Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

A legislative act in 1963 merged the Texas State Parks Board and the Texas Game and Fish Commission, creating a new agency…

03 — …called Texas Parks and Wildlife; and now we’re fifty years old.

Mike Cox is a spokesman for the department. We’re observing TPW’s fifty year anniversary throughout 2013, highlighting milestones from the past five decades.

16- A personal favorite of mine is the stocking of rainbow trout in Texas. They’re not native to the state, but they’re pretty tasty and they’re fun to catch. And so, starting in 1965, shortly after the merger, the department started stocking rainbow trout in urban areas, and of course in the Guadalupe River.

Trout stocking, the legislature’s ruling that made redfish and sea trout game fish, as well as giving game wardens full law enforcement authority are a few of the agency’s tangible achievements. There are intangibles, too.

23- The department is always working to improve the environment. The game wardens enforce the anti-pollution laws – that often doesn’t get a lot of publicity – but they’re working toward keeping our water safer and cleaner. We do work to encourage people to practice water conservation; if somebody hears our message that it’s better to rip out your St. Augustine and put in rocks, that saves the whole system.

Mike Cox says while those efforts transpire with little fanfare, they have a long-lasting impact on the well-being of every citizen of the state.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration project supports our series…. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.