Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

We know how spring breakers like to get wild on their week away from classes. This spring break, you can either follow the crowd, or blaze a trail when you follow our maps to the best wildlife in Texas.

07—Through this series of maps, we now have over 950 sites, statewide, that show you the best places to see all kinds of wildlife.

I’m sure you’ve figured out we’re talking about actual wildlife—not questionable behavior.

07—From bighorn sheep to monarch butterflies to migratory song birds, to nesting shorebirds on the Texas coast.

Shelly Plante oversees nature tourism for Parks and Wildlife.

30—Fifteen years ago we started with the Great Texas Coastal Birding trail, which was a series of three trails on the Texas coast: the upper, central and lower Texas coast. With the success of those, we moved on and did the Heart of Texas, and Panhandle Plains, and those were so successful we then moved on to the Prairies and Pineywoods. About two years ago, I started partnering with the Texas Mountain Trail and Texas Pecos Trail regions of the Heritage Trails of the Historical Commission to create the final map of the series. And that is the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail map.

Download any of the nine maps of the Great Texas Wildlife Trails from the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, and have a wild spring break—the kind you can tell your folks about.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

The April issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is sure to intrigue and delight with stories that take you from one side of the state to the other. Editor, Louie Bond.

55—One thing in particular we’re going to look at is the bighorn sheep relocation out in West Texas, that happened in December, which was a glorious project, and very exciting for everyone who participated as they literally air lifted sheep from one location to another. But, it’s a great restoration project that the agency’s been working on for a long time, and we’re very proud. And I know that people are going to be so excited to drive down the road and be able to see a bighorn sheep again. In fact, I already had a friend tell me, ‘I saw a bighorn sheep out there the other day.’ So, it’s a great success story for all of us. Another great success story are the paddling trails that are opening up all around the state, due in large part to our partnerships with lots of great people across the state who want these paddling trails in their areas, and we help them make these a reality. So, people are getting out on the water and seeing the sights in this quiet, peaceful way of travel. So, I hope whether you like land or water, you’ll get outside and enjoy the great things our agency’s done this month.

Thanks, Louie.

Find more information at www.tpwmagazine.com.

We receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…providing funding for wildlife restoration and water access.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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This is Passport to Texas

Long before humans made their mark on the land, the Rio Grande River was shaping Resaca de la Palma State Park in Brownsville.

07—Brownsville is growing so rapidly—it’s going to be so urbanized—this is going to be one of the few places they’re going to be able to enjoy the outdoors

Jaun Arias is a Park Ranger. He says ancient coils of river bed, known as resacas ebb and flow attracting wildlife when they fill with water. Today this area etched by the river is part of the World Birding Center.

05—The idea of the World Birding Center Complex is to create this wildlife corridor throughout the valley.

The center encompasses a series of nine unique areas in the Rio Grande Valley. Brownsville’s Resaca de la Palma boasts the largest tract of native habitat in network; and while birds are a big attraction.…

10—We have a healthy population of different animals. Each has established its own range, in the food, water, shelter. They’re happy, you know. And if they’re happy we’re happy. That’s the bottom line.

Resaca Park Ranger Claudia Tamez says you can start your visit to the site online.

12— We have a really cool way of keeping our visitors informed. So what we do is use Facebook. The visitors love it because they get to look at our photo album and see how much fun we have, what they can expect when they come here.

That’s our show… we record the series at Block House Studios in Austin…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

Most of us think about going to the beach on spring break—but going coastal isn’t your only option for water-focused fun. Our State Park guide, Bryan Frazier says Inks Lake SP and Cedar Hill SP, have it all—except the seagulls.

People love to go to Inks Lake—it continues to be one of our most popular parks. And for spring break, people are ready to get to those limestone and granite cliffs. And the fishing is good, and the hiking is great. And it’s just near Burnet, Texas, if you’re familiar with the Hill Country. So, it’s easy to get to, and people flock there, and for good reason—for spring break—for their canoeing, and kayaking, and water fun with their family or friends or picnics. Inks Lake is hard to beat.

Cedar Hill, too, is a fantastic place. It’s up near the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. It’s on the banks of Joe Pool reservoir; its got more than 300 campsites, it’s got great bike trails—maybe some of the best in the state—and it’s close to where so many people live. It’s in Dallas County. You can literally see downtown Dallas and the Arlington Dallas Cowboy stadium from the park. So you’re right in the middle of it all, but can get away from it all at Cedar Hill State Park.

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

The Louisiana pine snake is so rare, it’s even hard for wildlife professionals to find.

Craig Rudolph is a research ecologist for the US Forest Service Southern Research Station. He says the US Forest Service and the zoo in Lufkin, TX, have established a new captive breeding program for the Louisiana pine snake.

There’s just one problem…

07—Over the last four years, we’ve only come up with one female, so that is obviously limiting our ability to establish this population.

The non-venomous snakes are native to East Texas and Louisiana, where they depend almost entirely on the pocket gopher. The snakes burrow into the gopher’s tunnel, then…

06—They wait in one of the feeding tunnels for the gopher to come along, and they function as ambush predators.

But, in East Texas, much of the gopher’s habitat has been destroyed. That means fewer gophers and fewer pine snakes. Rudolph says this problem isn’t new and they’ve been working to restore native habitat for decades.

12—Habitat on public land especially has been considerably improved over the last 10 to 20 years, primarily through more prescribed fire.

By the time the snakes are ready to be released in several years, researchers hope the habitat and, consequently, the gopher population will be ready for them.

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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