Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Vandivier family, owners of Llano Spring Ranch in Edwards County, is this year’s winner of the Leopold Conservation Award for Texas.

The ranch is over 51-hundred acres, and when they first purchased it, probably 80 or 90 percent of it, was covered with massive stands of re-growth cedar.

That’s wildlife consultant Fielding Harwell. The award, from the Sand County Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife, is part of the department’s Lone Star Land Steward Awards program.

(chainsaw) Tom has spent a horrendous amount of time clearing cedar. His entire family takes part in the ranching operation and just take all of these challenges with great zeal. (hawk call)

Tom Vandivier, an attorney who works near Austin, spends weekends with his family working on the ranch.

My family and I have cleared approximately 27-hundred acres out of the 51-hundred acres we have here in order to provide more food for the wildlife, enhance the water resources, and overall just bring this ranch into good productivity.

The Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation by private landowners.

Tomorrow—the impact of the improvements.

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

Lone Star Land Stewards: Llano Springs, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The August issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine takes readers way out west to Big Bend Country. Managing Editor Louie Bond.

Maybe it’s a little hot to visit there is August, but it’s a great time to plan your next trip out there for maybe October when the nights are cool. We’ve got three big stories on Big Bend. The first is a great photo essay by our photographers on the Big Bend Ranch cattle round up that they have every year. This is an actual longhorn cattle roundup. It’s the real deal. Twenty-five ordinary citizens come out, they get on horses, and they actually do round up these cattle. I think it’s a taste of the old west that you can’t find anywhere else.

And we’re going to go rafting down the Sana Elena Canyon. Some of them combine music and food, as well as just incredible sights. And then we’re also going to take a tour of Big Bend Ranch State Park, which is newly funded, newly organized. They’re just making great strides out there.

And there are so many recreational opportunities; there are so many things for people to explore that they’ve never seen before out at Big Bend. And then, if we need to cool off after all of that Big bend in the hot sun, we’re going to take a look at the Resaca de la Palma state park which is going to be opening up, and the best state park swimming spots—which we will definitely need in August.

Thanks, Louie. The August issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.

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

TP&W August Magazine Preview Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The August issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine takes readers way out west to Big Bend Country. Managing Editor Louie Bond.

Maybe it’s a little hot to visit there is August, but it’s a great time to plan your next trip out there for maybe October when the nights are cool. We’ve got three big stories on Big Bend. The first is a great photo essay by our photographers on the Big Bend Ranch cattle round up that they have every year. This is an actual longhorn cattle roundup. It’s the real deal. Twenty-five ordinary citizens come out, they get on horses, and they actually do round up these cattle. I think it’s a taste of the old west that you can’t find anywhere else.

And we’re going to go rafting down the Sana Elena Canyon. Some of them combine music and food, as well as just incredible sights. And then we’re also going to take a tour of Big Bend Ranch State Park, which is newly funded, newly organized. They’re just making great strides out there.

And there are so many recreational opportunities; there are so many things for people to explore that they’ve never seen before out at Big Bend. And then, if we need to cool off after all of that Big bend in the hot sun, we’re going to take a look at the Resaca de la Palma state park which is going to be opening up, and the best state park swimming spots—which we will definitely need in August.

Thanks, Louie. The August issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.

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

TP&W August Magazine Preview Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

In May, after 21 years, Dave Sager concluded his tenure at Parks and Wildlife as branch chief of ecosystem and habitat assessment for Inland Fisheries. Before he left, I asked him of what he was most proud and he said the people he hired that will continue the agency’s mission.

Other than that, it is working on environmental issues to try to keep our resources from deteriorating in the state. We’ve been very blessed in the resources we have, and efforts taken to keep them.

Sager said he’s worked for four Executive Directors and numerous Commissions, but one thing has remained constant.

The job doesn’t really change that much, because the resources are the same, a lot of the issues are the same. We always have new things come up like toxic golden algae becoming an issue further east in the state, or other things like that. But, overall, the jobs stay pretty much the same.

In the end, Sager says he will miss the people of Parks and Wildlife.

It’s hard for a lot of folks to understand when they talk about the parks and wildlife family. Other places I’ve worked it has not been that way. But here, it truly is, and it goes throughout the whole division. And people always support each other and are there when you have a need. And to me, that’s the key.

Learn about employment opportunities at Parks and Wildlife at passporttotexas.org.

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

Parting Shot: Dr. Dave Sager Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Dr. Larry McKinney, Director of Coastal Fisheries, retired from Parks and Wildlife in late May after 24 years of service. Before he left, I asked him to recount a proud moment with the agency.

Well, helping move the agency from what you would typically call the old “Hook & Bullet” agency that only dealt with deer and bass and sea trout, to something that looks more at ecosystems—the whole picture. But, I think we’re on the right road to really managing resources on a level that can be effective in today’s world.

There’s still work to be done.

The 800-pound gorilla in the room is the fact that the population is going to double. In another thirty years we going to have a lot more Texans out here—twice as many of us as there are now. We’ve already used up about half of our natural resources, so we can’t continue to use those resources as we did to get to this level. As we double this population, we’re going to have to look at ways to sustain these resources, or we won’t have a natural heritage like we have now. The Texas we know won’t exist in another twenty years if we don’t take care of it.

McKinney says Parks and Wildlife’s role in sustaining resources for the future is an important one.

In fact, the agency is the only one that can do it. And that is to be an advocate for fish and wildlife in all of these decisions. The primary one that we’ve been focused on for many years is water. We have to be there in the background saying, ‘okay, how are we going to make sure that we protect fish and wildlife. How are we going to make sure that the ecosystem on which we all depend and in which we all live is healthy and productive.’

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

Last Call: Dr. Larry McKinney Play Now | Play in Popup | Download