Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Texas is known for its bass angling, but chief of inland fisheries management and research, Dave Terre, says catfish angling is gaining popularity.

Today in Texas, about 50 percent of our anglers say they prefer largemouth bass. But, about 20 percent of anglers prefer fishing catfish in Texas.

Parks and Wildlife is meeting the challenge.

We’re trying to launch an initiative that will help us understand what our anglers needs and desires are for catfish angling in the state. And then study catfish more intensively to determine how we can make fishing for catfish even better.

September first, new regulations governing the harvest of blue catfish went into effect at Richland Chambers Reservoir, Lake Waco and Lake Lewisville—water bodies offering trophy potential for catfish. Find the regulations on the Parks and Wildlife website.

Meanwhile, Terre says as our climate changes, and extended droughts continue to plague our state, catfish will have an important role to play.

Catfish are able to deal with fluctuating water levels better than largemouth bass which have been, and will continue to be, a popular sport fish in Texas. So, managing catfish more intensively will mean that we may be able to provide more fishing opportunities for Texans in the future years.

Our show receives support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…supporting fisheries research in Texas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

When the wind blows, its leaves shimmer, and in the spring, its beautiful white flowers bloom. It was this beauty that inspired J. David Bamberger to save the endangered Texas Snowbell.

Bamberger owns 55 hundred acres in Blanco County and is an avid conservationist. But one of his greatest success stories is the Texas Snowbell. In 1987, state officials estimated there were 87 Snowbells in Texas. Since then, Bamberger’s team has planted and maintained 682 more.

I spent five years going door to door, well ranch to ranch out in Edwards County, Real County, Val Verde County. And it took me five years to gain access to a ranch to look for the plant.

Once he did, Bamberger began collecting the seeds from the plants he found and replanting them on the ranches. But even with all his success, Bamberger says the Texas Snowbell will likely always be endangered.

Now the scientists are saying that they won’t be delisted until we have 10,000 plants. That’s never going to happen, never ever going to happen. I think they need to reassess that number because before we came along the reintroductions were basically zero.

Bamberger continues to monitor Texas Snowbells and conduct research at his ranch, keeping the Texas Snowbell alive and well.

That’s our show…With research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program, or RIP, protects endangered and threatened species in the Edwards Aquifer.

Many of these species are no more than an inch long. The Comal springs riffle beetle is even smaller…only two millimeters long.

But Parks and Wildlife water resources branch chief, Cindy Loeffler, says preserving the species is crucial to the ecosystem.

These are, you know, you’ve heard the cliché canary in the coal mine. If we want to truly protect natural resources, fish and wildlife, these unique ecosystems. These species are indicators of the health of those ecosystems.

Loeffler also says if the program protects the identified species, it will most likely save many more in the process.

We have some species that there’s very little known about. And these are in a way the tip of the iceberg of the threatened and endangered species that are found associated with the Edwards Aquifer. There are many more species that are not listed that are found no where else.

Many of these species are found no where else in the world…like the San Marcos blind salamander and Texas wild rice. And pumping water from the Edwards Aquifer alters the habitat, putting these species in an unstable environment.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan. Discover how you can help at passporttotexas.org. For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

I’m strong to the finish, ‘cause I eats me spinach. I’m Popeye the sailor man.

By eating water spinach, you won’t become as strong as Popeye. But in the 1970s water spinach was imported to the U.S. from Asia because of its nutritional value.

It does grow very fast, which makes it a good plant to cultivate for food.

For this same reason, many people worry that if water spinach isn’t regulated, it could invade waterways, creating problems such as becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Currently, growing and consuming water spinach is legal, but stores can’t sell it. But Parks and Wildlife is changing their regulations so distributors can legally sell the plant if they buy it from an approved cultivator.

Earl Chilton is a TPWD aquatic habitat enhancement director. He says the regulations are just a precaution.

Here in Texas it may not be that dangerous anyway because it’s been completely unregulated for almost 30 years. It has been sold at HEB and Whole Foods and restaurants without any permits because our law enforcement people and us simply didn’t know about it. We have yet to find it established in the wild anywhere, despite the fact that in the area where they’re growing it, there have been any number of hurricanes over the last 30 years that have destroyed greenhouses and washed plants here and there.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

The city of San Antonio recently voted to transfer three thousand acres of land to the Government Canyon State Natural Area because they didn’t have the funds to manage the land themselves.

Richard Heilbrun (High-ul-brun) is a wildlife biologist at Parks and Wildlife. He says the new land is important because it provides habitat for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler.

This is golden-cheeked warbler paradise. You’ve got these slopes, you’ve got good diversity. You’ve got old shredding bark juniper like that one right there. I just have to believe that they’re all over the place.

The land is full of a wide variety of trees, which are necessary for the warbler’s survival. But the land is also important to the Edwards Aquifer.

You can see just on the side of this road just holes in the ground, holes in the soil, and it goes directly into the aquifer. And this is why this is such a wonderful place because it has both habitat and aquifer recharge.

But as you look out over the land, you see newly built houses dotting the nearby hills. The land right outside the natural area is being developed because people want to live where there’s a nice view. But new homes only mean less habitat for the warbler and other species.

Fortunately, Parks and Wildlife will continue efforts to preserve the fragile habitat. And in five to ten years, the new land will have trails for public hiking and mountain biking, for all Texans to enjoy.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan… For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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