Passport to Texas

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

Every winter Inland Fisheries stocks thousands of rainbow trout to provide unique angling opportunities statewide.

Rainbow trout are widely considered to be very good sport fish, and fun to catch, but they’re generally fairly easy to catch as well, and will take a variety of bait: corn or lures, or worms.

Carl Kittel coordinates the trout-stocking program for Parks and Wildlife. One hundred twenty sites will receive the trout.

The vendor that supplies us trout, supplies them to four of our hatcheries around the state. And we stock quickly from the hatcheries to the sites. So, we don’t grow them much beyond the size they come in. Most of the fish we stock are an average size of nine inches; there are a few fish that go into the urban fishing program that we get to a larger size, or grow to a larger size to an eleven-inch average.

Rainbow trout are great fish to get the kids started on.

Generally, in the urban fishing lakes we think we have pretty good fishing pretty much all the time because they’re frequently stocked. In other lakes, we stock less frequently and the fishing probably is best within a few days after that stocking. And you can find out when stocking will be done in your area on our web page.

Find a link to fishing regulations and the rainbow trout stocking schedule on our website, passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…which also provides funding for winter trout stocking in Texas…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Light Goose Conservation order goes into effect after the regular goose season ends.

In 1999 the light goose conservation order was put in place. And it’s an effort to try and reduce the total population of light geese; to address the overpopulation in the arctic. Trying to bring that population back in line with what the habitat can support.

Dave Morrison is waterfowl program leader, at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

During the conservation order basically all bets are off. Unplugged guns, electronic calls, no bag limit, shooting hours extended to half hour past sunset. Basically the gloves come off and you just try to do what you can do.

He reminds hunters, the conservation order is a management action and not hunting season.

We’re doing this as a management practice. And if you’re going to take large numbers of geese, make sure that they’re put to use. Don’t just leave them, don’t just sit there and pile up dead goose after dead goose, make sure that you never put yourself in a position to look bad to the public.

The conservation order goes into effect January 28th in the east, and February 6th in the west, and runs through March 30th in both regions.

That’s our show… made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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

Migrating waterfowl worldwide are under scrutiny by public health officials as potential carriers of a highly contagious form of avian influenza known as H5N1.

There has been no evidence; there has been not a single confirmed case in the North American Continent, of highly pathogenic H5N1.

Dave Morrison, waterfowl program leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife, says some waterfowl species that winter in Texas may share migratory routes with birds from known influenza hot spots.

We are doing our due diligence. We are part and parcel to the early detection and surveillance efforts that are currently ongoing in the United States this year.

US health officials and wildlife authorities have embarked on a North American waterfowl surveillance program to identify potential problems before they manifest.

Texas is one of the level one states for sampling. Level one means that we have to collect a thousand samples from migratory birds – whether it be migratory birds or whether it be shore birds – we have to get a thousand samples. And what we’ll do is we will actually take swabs of these birds, submit them to labs, the labs will then run tests on these birds to determine does it or doesn’t it have highly pathogenic H5N1.

That’s our show…supported by the Sport Fish and Wildlife restoration program… working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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

Avian influenza, also referred to as bird flu, has emerged as a worldwide public health concern.

We’re talking about a strain of avian influenza, which is the highly pathogenic H5N1. It really came to bear when the outbreaks started occurring in Southeast Asia and started moving through into Europe.

Dave Morrison is waterfowl program leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife. Although only about than four hundred cases of the flu have been reported in humans since the late 1990s…

This is not necessarily a disease of people; it’s a disease of birds, first and foremost. And migratory birds are a reservoir.

Health officials worldwide are scrutinizing migrating waterfowl as potential carriers of highly pathogenic H5N1. While the biggest outbreaks have been clustered in Southeast Asia…

A lot of the birds that migrate from Southeast Asia potentially come into contact with birds that migrate and nest and breed in Alaska. So in that overlap of birds, there could be some transmission of the disease with birds that filter from Alaska into Canada and the United States.

Tomorrow: Monitoring efforts in Texas.

That’s our show…supported by the Sport Fish and Wildlife restoration program… working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The February issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine, on newsstands now, offers readers an insightful article highlighting the plight of a vanishing Texas prairie; Managing Editor Louie Bond.

Texas is home to twelve million acres of gently rolling land called Blackland prairie, or it was at one time, which we visit in the February issue. Pioneers called the Blackland soil “nooner” soil, because it was often too gummy to plow in the morning, and hard as concrete by mid-afternoon. But Blackland Prairie can also be beautiful, as writer Henry Chapel discovered when he visited a rare one hundred and ten acre parcel that was chest deep in a riot of wildflowers. Unfortunately, due to grazing and the success of the cotton crop, Blackland prairie is the most rare and endangered habitat in Texas, if not in all of North America. As much as 98 percent of it is gone. As author Mark White says, if we think of the Blackland prairie as a person, all that we have left is the sliver of a fingernail.

The February issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now. Or, you can subscribe to this monthly publication. Find out how at passporttotexas.org.

While you’re there, you’ll also find a link to more information about the Blackland prairie.

That’s our show… We record our series in Austin, Texas, at the Production Block Studios…our engineer is Joel Block…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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