Passport to Texas

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

[School bell rings] As school bells ring out the last day of classes across the state, parents seek ways to keep their children occupied without breaking the bank. May we suggest free fishing at state parks?

Texas state parks are a great place to go fishing because you don’t have to have a license.

Ann miller, aquatic education coordinator, says taking the family fishing at a state park is not only economical, but can also help parents and children reconnect.

Fishing is wonderful because it gives time away from normal duties for the parents to enjoy the children. It puts all the family in a different atmosphere to focus on one another for a change, instead of all the other distractions of everyday living.

Beginning this month, leave everyday issues behind when you take the family to a state park for free fishing events.

These events are made to help beginners who are just getting started in fishing learn how to fish, And that will be beginners ages six on up, by the way, so you don’t have to be a child. Some of the events are more children oriented, but they’re really family oriented events.

Find a link to these events at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… we receive support for our program from the Sport Fish restoration Program… reminding you that Saturday June 7 is Free Fishing Day in Texas….For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Free Fishing in State Parks: Fishing & Family Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

[School bell rings] As school bells ring out the last day of classes across the state, parents seek ways to keep their children occupied without breaking the bank. May we suggest free fishing at state parks?

Texas state parks are a great place to go fishing because you don’t have to have a license.

Ann miller, aquatic education coordinator, says taking the family fishing at a state park is not only economical, but can also help parents and children reconnect.

Fishing is wonderful because it gives time away from normal duties for the parents to enjoy the children. It puts all the family in a different atmosphere to focus on one another for a change, instead of all the other distractions of everyday living.

Beginning this month, leave everyday issues behind when you take the family to a state park for free fishing events.

These events are made to help beginners who are just getting started in fishing learn how to fish, And that will be beginners ages six on up, by the way, so you don’t have to be a child. Some of the events are more children oriented, but they’re really family oriented events.

Find a link to these events at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… we receive support for our program from the Sport Fish restoration Program… reminding you that Saturday June 7 is Free Fishing Day in Texas….For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Free Fishing in State Parks: Fishing & Family Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Before you head into the wilderness…

… Make sure you have an adequate supply of water with you because you don’t know if you’re going to encounter any water sources while you’re up there.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunter Education Coordinator Terry Erwin says you should always carry at least a half gallon of water and drink often while hiking to prevent dehydration. But if you do begin to feel thirsty and hotter than usual, you may be experiencing heat exhaustion.

This is when you have a pale and clammy skin, you feel nauseated, maybe headaches and muscle cramps. At that time you need to move to a cooler place, re-hydrate yourself, lower your body temperature and make sure not to over chill yourself.

And more severely is heat stroke.

You become dry, hot, your skin gets flushed- even dark purple. Your pulse becomes slow and weak and you start to breathe very shallow. The best thing to do is to really get down and lower the temperature of your core body. Drink plenty of water, fan and don’t over chill yourself and if it persists get to the hospital immediately because this is a life threatening situation.

Find more information about identifying and treating heat exhaustion and heat stroke by visiting passporttotexas.org.

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

Outdoor Safety: Heat Related Illnesses Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The book Rare Plants of Texas from Texas A & M press gets up close and personal with…well…rare Texas plants.

There’s a lot of different definitions of rare.

Co-author, Jackie Poole, explains how the book’s authors defined the term “rare.”

What we basically use for the book is how many populations of those plants exist out there. So, usually, our cutoff criteria is twenty populations of fewer. And that’s on a worldwide basis—that’s not just in Texas.

Species listed as threatened or endangered by the federal and state government were also included in the 225 plants found in this illustrated field guide.

And, a lot of those plants have more than twenty populations known now—they didn’t when they were listed. But, because they get listed, lot more attention gets paid to the; a lot more people go out and find populations. So, they often end up being less rare than the plants that aren’t listed as endangered or threatened.

It’s imperative for us to know which plants are the rarest of the rare so we can protect them and their habitat.

Because they’re often indicators of something that’s going wrong in a particular habitat. And, we can pick up on this early on by noticing the rarest individuals in the community suffering first.

Find out more about rare plants in Texas at passportotexas.org.

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

Book: Rare Plants of Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Playa lakes, which form in shallow depressions in the earth, are common in the High Plains of Texas, but are uncommon as water bodies go.

Well, with a playa lake, when a drop of water falls, it goes into the middle of the lake basin and that’s where it stays. This water may work its way down into the Ogallala Aquifer, or it may evaporate, but each playa lake is the lowest point in its own watershed.

Bill Johnson, is a waterfowl and wetlands biologist in Canyon, Texas, and says the water you see in the playa today, may not be there in a few months’ time.

Playas tend to go wet and dry. And there’s nothing wrong at all with a dry playa. We’re a semi-arid region, and our evaporation rate is much, much higher than our rainfall rate.

In fact, if a playa were wet all the time, says Johnson, it would not be nearly as important to waterfowl.

When a playa goes dry, it causes the germination and growth of moist soil plants. These plants are generally annual plants—such as the smartweed, or barnyard grass. Now these plants are very productive, and they produce the seeds that ducks eat. If these playas didn’t dry up, then they would have an entirely different pant community that wouldn’t be as productive—they just wouldn’t produce as much food.

Information about playas is at passporttotexas.org.

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.

Wetlands Month: Playa Lakes Play Now | Play in Popup | Download