Passport to Texas

TPW TV: Leave No Trace Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Some life lessons are classic, such as: pick up after yourself or be considerate of others. These behaviors are appropriate outdoors, too, and won’t limit your fun, as former Texas Outdoor Family guide, Lindsay Davis explains:

50— It is possible to both preserve and enjoy the great outdoors. We call this Leave No Trace. Research the area you’re visiting; check for burn bans and other restrictions. Once you’re out in the park, stick to the trails. Going off trail tramples vegetation and disturbs wildlife. If you pack it in, pack it out. Properly dispose of your trash in a dumpster or trash receptacle. Want some natural souvenirs? Take pictures. It’s a violation of state law to remove resources from the park – things like rocks, plants and other natural objects. Respect wild animals in their natural habitats, and from a safe distance. Never feed wildlife. And finally, be considerate of other visitors. Avoid walking through others’ campsites, keep the volume down, and respect the park’s quiet hours so folks can enjoy the sounds of nature.

View a segment with Lindsay Davis on Leave No Trace the week of August 24 on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series. Check your local listings.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame inductee, Buddy Bradley, photo © Buddy Bradley

Fishing: Submitting Nominations to the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Induction into the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame doesn’t involve reeling in big fish.

07—Correct. It is a way to honor people who have given back to the sport of freshwater fishing.

Center spokesperson, Larry Hodge, says achievement in conservation, charity work and innovation makes judges take notice of worthy nominees.

15— Those folks don’t always get a lot of recognition. So, it was felt that establishing a freshwater fishing hall of fame would be a way to recognize deserving individuals who have made a contribution to freshwater fishing in Texas.

Any Texas-based individual or organization is eligible for nomination. Find criteria and forms on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website. Hodge adds the more detailed nominators are, the better their candidate’s chances.

19—The committee of 12 that goes through the nominations and actually selects the person or organization for induction, may not
know anything about that particular nominee. So, we encourage people to do some research, provide as much information as they can,
and tell us that person’s story.

Submit nominations through November 1, 2014. There’s additional information about the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, and what the inductee receives, on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series… and receives funds from your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuel.

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

David Campbell, Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame inductee with Angler Faron McCain bringing in ShareLunker 523.

Fishing: Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Texas Freshwater Fishing Center in Athens, Texas opened its doors in 1996; at the same time, it established the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.

07— And has inducted an individual or an organization almost every year since then.

Larry Hodge is the center’s spokesperson. He says they’ll accept nominations for new inductees through November 1, 2014.

22— The criteria basically are that it has to be a human being – and deceased individuals are eligible for nomination, or an organization. In both cases, they must be Texas based. Either a Texas resident if it’s a person, or a Texas based company or other organization if it’s an angling group or something like that.

Find nomination forms on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. The hall of fame isn’t about honoring people who caught the biggest or most unusual fish.

07—Correct. It is a way to honor people who have given back to the sport of freshwater fishing.

Such as through conservation, or charitable work, or ways that making freshwater fishing better for all…

Learn more about the nomination process tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series… and receives funds from your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuel.

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

New Online Drawn Hunts System

Hunting | Tech: Drawn Hunts Made Easy Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In July the Texas Parks and Wildlife drawn hunt system entered the 21st Century when it moved completely online.

07— What I like about the system is everything works here real time. So, the moment you apply, you can see real-time what you have.

Kelly Edmiston, public hunting coordinator, says folks with hunting and fishing licenses or those who applied for drawn hunts in the past are already in the system.

19—If you are a previous customer, you can hit “check status” button; enter your last name and date of birth, and the customer number from your hunting or fishing license and find your account. You can see your loyalty points – or preference points – and see your history. And from there, you are allowed to just go right in and start applying for hunts, or browsing the catalog to see our available hunts.

The FAQ section on the drawn hunts webpage offers more ways to locate or create an account.

24—When you apply online and provide an email address, our customers are going to receive an email immediately after we do a drawing notifying them of their success. And, if they haven’t been successful they still can go online seven days a week, 24-hours a day to access their hunting information. Plus, if you’ve won, you’ll be able to pay for your permits online and get your permits sent to you by return email.

Find a link to the new online drawn hunt system at passportteoxas.org.

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

Drawn Hunts Online

Hunting | Tech: Drawn Hunts Online Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

For the past couple of decades hunters who put in for drawn hunts on Texas public lands did so by mail.

20— We would have to provide a booklet that we would mail to customers (or mail to our [regional] offices for folks to pick up) that they would browse through. They would hand write applications that would have to be mailed to Austin; we would have to open those applications up and process those application fees and manually enter them into a computer drawing system.

Kelly Edmiston, public hunting coordinator, says that was just the tip of the manpower and paperwork iceberg. This year everything moves online…

16—You need to have access to the internet, obviously, to get to the parks and wildlife web pages to get into our new online system, You will need to have an email account, because that is how we are going to communicate with you. You’re going to need to have a credit card; you’re going to be making your payments to your application fees and permit fees online.

When you log on to the site, Kelly says it will feel familiar.

11—We actually made the appearance of these hunts visually similar to how we used to display that information in the book. So, it will kind of look the way it used to when you were looking at it on a printed page.

We’ll have more about the new online drawn hunt system tomorrow.

We record our series in Austin at The Block House and Joel Block engineers our program.

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