Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

You don’t have to walk far inside a state park before you come across fallen branches and twigs. But if you’re thinking about collecting them for your campfire, our State Park Guide Bryan Frazier say—think again.

A lot of people still assume that they can scavenge for firewood on site at the parks. That’s not true in most places. State parks, Federal Lands—you can’t gather firewood that’s lying around. That dead wood that falls form the trees, first of all it’s state property, second of all it provides habitat for lots of different animals. It eventually decomposes into the soil. You can always buy it either at nearby convenience stores—they’ll usually sell firewood, or the state park stores here in Texas will sell firewood to you, or their friends groups. But it’s smart to plan ahead and take some of it with you. A lot of us have fireplaces or big barbecue pits, so we have wood piles at home. Take that along, It’s cured wood. It’ll burn, it will light. It will burn easy, and that can save you down the road. You’re going to want a fire in cooler weather. You’re going to want a fire not just for cooking like in the summertime, but you’re going to want a fire that’s sustainable to provide some radiant heat and gather around. And it just makes the camping experience what everyone envisions. Nobody really thinks about camping and tents without having a nice campfire.

Thanks, Bryan.

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

There are two types of aquatic mussels in Texas: those that belong here, and those that don’t.

Texas parks and Wildlife aquatic habitat enhancement director Earl Chilton says native mussels indicate when rivers and lakes are healthy.

Native mussels often have pretty strict environmental requirements, and you can tell whether a system is healthy or not by the kind of native mussel population it has.

Invasive species like zebra mussels aren’t native to Texas. Because they have no natural competitors here, they reproduce quickly. And large numbers of zebra mussels can clog pipes and even kill native mussels.

Unlike native mussels, zebra mussels have byssal threads they use to attach to various objects. They also can attach to native mussels and when enough of them attach to a native mussel they can actually suffocate that mussel.

So how can you tell the difference between these good and bad mussels?

Zebra mussels are small and they’re going to attach to things. If you see a mussel attached to something it is a non-native mussel.

But native freshwater mussels don’t attach to anything. Now that you know the difference, you can find out how you can help stop the spread of zebra mussels and protect the native species at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program supports our series… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

To unwind from a demanding day at work or school, a simple change of scenery may do the trick.

04—Research and theory suggests nature is very supportive of human functioning.

Dr. Andrea Faber Taylor studies the connection between environment and behavior at the University of Illinois. Her research, along with others, reveals what we’ve thought all along: exposure to even a little green space renews our minds.

19—When we compare a barren space to a space that just has a few mature trees and a little bit of grass. It’s really striking. You know, it’s certainly not a rich, lush green environment, but a view of a green space is beneficial. So, it suggests to us that nature, and even a little bit of trees and plants, makes it more restorative.

So what does nature offer that other settings don’t?

24—Environments that might be restorative or helpful have characteristics that engage our attention, but in a very gentle way. TV or video games, certainly they engage our attention, but it’s in a very riveting way. For an environment to be restorative there’s room in your mind for reflective thought. A space maybe doesn’t need to be huge if it has enough richness and enough depth to engage our minds and hold our attention.

Tonight: instead of the TV, try a walk in the park. It does a body and mind good.

That’s our show…we receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program…supporting hunter and aquatic education in Texas.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

It’s a New Year, with new opportunities to encourage your kids to spend more time outdoors, because time in nature may have a positive affect on children with attention issues, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

08—The research so far suggests that there’s a relationship between contact with nature or playing in green space and improvements in attentional functioning

Dr. Andrea Faber Taylor is a child environment and behavior researcher at the University of Illinois. For a study, she had children with ADHD take guided, 20-minute walks in a downtown area, a neighborhood, and a city park, and then tested their ability to concentrate.

20—After the children walked in the park they generally scored higher on the measure of attention. And surprisingly, the neighborhood and the downtown area were not significantly different in scores. That said to us, there’s something about the park, perhaps, the greenness of it, the amount of trees and plants that it has that makes it perhaps, more restorative, than the other two settings.

These findings suggest that it’s the setting, not just the activity that’s important.

19—Based on our work and the work of others, we feel very confident that children benefit from contact with nature or even just what we call green space, a small pocket of trees and grass. Certainly, we’re not suggesting that it’s going to cure a child from ADHD, but it appears to, at least, temporarily reduce their symptoms.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…supporting aquatic and hunter education in Texas.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Texans of a certain age recall when families commonly spent time together outdoors. Today, though, individual demands on time—coupled with the rapid proliferation of affordable personal technology—keeps everyone busy indoors, and in different rooms.

We are out of touch with one another and with nature. It’s a brand new year, with renewed opportunities to discover why life is better outside. For your health and for your peace of mind, resolve to go outside and to play on your own, or with family and friends in tow, for at least one hour a day.

Enjoy a walk in your neighborhood, or a nearby state park, and remember what it is like to take long purposeful strides and to breathe deeply of air neither artificially cooled nor heated.

Leave the smart phones turned off and the MP3 players at home and listen instead to the voices and music of nature: bird songs, squirrels skittering in fallen leaves, and in tree branches, the sound of the wind, and the mournful howl of coyotes.

Skim a flat rock across a lake, and watch the sunset from its banks. When you reconnect with nature, you reconnect with a deeper level of yourself.

That’s our show for today…Our wish for you this New Year is that you enjoy many happy hours in nature with the ones you love…because Life is Better Outside.

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

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