Passport to Texas

Migratory Bird Treaty Centennial, Image: US Fish and Wildlife Service

100 Years of the Migratory Bird Treaty Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This year is the centennial of the Convention between the United States and Great Britain for the Protection of Migratory Birds–also called the Migratory Bird Treaty.

That was signed by Great Britain for Canada at the time–in August of 1916–where that was a protection for all migratory birds between Canada and the United States.

Shaun Oldenburger, a migratory game bird biologist with Parks and Wildlife, says as early as the 1860s grassroots efforts evolved to develop game laws for birds.

There became this knowledge that birds cross political boundaries, and that they needed protection in both wintering and breeding locations. This primarily happened due to some droughts that were occurring, some habitat loss that was occurring during the earliest part of the 20th century. And so, some very smart people and some very proactive individuals got together and decided that we needed to protect these birds both on the breeding and wintering grounds.

It was that understanding of natural laws that set the stage for the Convention and man’s laws.

The idea of the convention is that we need this holistic protection for these birds across their lifecycle. I think it’s really interesting that as long ago as a hundred–and even more than a hundred years ago–people were thinking about conserving species, when I think that a lot of us consider it [conserving species], sort of, a new idea. Yeah. It’s amazing. In fact, a lot of the bird conservation work we’ve had has really spawned in the last 30 or 40 years. But, the premise–in the state of Texas and beyond the boundaries in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and japan–was established in the 19th Century.

We’ll talk more about the Migratory Bird Treaty tomorrow.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

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

Texas State Bison Music Festival

Bison Music Festival at Caprock Canyons State Park Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Clear your calendar the weekend of September 17 and make plans to attend the annual Texas State Bison Music Festival.

This year’s festival is in the town of Quitaque; it’s a street dance where we close off part of the street. We have arts and craft vendors, lots of food, and some fantastic entertainment this year.

Quitaque is south of Caprock Canyons State Park, home to the state’s bison herd. Donald Beard is superintendent. The festival is a fundraiser for the Texas State Bison Herd Restoration Project.

It’s a good way to have a fundraiser and have a lot of fun. This year we’re also celebrating because the bison has recently been named as our national mammal. So, we’ve got lots of reasons to celebrate this year.

Tickets are available now; festival details and ticket prices at bisonfest.com.

The festival this year will be headlined by Robert Earl Keen. We have several other entertainers: Mark Powell, Zac Wilkerson, and Kevin Deal. You can call the park for more information, or you can check us out at our website or Facebook…Texas State Bison Music Festival. The concert starts at about 3 p.m.; vendors start at 9 a.m. Come all day and bring your lawn chairs.

The Texas State Bison Music Festival, benefiting the Texas State Bison Herd Restoration Project is Saturday September 17 in Quitaque. Plenty of food and drink–including adult beverages–available from vendors.

Be safe and have a designated driver.

You can bring a cooler when you pay a $10 cooler fee.

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

Members of the Texas State Bison Herd at Caprock Canyons State Park

Texas State Bison Herd at Caprock Canyons State Park Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Caprock Canyons State Park is home to living history: the State Bison Herd.

The herd was started by Charles Goodnight back in the 1870s. And it’s one of the five foundation herds that all bison today pretty much come from.

Unchecked slaughter of Bison nearly brought them to extinction. Mary Goodnight, wife of legendary Texas rancher Charles Goodnight, encouraged her husband to capture calves to save the species. The 130 or so bison roaming Caprock Canyons today are direct descendants of those animals.

There is about 12-thousand acres of bison range in the park. Just about everything that’s open to the public is open to the bison. You can run into them almost everywhere in the park.

Donald Beard, Park Superintendent, says although bison roam freely, visitors must not interact with them.

We do everything we can to keep the park visitor and the animal safe. We educate the visitors as they come in. There are signs. As they come into the visitor center, they’re hand a safety message pamphlet that talks about what to do if you run into a bison on the trail. We just have to keep telling visitors that this is a bison range; of course the bison have the right-of-way. So, the best thing you can do if you run along a bison on a trail is find a shade tree, get out your camera, take some pictures, and wait for them to move on.

Tomorrow: the annual Texas Bison Music Fest.

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

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