Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program

Goose Island is shrinking. Between 1961 and 1995, approximately 17 acres of this island near Rockport ended up underwater.

Goose Island is a small island in Aransas Bay, therefore it gets all the prevailing winds from the southeast which creates pretty large waves. And those waves have eroded the southern shoreline of Goose Island State Park over the years.

Kay Jenkins, Natural Resources Coordinator for State Parks.

The erosion has lead to a reduction in the amount of estuarine marsh, or salt marsh that once was located on the island. They basically provide a lot of food, as well as protection, especially for juvenile fisheries species.

Texas Parks and Wildlife and its partners developed a plan to stabilize the shoreline and restore the marsh.

With continuing erosion, relative sea level rise, development along the coast, these marshes are becoming more and more valuable because we’re losing them. They’re slowly being converted to open water, which is exactly what happened at Goose Island. We have instigated this project to stabilize that shoreline and restore some of that salt marsh that has been eroded away.

More on that tomorrow….

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger…we receive support from the SFWR program… providing funding for wetland conservation through the Private Lands Enhancement Program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Goose Island -- Losing Ground Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories from Texas Parks and Wildlife

It’s a rare individual who – once introduced to the outdoors at a young age — fails to continue their relationship with nature long into adulthood.

Lisa Korth is no exception. She’s education coordinator for the Freshwater Resources Center in San Marcos. With a lifetime of outdoor adventures to draw from, she’s chosen a more recent memory to share with us today.

Well, I grew up around water, and one of my favorite memories is a recent memory: snorkeling in the San Marcos River. It’s one of my favorite places to snorkel because the clarity of the water is just so magnificent. It’s just really clean and pristine. And, when you snorkel, it’s like being in another world.

And just being under water and getting an up close view of that underwater world is just really magical. A friend of mine recently compared it to riding a roller coaster. And I agree. Just that exhilarating feeling of being in the water….pushing you downstream…seeing all of the plants and fish. It’s just really, really amazing.

Thank you Lisa…now it’s your turn. Visit our website, passporttotexas.org …and share your outdoor story with us.

If we use your story on the radio, we’ll send you high quality Life’s Better Outside t-shirt.

That’s our show for today…remember Life is Better Outside…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Outdoor Stories: Lisa Korth Goes Snorkeling Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Shoreline erosion is a fact of nature that can be controlled by an act of man.

In 2005 the Goose Island Shoreline Stabilization and Marsh Restoration Project got underway to halt shoreline loss there. And planners looked to another project for their inspiration.

The other major park that has done this is Galveston Island State Park. They were losing habitat on their bayside of the island mainly from northers blowing across Galveston Bay. So they started a marsh restoration project. And not only was it successful, but sea grasses came back that had been missing in the Galveston Bay for over 20 years.

Kay Jenkins is Natural Resources Coordinator for State Parks.

Even though the project was successful in restoring marsh and restoring seagrasses, we just looked at it and said, ‘Well, it just isn’t quite as natural looking as we had possibly thought.’ And so adjacent to Galveston Island State Park, other marsh restoration projects started using some different methodologies. Creating mounds, which created circular marshes rather than a grid-pattern marsh. And this appeared a lot more natural and that’s the technique that we’re going to use at Goose Island.

That’s our show for today…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger…we receive support from the Wildlife Restoration program…which provides funding for the Private Lands and Pubic Hunting Programs.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Galveston Island Restoration Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Dove season signals the beginning of fall hunting opportunities in Texas. And, Saturday September first is opening day in the north and central zones…with the south zone opening later in the month.

And that is to protect late-nesting mourning doves. We have indications from studies that a significant proportion of young are produced after September first in South Texas. And obviously, we want to set the hunting seasons when we’re not going to affect the survival of the young that are still in the nest.

Jay Roberson is the leader of the webless migratory game bird program at the agency. He says protecting the species not only makes good conservation sense, it makes good economic sense.

A Southwick Economic Survey, in 1995, indicated that about two hundred sixty million dollars are generated annually to local economies from dove hunting. Over five thousand four hundred jobs are created because of dove hunting, and about ten point five million dollars in sales tax is generated annually from dove hunting. This comes from leases, gasoline, groceries, hunting licenses, goods and services at local stores. So it is an extremely important species.

Plan on hunting dove this season? Then get your license early to avoid long lines.

That’s our show…made possible by the Wildlife restoration Program…providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Programs.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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2007-2008 Hunting Seasons [Adobe Reader required]
Where to Get Information and Licenses
Hunting & Fishing Requirements/Restrictions

Dove Hunting: An Economic Boon Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

The mourning dove is the subject of a nationwide banding program. Small silver leg bands placed on the doves allow wildlife biologists in Texas, and elsewhere, track harvest rates of these ubiquitous birds.

We’ll also determine survival rates, where they go, when they get there, and when they leave. And all kinds of good information.

Jay Roberson is the leader of the webless migratory game bird program. The bands are packed with information.

And it has the toll free number on it that people can call. And a nine digit number and the office location of the bird banding lab in Laurel Maryland.

If you harvest a banded dove, call the number on the band.

All the work we put in on banding doves is for naught, if they’re not reported by hunters or people who find them. And, it’s very important that hunters check their birds that they bag – make sure that their birds are not banded. If they are, we ask they report the number to the toll-free number: 1-800-327-BAND.

Learn how to report a leg band at passporttotexas.org.

Dove season opens September first in the North and Central Zones. Buy your license early to avoid long lines at the end of the month.

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

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Copy and paste the following link into your browser and go to the site where you can report the dove band: http://www.reportband.gov/ .

Dove Banding Play Now | Play in Popup | Download