Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Davis Mountains State Park and Indian Lodge are popular destinations for travelers.

We’re just about a mile high in elevation, so very good climate all year round. We have mountain biking, and equestrian trails, and miles and miles of hiking trails. And Indian Lodge, it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 1930s. Anyway, the lodge has 39 rooms, and it was done in Indian pueblo style, and it’s the only place in Texas that is in that style.

David Bischofhausen (BISH-hoff_howzen) is park superintendent. New funding provided by the Texas Legislature will allow the park to hire new staff.

We’re getting a park peace officer / interpreter position at Davis Mountains SP so, we’re excited about that. We’ll be able to do more interpretive programs to tell folks about the wonderful cultural and natural things that we have out here in our parks. Plus, it’ll get a little more extra measure of security.

This cash infusion benefits the Black Bear restaurant at Indian Lodge, too.

Because of the extra money we received, we’re able to hire an assistant food service manager, and another dishwasher, which is desperately needed. We’re trying to pick up our service in food a notch, and provide better customer service.

Proposition 4 monies make possible repairs to historic buildings, constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Learn more about Davis Mountains State Park and Indian Lodge at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Not all wildlife is in the wilderness, and this month Texas Parks and Wildlife television series viewers meet urban biologists. Writer / producer, Alan Fisher gives us the scoop.

You know, when you think about Texas wildlife, you probably don’t really think about the urban—the big cities: Dallas, Houston, El Paso. But, in fact, there are half a dozen biologists who are assigned to these areas in the state. And, it’s very different depending on what city you’re talking about.

In Houston, I met a biologist who was responsible for helping the city develop an urban bat colony as a tourist attraction. There is a large number of bats that live under a downtown bridge, and people are now getting to go watch them fly out in the evenings and learn more about bats.

There are 250-thousand to 300-thousand bats that are under the bridge; we think some do migrate, but there are some that stay.

In El Paso, I was out with a biologist there, who got a call about a mountain lion sighting and had to go investigate.

(door slams shut, truck engine starts) We definitely have mountain lions. So, that’s why I go to investigate.

If you live in an urban area of Texas, while we encourage you to get outside the city limits, you don’t necessarily have to, to see wildlife. It’s true. There are a lot of viewing opportunities right in your own backyard.

The Texas parks and Wildlife TV series airs on PBS stations statewide. Check your local listings.

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

TP&W TV--Urban Biologists Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Not all wildlife is in the wilderness, and this month Texas Parks and Wildlife television series viewers meet urban biologists. Writer / producer, Alan Fisher gives us the scoop.

You know, when you think about Texas wildlife, you probably don’t really think about the urban—the big cities: Dallas, Houston, El Paso. But, in fact, there are half a dozen biologists who are assigned to these areas in the state. And, it’s very different depending on what city you’re talking about.

In Houston, I met a biologist who was responsible for helping the city develop an urban bat colony as a tourist attraction. There is a large number of bats that live under a downtown bridge, and people are now getting to go watch them fly out in the evenings and learn more about bats.

There are 250-thousand to 300-thousand bats that are under the bridge; we think some do migrate, but there are some that stay.

In El Paso, I was out with a biologist there, who got a call about a mountain lion sighting and had to go investigate.

(door slams shut, truck engine starts) We definitely have mountain lions. So, that’s why I go to investigate.

If you live in an urban area of Texas, while we encourage you to get outside the city limits, you don’t necessarily have to, to see wildlife. It’s true. There are a lot of viewing opportunities right in your own backyard.

The Texas parks and Wildlife TV series airs on PBS stations statewide. Check your local listings.

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

TP&W TV--Urban Biologists Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

High Island took a beating from Hurricane Humberto in September 2007. The storm destroyed habitat important to migratory bird species.

We lost a lot of trees. And some of them were uprooted, and some of them were twisted off and broken. So, we’ve had a lot of changes in our habitat at High Island.

Winnie Burkett is sanctuaries manager for Houston Audubon. Despite the habitat upheaval, the birds that visit High Island are fine.

They don’t mind the fact some of the trees are gone. There are plenty of mulberries, even though some of the mulberry trees are laying on the ground. There are plenty of bugs in the leaves; there are plenty of caterpillars around. So, as long as they have the food and water, they’re fine.

Birders who won competitions in the Great Texas Birding Classic—the biggest birding event in Texas—wanted to ensure the birds remain fine by selecting High Island to receive prize monies to improve habitat.

In the last couple of years, we’ve gotten prize money from the Birding Classic for diversifying the under-story in the woods. And, what we’ve been doing is the volunteers cut out the invasive exotics, like privet mostly, and then we replant with native trees and shrubs that we’ve purchased with funds that we’ve gotten from the birding classic prizes.

Diversification is important if birds are going to have a wide variety of food throughout the year, and the work of volunteers and prize money from the Great Texas Birding Classic is making that possible on High Island.

That’s our show… we had help today from Tom Harvey…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

In September of 2007, Hurricane Humberto paid a visit to the Texas gulf coast, devastating High Island, located on the Bolivar Peninsula.

The winds were supposed to have been only eighty miles an hour, but it looks like we must have had some tornadic stuff happening, because we lost a lot of trees.

Winnie Burkett , sanctuaries manager for Houston Audubon, says much of the tree canopy on the island was lost.

An area like High Island that has a lot of invasive exotics, losing the canopy opens the ground up to sun, and the things like Chinese privet, which is one of our worst problems really like the sun, and they grow really fast, and they crowd out the native plants. So, what we’ve been doing is we’ve been taking out the Chinese privet and replanting with native trees and shrubs.

Interestingly, humans were more upset over the loss of habitat than the birds.

Birds are used to it, because they evolved with changes in habitat. They evolved with hurricanes. To them, habitat is habitat, and if we don’t have big trees they use the small trees. They con across the gulf, they’re very hungry, they’re very tired, they’re very thirsty, and they’re not as picky as they are at breeding season when they have to have very specific habitat requirements.

How Great Texas Birding Classic prize money is restoring habitat on High Island. That’s tomorrow.

That’s our show… we had help today from Tom Harvey…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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