Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

In Texas, water will be the defining natural resource issue of the twenty-first century—in no small part due to the over appropriation of our state’s rivers.

05—Meaning, there’s more water permitted to be withdrawn from them than is actually in them.

Andrew Sansom is a research professor of geography at Texas State University in San Marcos, and author of Water in Texas. Sansom says current predictions indicate the state’s population will double by 20-40.

12—So, unless we find a way to save water, or produce additional water, we’re going to have a real resource crisis in our state in the next fifteen to twenty years.

Of course, he does not mean we must literally “create” water. He’s referring to making it available to end users.

20—Traditionally, that has been—in our state—the creation of reservoirs. We have over 214 reservoirs in Texas, which were made by human beings, for the purpose of capturing available water supplies and making them available. So, it’s not so much a matter of creating it, as it is capturing it is for our use.

Tomorrow, we’ll explore the role water plays in the urban/rural dynamic.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Conservation Program supports our series and is funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motorboat fuel.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Austin’s Camp Fire USA Balcones Teens in Action recently eradicated invasive plants from Griffin School and Waller Creek and replaced them with native plants that are better for the natural environment.

The project was a part of the Texas Healthy Habitat’s program, and Campfire Team Program Manager Lavert Rodgers says it was a huge success.

After we put in the plants, it really looked pretty good. It looks natural, and that’s the best way I can say it because it looks like it works there.

And beauty wasn’t the only benefit.

There was actually a lot of wildlife that returned to that area, which was kind of neat. In the beginning there wasn’t much wildlife but then we started seeing some different insects, some different birds, and even in the little creek area there were some fish that started to come back.

The project’s student leader Dung Le (Yoong, Ley) is a senior at Griffin School. She says she learned a lot from the project.

Now I am able to identify the invasive plants, at least the major ones in Texas. That’s not something everybody knows and I’m glad I am able to do it.

As it turns out, you can combine conservation, education and fun.

That’s our show… the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program supports our series… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

To unwind from a demanding day at work or school, a simple change of scenery may do the trick.

04—Research and theory suggests nature is very supportive of human functioning.

Dr. Andrea Faber Taylor studies the connection between environment and behavior at the University of Illinois. Her research, along with others, reveals what we’ve thought all along: exposure to even a little green space renews our minds.

19—When we compare a barren space to a space that just has a few mature trees and a little bit of grass. It’s really striking. You know, it’s certainly not a rich, lush green environment, but a view of a green space is beneficial. So, it suggests to us that nature, and even a little bit of trees and plants, makes it more restorative.

So what does nature offer that other settings don’t?

24—Environments that might be restorative or helpful have characteristics that engage our attention, but in a very gentle way. TV or video games, certainly they engage our attention, but it’s in a very riveting way. For an environment to be restorative there’s room in your mind for reflective thought. A space maybe doesn’t need to be huge if it has enough richness and enough depth to engage our minds and hold our attention.

Tonight: instead of the TV, try a walk in the park. It does a body and mind good.

That’s our show…we receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program…supporting hunter and aquatic education in Texas.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

It’s a New Year, with new opportunities to encourage your kids to spend more time outdoors, because time in nature may have a positive affect on children with attention issues, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

08—The research so far suggests that there’s a relationship between contact with nature or playing in green space and improvements in attentional functioning

Dr. Andrea Faber Taylor is a child environment and behavior researcher at the University of Illinois. For a study, she had children with ADHD take guided, 20-minute walks in a downtown area, a neighborhood, and a city park, and then tested their ability to concentrate.

20—After the children walked in the park they generally scored higher on the measure of attention. And surprisingly, the neighborhood and the downtown area were not significantly different in scores. That said to us, there’s something about the park, perhaps, the greenness of it, the amount of trees and plants that it has that makes it perhaps, more restorative, than the other two settings.

These findings suggest that it’s the setting, not just the activity that’s important.

19—Based on our work and the work of others, we feel very confident that children benefit from contact with nature or even just what we call green space, a small pocket of trees and grass. Certainly, we’re not suggesting that it’s going to cure a child from ADHD, but it appears to, at least, temporarily reduce their symptoms.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…supporting aquatic and hunter education in Texas.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Texans of a certain age recall when families commonly spent time together outdoors. Today, though, individual demands on time—coupled with the rapid proliferation of affordable personal technology—keeps everyone busy indoors, and in different rooms.

We are out of touch with one another and with nature. It’s a brand new year, with renewed opportunities to discover why life is better outside. For your health and for your peace of mind, resolve to go outside and to play on your own, or with family and friends in tow, for at least one hour a day.

Enjoy a walk in your neighborhood, or a nearby state park, and remember what it is like to take long purposeful strides and to breathe deeply of air neither artificially cooled nor heated.

Leave the smart phones turned off and the MP3 players at home and listen instead to the voices and music of nature: bird songs, squirrels skittering in fallen leaves, and in tree branches, the sound of the wind, and the mournful howl of coyotes.

Skim a flat rock across a lake, and watch the sunset from its banks. When you reconnect with nature, you reconnect with a deeper level of yourself.

That’s our show for today…Our wish for you this New Year is that you enjoy many happy hours in nature with the ones you love…because Life is Better Outside.

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

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