Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

If you just can’t wait until your community hosts a Texas Outdoor Family workshop—you’re in luck. There’s a workshop planned at Bastrop State Park on August 13.

Which is famous for the lost pines of Texas. And it’s a great state park; it’s a historic state park built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the 1930s. It’s one of the jewels of our park system.

Chris Holmes oversees the Texas Outdoor Families in State Parks program, and says it will be cool and comfortable under the canopy of pines as families learn basic outdoor skills like fishing, kayaking, geocaching and the all important—pitching a tent.

Once we’ve taught all the families to put the tent up, they’ll have some good camp food and we’ll actually have an evening program for the families so that they can learn a little bit more about the park. Perhaps we’ll go on a night hike, or perhaps we’ll do some stargazing.

Families will also learn about stewardship. The cost for the workshop is $55, whether you are a family of two or eight—the maximum family size.

And, when we say family, that can mean grandparents. That can mean single parents. There’s no boundaries. We just require that at least one adult will be there with the children.

Find a link to information about Texas Outdoor Families in State Parks at passportotexas.org.

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

Texas Outdoor Family Workshop at Bastrop State Park Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Squirrel hunting is often a child’s first introduction to the sport. As Texas Parks and Wildlife television producer Ron Kabele tells us, the tradition is beginning to fade.

One of the reasons is the habitat is going away. A lot of the good squirrel habitat is hardwood bottomland. And, it’s pretty well accepted that we’ve lost just a tremendous amount of the hardwood bottomlands in East Texas.

In a segment this month, the television series follows a father as he takes his daughter squirrel hunting where the healthy habitat still sustains a squirrel population.

This is a beautiful place. And the squirrel habitat—I haven’t seen like this since I was a kid hunting in south Alabama. (gunshot) Macy, be sure he’s dead before you pick him up. I know that. This one? Whoa. That’s cool.

Kabele says biologists he’s talked to fear squirrel hunting may not survive the future, but they keep hope alive.

And so, we’re wanting to continue that tradition in hopes of instilling conservation ethics, and just a love of being in the out of doors.

You can view this story on the Texas Parks and Wildlife television show in August. Find a link to stations that air the series at passporttotexas.org.

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

TP&W TV--Squirrel Hunting: A Fading Tradition Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Squirrel hunting is often a child’s first introduction to the sport. As Texas Parks and Wildlife television producer Ron Kabele tells us, the tradition is beginning to fade.

One of the reasons is the habitat is going away. A lot of the good squirrel habitat is hardwood bottomland. And, it’s pretty well accepted that we’ve lost just a tremendous amount of the hardwood bottomlands in East Texas.

In a segment this month, the television series follows a father as he takes his daughter squirrel hunting where the healthy habitat still sustains a squirrel population.

This is a beautiful place. And the squirrel habitat—I haven’t seen like this since I was a kid hunting in south Alabama. (gunshot) Macy, be sure he’s dead before you pick him up. I know that. This one? Whoa. That’s cool.

Kabele says biologists he’s talked to fear squirrel hunting may not survive the future, but they keep hope alive.

And so, we’re wanting to continue that tradition in hopes of instilling conservation ethics, and just a love of being in the out of doors.

You can view this story on the Texas Parks and Wildlife television show in August. Find a link to stations that air the series at passporttotexas.org.

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

TP&W TV--Squirrel Hunting: A Fading Tradition Play Now | Play in Popup | Download