth says people living near Waco and Temple used the land.

23—The people in the area were used to going there and meeting up with all of their neighbors. And she wanted that tradition to continue after she passed away. So, she instructed her son Pat to erect a fence around the plot and to construct a substantial building in the nature of a pavilion, and wanted it to be called something like the Neff Park; and of course, they ended up calling it Mother Neff.

The Civilian Conservation Corps, which in the 1930s built several structures at the park still in use today, started a tradition of celebrating Mother’s Day there.

13—People from all over came. And we have pictures of all of the CCC boys lined up in a star around the flagpole. It was just a very special time. It was often that Mother’s Day was celebrated here at the park.

We extol the virtues of our mother on tomorrow’s show.

We record our series at the Block House in Austin.

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

A card and breakfast in bed is a nice way to show mom your appreciation on Mother’s Day; but what about changing things up this year?

07—We would love for folks to take their mom out to a healthier and happier kind of mother’s day and have a picnic at a state park.

Glenda Beasley is marketing manager at Parks and Wildlife. She says with more than ninety Texas State Parks, there’s one close to you and with plenty of recreational opportunities for every family member.

11—You can go on a hike…There’s wildlife nature viewing. Some parks have boats that you can rent. There’s obviously picnicking. We’re even going to have some special recipes online [that you can cook up at the park].

Those recipes are courtesy of the Texas Beef Council. It doesn’t get much better than a hearty, healthy picnic lunch, surrounded by nature’s beauty. And when you take mom to a state park park, you aren’t just doing something nice for her—you’re also doing something nice for parks, which were badly hurt last year due to extreme weather.

18—Approximately half of the fees that are paid through visitation are what funds state parks. And so, we’re still trying to recover from the recent drought and weather issues that we had. It’s a beautiful time to be at a state park, and this [increased park visitation] is really helpful for us to recover from those issues that we’ve had.

Find more information at texasstateparks.org.

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

Legendary Birder, Victor Emanuel, views birding as a gateway to nature appreciation.

10—Well, it’s the best way for people to get connected to nature, because birds are the most obvious part of nature visible to us. A lot of the mammals are active at night. But birds are here; they’re all around us.

Emanuel says it’s the fact that they are so visible that makes them interesting.

15—Birds are some of the most visible creatures around us. You have the song of birds, you have the motion of birds, the fact they can fly. A cardinal, a blue jay, a duck on a pond… they’re large enough and so they attract our attention in a way that smaller creatures don’t.

Victor Emanuel has spent a lifetime watching birds around the world. And while all birds are watchable, he says that doesn’t mean he likes them all.

17—I actually have a prejudice against introduced birds that are a problem, like starlings. They’re a beautiful bird, actually, with the colors on them in the sunlight. But they take over the nest of native birds, and throw out the young and eggs, so they don’t get to raise their young and eggs. But, yeah, they’re all watchable.

Find links to birding information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

We record our series at the Block House in Austin, and Joel Block engineers our show.

The WSFR program supports our series and provides … funding for habitat conservation in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

International Migratory Bird Day is always the second Saturday of May in the US and Canada, making it May 12 this year.

04—We encourage groups to host a program or an event when it works for them and the birds.

When celebrations actually occur depends on the arrival of migrants. Susan Bonfield is Executive Director of Environment for the Americas, which coordinates this event.

12—I want people to go to these programs and have one of their first opportunities to see a bird. To use binoculars, to use a field guide, to get excited about birds, and to want to become involved in bird conservation.

Find events at www.birdday.org. But if you can’t get to one, don’t fret.

25—You know, your backyard is just a great place to celebrate migratory bird day. I think that anything you do around your house to help conserve birds—we have information up on the website about threats to birds, and what you can do to minimize the threats at your home. Any improvement of habitat in your yard, cleaning your birdfeeders. Any very basic and practical activities are a wonderful way to help conserve birds.

You can also just sit in a lawn chair in your yard with a beverage and binoculars and see who comes along.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and works to restore wildlife habitat in Texas.

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

In the early 1990s, scientists started noticing that some populations of migratory bird species were declining.

10—There was a concern about what these causes were, and at the same time there was considerable interest in getting the public involved in learning more about birds and their conservation.

Susan Bonfield is Executive Director of Environment for the Americas. Her non-profit coordinates International Migratory Bird Day, an event created as a direct result of scientists’ concerns over declining avian populations.

12—Several researchers at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird center came up with the idea of hosting a public event to get communities involved in learning about birds. And that was the origins of International Migratory Bird Day.

It is the second Saturday of May for the US and Canada, and is intended to occur during peak migration. The idea is to give folks an opportunity to see these migrants.

09—That doesn’t work for everyone. So, for example, in some parts of Canada it may too early, and some parts of the United States, even, it’s a little bit too late—migratory birds have already passed over

Tomorrow, some ways that you can celebrate birds whether you attend an event, or stay in your own backyard.

We record our series at the Block House in Austin.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and works to restore wildlife habitat in Texas.

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

The majority of Texas land is in private hands, which makes landowner’s key to its preservation. All this month the TPW TV series recognizes the efforts of those who won LSLS awards, including Blue Mountain Peak Ranch in the Texas Hill Country. Series Producer, Don Cash.

51—They’re taking this old land that’s been abused and misused, and taking it back to what it used to be.

If you happen to miss the show, you can go to our YouTube site. All of our Lone Star Land Steward videos are there for you to see any time you’d like.

Thanks, Don.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series, and funds conservation projects in Texas.

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

Recreational Equipment, INC—commonly known as REI—has been a valued partner of Texas Parks and Wildlife’s for years. And now they’ve gone above and beyond. Bryan Frazier has details.

66—The first thing they did was with our Texas Outdoor Family Program, one of the most popular programs that we’ve done over the last few years. They replaced the sleeping bags and the tents for that program because all of those tents that we had for that program were lost in the Bastrop Fire. What they also did in December was—at the cashier’s counter there when they check out with their merchandise—for the month of December in five stores, they simply asked people if they wanted to make a donation to parks. And by doing that for that month, they raised more than 11-thousand dollars for state parks. And all that went to Texas outdoor families to help them with that program. Most recently, they gave us 25-thousand dollars from REI Corporate to print—for the first time ever—a Texas State park Guide in Spanish. So now it’s available to a whole group of people who might have had a language barrier, but were really interested in getting out and seeing the wonderful beauty and diverse recreation tht we have in Texas. All of that made possible by REI’s involvement. Helping us do things that we otherwise simply couldn’t do, and saving taxpayers’ dollars—that we’re also stewards of. It helps us use those for other projects so that when people get to parks, their park experience is better.

Thanks, Bryan.

Funding for our show comes from Chevrolet: supporting outdoor recreation in Texas because there’s life to be done.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Ask Eveline Evans about the value of spending time outdoors and she’s not shy about sharing her views.

14—It’s just a great stress reliever. It’s wonderful to get out and get away from the urban areas, and enjoy the trees and the streams. I mean, it’s just wonderful to get away.

Eveline gets away with family whenever she can. She says sharing time outdoors with loved ones—even if it’s just taking a walk in nature—is critical to healthy, balanced relationships. It brings families closer…it encourages dialogues.

32—Well, I think it’s very important. My husband and I, we go walking all the time together in different locations. We love the Texas state parks. We’ve done Big bend and the Davis Mountains, Caprock Canyon, Palo Duro Canyon…all of those are just wonderful places to go out and walk. You can talk about anything it seems like. Every little thing that comes up—you can explain to younger ones your value systems, or whatever. Why when you pass a snake you’re not supposed to kill it—you just leave it alone, that type stuff.

What do you love about spending time in the outdoors? Tell us about it; just go to passporttotexas.org and share your outdoor story with us.

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