Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Dense Tamaulipan thorn scrub and other habitats make up Resaca de la Palma State Park, near Brownsville.

We have four different observation decks where they [visitors] can view the wildlife that uses the resaca. And each deck is a little bit different both in terms of the amount of sunlight that it gets during different times of the day, and also—to a degree—the vegetation that’s in that area where the resaca curves through it.

Katherine Miller is a natural resource specialist at the site. Once a dry riverbed, park staff flooded the resaca this summer, and control water levels to support a wide variety of wildlife, including more than 277 bird species.

It just amazes me how I can go outside in the park and walk around and find a new butterfly species that I’ve never seen here, or a bird species that’s just migrating in. Being able to get into all these different habitats and seeing the variety of birds, and knowing that we’re providing a place for them. I think that’s the most important thing—we’re doing something for the environment and protecting those species.

The 12-hundred acre park, part of the World Birding Center, is open for day use only. It has eight miles of trails in addition to the observation decks.

It’s mostly a park for people to get out and experience nature by walking or biking. We also will have a tram, and the tram will allow visitors into the park.

The Grand Opening celebration for Resaca de la Palma—details tomorrow.

That’s our show… with support form the Wildlife Restoration program… providing funding for wetland conservation through the Private Lands Enhancement Program.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Some say you can smell a resaca long before you see it. The peculiar perfume of decaying vegetation often fills the airspace of these marshy wetlands that snake along the border, defining the floodplain of the Rio Grande.

When we filled the resaca with water, then we had a lot of plant life that started to rot away a little bit. So right then, there were some stronger smells. Most of those have dissipated into the atmosphere.

Katherine Miller is a natural resource specialist at Resaca de la Palma State Park—the newest park in the system—north of Brownsville.

What we have here is a resaca that curves through the park. And the way that was originally created was that when the Rio Grande would flood, it would get these oxbow lakes. And this resaca has been dry since the seventies. And Texas Parks and Wildlife acquired the land and we started putting water in it this summer.

The addition of water has attracted wildlife. The park encompasses 17-hundred acres of intact Tamaulipan thorn scrub.

And we also have other habitat. We have hackberry. We have anacua ebony type of woodlands. And we have some revegetated grassland as well. So we have a variety of different habitats the birds and the other wildlife can use.

Resaca de la Palma State Park, part of the World Birding Center, has its grand opening December 6. Tomorrow, we learn about the wildlife at the park.

That’s our show… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for wetland conservation through the Private Lands Enhancement Program. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

There is something magical about how stars peer through the bare branches of trees in winter. Kreische Brewery State Historic site in La Grange duplicates this celestial wonder during its annual trail of lights.

The park is lit up with very beautiful lights all around the trail—it’s about a quarter mile walking trail, including a trip through the house—the old Kreische House—where we have entertainment, and refreshments, and Santa Clause is here; and all the families and kids can come and enjoy a beautiful setting for a Christmas Celebration.

Site superintendent, Dennis Smith, says the park’s location adds a special aspect to the experience.

Our park sits on a 200-foot bluff that overlooks the river and overlooks the City of La Grange. And just the night view from up here, looking over down to La Grange, and the beautiful setting of the lights in the park are absolutely spectacular.

A generation of Texans has enjoyed this holiday event, and so can you.

Our trail of lights program is open to the public on December sixth, twelfth, thirteenth, nineteenth and twentieth. There’s a cost: three dollars per person thirteen years old and older, and one dollar for children between the ages of three and twelve.

Children under the age of three get in free. Visit passporttotexas.org for ways to light up your holiday season.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program

The Colorado River is a source of water, recreation and reflection for the people living along its banks. This month the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV show, highlights this important water body. Producer, Alan Fisher.

Coming up in December, we have a segment called Reclaiming the River that follows some folks in the Bastrop area, who have really gotten their town a little more in touch with the river that runs through it.

Part of the function of land is to clean the water. And part of what this land can do is help make sure that we have a clean, clear Colorado River instead of a mud hole.

They’ve gotten paddling trails established along the Colorado, in the Bastrop area. Also coming up in December, we have a series of videos called Take Me Fishing. They are basically very introductory fishing videos—information about how to fish, where to fish, what kind of resources are available. A lot of people growing up in urban or suburban environments may not have ever been fishing—it could be a little intimidating. So, these videos provide some great resources for people who are maybe interested in fishing but have never tried it before.

Here are a few tips to ensure that both you and your kids have a good time together. Here fishy…fishy…fishy.

There are all sorts of ways to enjoy the outdoors in Texas—fishing and paddling among them.

Thanks, Alan. Check your local listings.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife restoration Program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

A highly manicured landscape may attract the praise of neighbors, but it won’t attract much native wildlife. To do that, you need a wildscape.

Essentially, wildscaping is creating your landscape in a way that’s going to be friendly to wildlife.

Mark Klym is with wildlife diversity at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

So, we’re looking at providing food, shelter and water for the wildlife on the space that you have available using native plants. We ask for at least fifty-one percent native plants. And creating a habitat they feel comfortable with, while at the same time, keeping it comfortable for yourself and your neighbors.

For example, creating a wildlife attracting brush pile in your yard may seem a bit unruly for your tidy suburban neighborhood, but if done right, it can satisfy both man and beast.

Well, a brush pile is a wonderful thing for the wildlife to have. And if it’s properly done, it can be a very pleasing thing for us, especially when you start getting some of the field sparrows that we don’t normally see around our gardens, coming into our garden because of that brush pile. These are a wonderful resource. I’ve seen them in downtown Corpus Christi in a way that the neighbors wouldn’t even know they were there unless they looked for them.

We have links to wildscape information at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today …For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

What is a Wildscape? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download