Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

The Texas Legacy Project, Stories of Courage and Conservation, hits bookstores and online booksellers this month, with a forward by Texas parks and Wildlife Executive Director, Carter Smith.

10—He brings the kind of diversity of experience, the passion, the concern, the care for Texas natural resources that we hope will bring other people in to see the book and try and learn from it.

David Todd is one of the book’s authors and a member of the Conservation History Association of Texas. The book features stories from a cross-section of our state’s most ardent conservationists.

10—We have interviews with a range of people: farmers,. Ranchers, fishermen, biologist, ornithologists, chemists, politicians, river guides, land owners…

The book began as an online archive at Texas legacy.org primarily featuring videos of people who shaped and influenced the protection of Texas natural resources.

20—We have about 60 people included in the book out of the 225 who are actually in the archive. What we’ve tried to do is find people who are maybe representative of a way of life or a kind of concern about the environment and hope that they act as sort of examples of what many, many other people throughout Texas have been working on.

Todd said that he hopes the book and website will inspire future generations of Texans to protect the precious natural resources of our state.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

To experience nature and wildlife few things are better than time spent on a hiking trail…unless you’re taking the trail on horseback.

Our SP guide, Bryan Frazier explains.

Part of the plan for a lot of our state parks is to include equestrian trails where possible, and we have several state parks that have them, and are adding on to them. Whether you’re talking about Caprock Canyons or Fort Richardson, where you can bring your own mount, or Hill Country State Natural Area—they’ve got more than 40 miles or trails. We have several parks where we have outfitters—you can rent horses there…like lake Livingston, and Huntsville and Big Bend Ranch State Park and Palo Duro Canyon. And so there’s lots of different ways to see that. But it’s an ever increasing popular thing to see state parks on horseback on one of the many trails that we have—miles and miles that we have and miles and miles that we’re adding on as well.

Thanks Bryan.

Imagine riding your horse to a nearby lake or river, with your fishing gear in the saddlebag. While your steed grazes nearby, you fish from shore. And if you’re at a state park—fishing is free. Saddle up.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

If you’re already in the habit of admiring migrating monarchs, then consider taking part in a citizen science project called Texas Monarch Watch.

11—People can get involved with that by reporting their sightings. And they can go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife department website. Go under Texas Nature Trackers—and there’s a whole page with lots of information about it.

Michael Warriner, an invertebrate biologist at Parks and Wildlife, says there’s also a national Monarch Watch program that’s more hands on.

22—They want people to basically tag monarchs. You can order a tagging kit. And as you see monarchs, you can capture them with a butterfly net, and take one of these little tags and place it on the wing—there’s instructions and everything. What they’re trying to do is track where the monarchs were tagged and then when they come back, to kind of get an idea of how long the migration was and how long these things live.

Monarchwatch.org has more information and tagging kits. Warriner advises when catching monarchs or any butterfly to grasp only the outer edge of the front wing.

06—Because the wings are covered in scales, and if they lose those scales it would maybe become harder to fly and so on.

They need those scales to make that long migration. Visit passporttotexas.org for links to more monarch information, as well as tips on what to plant in your garden to attract these winged travelers.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Texans are in for a treat this month and next because monarch butterflies are on the move.

14—Yeah, monarchs, in the insect world, have the longest migration. Basically, they spend the winter down in Mexico, and they come up to the US, spend their summer up here, feeding, laying eggs, and then they go back to Mexico.

Michael Warriner is an invertebrate biologist at Texas Parks and Wildlife. He says monarchs that head north in springtime are not the same monarchs that return to Mexico in the fall.

13—The Monarch that comes from Mexico, pretty much ends its life in Texas. It comes here, it lays its eggs, and the next generation is the one that moves further north

It’s only a few weeks from egg to butterfly, and you might be surprised by the number of generations it takes to complete this lengthy migration.

14—Oh, wow. You could probably have anywhere from three to six generations. So, the ones that come up from Mexico to Texas, it’s probably their great, great, great grandchildren that are coming back down at the end of the summer.

Tomorrow we talk about a citizen science project called Monarch Watch.

04—people can get involved in that by reporting their sightings.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet…building dependable, reliable trucks for more than 90 years. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

At less than 300 acres, Palmetto State Park might not be the biggest site in the park system, but if you like wildlife viewing you’ll find wood ducks, raccoons, red eared sliders, eastern bluebirds, fox squirrels, and horned lizards, to name a few.

And as our State Park guide, Bryan Frazier tell us, trail improvements in the park will get you up close and personal with all of them.

31—it’s SE of the Austin area, near Luling and Gonzales. And they have almost doubled their trail system—and it isn’t just little pathway trails; we’re talking about extra wide, five or six wide, caliche based trails and boardwalks. They’ve got plans for wayside interpretive panels all along there. And it’s really some of the nicest trails that we have in our state park system. And so, not only is it in response to customer demand, but its something that we’re proud to showcase as well…that, here’s dollars being used for purposes that people have wanted.

Thanks Bryan.

The park abuts the San Marcos River. So take a break from your hike to cast a line into the water and reel in a channel catfish or largemouth bass, because you can fish free in state parks.

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

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