Passport to Texas

Stewardship: Understanding Your Land Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The best time to get to know your land is when you first buy it.

16—Walk it; look at it carefully. Study it over the seasons. Really find out what makes it tick. And, that’s the first step – to really understand the land – and then understand the management that it takes to achieve the kind of goals you want for your recreation.

Linda Campbell directs the private lands program at Parks and Wildlife. The program helps landowners with management goals. Campbell recommends getting started by visiting the workshop calendar in the private lands section on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

07—These are workshops and field days and things of that nature that occur all over the state. And so I would suggest landowners take a look at that.

Attending these events allows landowners to get to know other like-minded people in their region. The agency also offers free on-site technical assistance in wildlife management planning.

10—And so, we look at the entire picture – all the habitats that are there, what can be done, what are the landowners goals, and then we help them develop a plan that will help them achieve that.

Tomorrow, joining with adjacent landowners to form a wildlife management association.

That’s our show. We receive support from the Wildlife Restoration program.

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

Stewardship: Recreational Landowners Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Our state’s population may be mostly urban, but Texans continue to buy rural property as weekend retreats.

05—Recreational buying is the greatest motivation for exchanges in land in Texas.

Linda Campbell directs the private lands program at Parks and Wildlife. Various reasons drive the purchase of recreational land.

29—Game species are still a big driver – very important economically for landowners in Texas, and for the communities that are supported by this. But, we have a greater diversity of landowners, and so with a diversity of people , you have a diversity of interests. So, there are a lot of landowners, particularly those with smaller tracts, that are primarily interested in managing for birds and other non-game wildlife. Or, they just want to get away from the city to have a retreat. And that’s an absolutely valid goal as well. And, so, we work with all landowners in whatever their goal is.

Parks and Wildlife’s private lands program offers landowners free technical assistance managing their property.

12—Texas is over ninety percent privately owned, and so we recognized that if we’re going to have any impact at all on conservation of wildlife and habitats, we have to do it through the cooperation of private landowners.

Understanding your land…that’s tomorrow.

That’s out show…we receive support from the Wildlife restoration program.

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

Visiting Parks to Save Them Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Drought, heat and wildfires of the summer dried up water, killed vegetation and kept visitation and revenue to a minimum…which is why we need your help. Our State park guide Bryan Frazier has details.

60—The record heat wave that we had—and the drought and the wildfires combined—so that we saw for the first time in a long time a drop in visitation and corresponding revenue toward the end of the summer that’s carried over into the fall and into the months where we are now, and it’s made for a 4.6 million dollar gap in our existing budget. And what we’re wanting people to know is that there are ways they can help…and that they can go online on our website any time and make a donation. They can also as of now, donate five dollars or more when they register their vehicle with the DMV and their county tax office. But the most important way that people can help is to simply go out and visit their state parks as much as they can. The fees that we collect amount to more than half of our operating dollars ion state parks. And, when people pay the entrance fees, when people pay their camping fees, or their cabin rental fees, or even when they buy a t-short in the state park store as a souvenir—they’re helping support their parks when they’re out there visiting them.

Go to texasstateparks.org/helpnow to donate.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

TPW TV: Black Bears Return Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Black bears population in Texas has dwindled because of habitat destruction. But on a parks and Wildlife TV segment this month, we learn they’re making a comeback. Producer Abe Moore.

59—I was really interested in doing the story because I didn’t really know much about black bears. And it turns out that more and more bears are starting to show up in certain parts of east Texas.

So, this was a study to see where the bears are hanging out in East Texas, and where the best bear habitat is.

Thanks Abe.

The show airs on PBS the week of January 8 through 14. Check your local listings.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuel….

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

2012 Spring Outdoor Woman Workshop Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The popular Becoming and Outdoors Woman Program from Parks and Wildlife offers weekend workshops to help women 18 years and older to develop or hone their outdoor skills.

05—The fall workshop—when registration opened—it filled up within 10 days.

Heidi Rao coordinates the program. March 23 through 25 is the date of the next workshop in Brownwood. Heidi says a trained staff guides participants through a variety of activities.

17—A third of the activities that we offer are hunting and shooting and wildlife based learning. A third of the activities are fishing and boating and water based activities. And the final third of the activities are the non-consumptive such as bird-watching, astronomy, camping and backpacking.

Attendees choose activities in which to participate. Heidi adds it is a safe, supportive environment where women engage the natural world. And if the March Becoming an Outdoor Woman Workshop interests you, better contact Heidi soon.

09—From the people that could not make it into the fall workshop, we already have a waiting list growing by the day to get into the March event.

So what makes this such a popular program?

02—It’s fun. It’s absolutely fun.

Find information about BOW on the TWP website.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series, and is funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuel….For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.