Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

You can witness some amazing autumn scenery at Lost Maples State Natural Area when the Big Tooth Maples get busy.

06—Autumn’s a good time to come to Lost Maples cuz of the Fall foliage and brilliant colors we have here.

Park Superintendent, John Stuart, says it’s going to be a colorful year due to lots of cool nights and sunny days. The leaves of these maples may be charmed into changing because of the weather, but the real magic…that happens inside these chlorophyll factories.

33—Most of the year, when the leaves are green, you have a lot of chlorophyll in the plant; and that’s what actually feeds the tree and keeps it growing. And if the water supply is cut off and cold weather comes around, then the chlorophyll breaks down and leaves the other pigments remaining. On cloudy warm days, starches form tannins and they make it brown. And If it’s cold and sunny, then the sugars come to bear on the leaf, and they form with the proteins and it makes the beautiful colors we enjoy when we come out here.

It’s not just the colors that are special. They call the trees Big Tooth Maples because their leaves have deep cuts or ridges in them; and you don’t find them many other places.

11—The Ice Age wiped out most of the Big Tooth Maples across the continent. These are just surviving pockets. So they’re lost simply because what are they doing out there by their selves.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Check out the Foliage Color Change Report at Lost Maples State Natural Area.

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This is Passport to Texas

You have until the end of the month to nominate candidates for the Lone Star Land Steward Awards.

08—Lone Star Land Stewards award program is a program that recognizes private landowners for the good work they do on their private lands in Texas.

Linda Campbell is program director for private lands and public hunting. The awards program honors people for exemplary habitat management on private lands.

12—We feel like we have a great diversity of landowners that have participated and been nominated for recognition. And it just really highlights the diversity of the types of innovative management for wildlife that’s going on in Texas.

Next year marks the 13th year for the awards program.

08—Anybody can nominate for Lone Star Land Stewards. Landowners can nominate themselves. They come in from other agencies, as well as from our biologists.

Whether you nominate yourself or someone else, time is running out.

15—November thirtieth is the date that we’d like to have the nominations in for the various eco-regions. We take those, and we have a team of biologists that visit each of the nominated places, and they decide which ones are most worthy of recognition. And then we present the awards in May.

Nominate a landowner. Learn how on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program.

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

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