Passport to Texas

Bighorn Sheep © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Conservation: Bighorn Sheep Restoration, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In the late 19th century, upwards of 3-thousand native desert big horned sheep roamed the Trans Pecos region of Texas. By the mid-20th century, they were gone.

07— It’s commonly agreed that the introduction of domestic sheep and goats, [with their] diseases, net wire fencing, and unregulated hunting played a big part [in their demise].

Froylan Hernandez is the Desert Bighorn Sheep Program Leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife. He is quick to say, there’s no ill will toward the domestic livestock industry.

06— I’m just merely stating the facts of the Bighorn’s demise. We need to live in harmony with the domestic livestock industry.

Native Texas Bighorn Sheep no longer exist despite active restoration efforts of the species that began in the late 1940s and early 50s.

09— So we started introducing sheep from other states; primarily Nevada, Utah, Arizona, some from Baja California, Mexico. So the efforts started way back when.

Restoration of Desert Bighorn Sheep involves relocation, monitoring, data collection and analysis. The sheep historically appeared in 15 mountain ranges in the Trans Pecos.

07— Our goal is to get them back to the critical habitat – to those mountain ranges, and for them to number about 25-hundred. So, we’re kind of halfway there.

More on Desert Bighorn Sheep Restoration tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and funds Desert Bighorn Sheep Restoration in Texas.

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

McKinney Falls State Park, Austin, Texas

StateParks: Fundraiser for Parks Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Business owners understand what it takes to keep the doors open. Our State park Guide Bryan Frazier tells us about a business that’s raising funds to help Texas State Parks keep their gates open.

59 – For the second year in a row, Whole Earth Provision Company stores (and they have outdoor clothing and outdoor gear, and they have eight different stores in metropolitan areas all over Texas) of their initiative, they have agreed to make state parks the beneficiary of a fundraising drive for the entire month of April, for donations taken by cashiers when patrons check out. And, for every $20 donation that people make, they’ll get a free five dollar gift card for anything that cash will buy: from fees or state park store merchandise. That’s at Whole Earth Provision Company for the entire month of April.

On the 13th & 14th, Whole Earth Provision Company sponsored the Banff Mountain Film Festival at the Paramount Theater in Austin. And all proceeds of the tickets of that film festival went to benefit Texas State Parks. This is the second year in a row that Whole Earth offered this very generous donation and fund drive to help Texas State Parks.

Thanks, Bryan.

Find additional information at texasstateparks.org.

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.

Image from www.westtexasweekly.com

Conservation/Environment: Earth Day Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

April 22, 1970 marked the first celebration of Earth Day, the goal of which was to highlight the needs of the planet, and to encourage citizens to care for it.

Let’s celebrate the planet every day by tailoring personal behaviors to benefit Mother Earth.

And what you do at home can have a big impact on the world outside your door. Just one simple act can have a meaningful impact statewide. Let’s consider water.

Instead of leaving the water running while brushing your teeth– wet your brush and then turn off the faucet until it’s time to rise.

By doing this, you could save up to 3 gallons of water a day, or up to 1095 gallons of water a year. That is per person in your household, if everyone joins in.

As water is, and will continue to be, an issue of concern in Texas for years to come, if every citizen of the state carried out this one simple act, we could potentially save more than 28 billion gallons of water a year statewide.

That translates to more than 85-thousand acre feet of water. An acre-foot equals about 326–thousand gallons, which is enough water to meet the water needs of an average suburban family of five for 18 months.

That’s just one simple act. What other simple acts can you perform to celebrate Earth Day all year long?

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

Birding: Harris Hawk

TPW Magazine May Preview Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The month of May is especially great for those who enjoy birding. TPW magazine Editor, Louie Bond, says the magazine’s May issue highlights birds not normally found in Texas.

66 –Vagrants, they call them. They come from all over the world and the pass through and stop through here to have a drink or get a little rest. One of our features this month is an incredible story on what they call the star vagrants. And these are like the rarest of the rare birds; names you’ve probably never heard. But, if you get out there with your binoculars, you might even see them. Now, another thing I always like to do in the spring was to take my kids to what was then called Aquarena Springs, which was very famous for its kitschy appeal. But what you didn’t really realize was what a gem Spring Lake is. Hidden underneath the lake, in those Aquarena Springs, are some of the endangered species that are endemic only to that particular body of water. And former TPWD executive director, Andy Sansom, has taken over there. It’s now called the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment. They’ve stripped away all the kitsch, and the hoo-ha, and have left a natural treasure where you can still go out on glass bottom boats and look beneath and see the real wonder, the real show of nature. This spring, whether you’re a birder, or you like to look under the water, there’s something special for you to do.

Thanks, Louie.

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

Remember the Alamo! Reenacting the Battle of San Jacinto

History/Event: The Battle of San Jacinto Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Battle of San Jacinto was a game changer in Texas History. On April 21, 1836, an untrained Texian militia routed General Santa Ana’s troops.

11 – The actual battle lasted less than half an hour; it carried on into the evening with clean up. But the main assault and the main fighting was done in less than half an hour.

Justin Rhodes is Region Four Director for State Parks, which includes the San Jacinto Battlegrounds in LaPorte. On Saturday, April 20th, the historic site celebrates this momentous battle with a reenactment and festival.

16 – If you’re planning on coming out on Saturday the 20th, I would recommend you arrive early when the crowds are low. That will give you plenty of time to visit the festival and get set up for the reenactment. The reenactment will occur only once during the day, and it happens around one o’clock.

Rhodes hopes visitors leave with renewed appreciation for the sacrifices made on the battlefield in 1836.

21—Ultimately we want visitors to take away an appreciation of the significance of the site, the event, the history that brought us to where we are today. So much of what we do today and tomorrow is based on lessons from the past – from the sacrifices that these men and women brought forward. They teach us valuable life lessons moving into the future.

The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details at www.texasstateparks.org.

Support provided by Ram Trucks. Doing what’s right and good regardless of the degree of difficulty — takes guts. Those are the people who build Ram trucks. RAM.

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