Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

From conservation to cooking, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Television series has you covered in June; writer/producer, Ron Kabele.

In the program that airs the week of June third, there’s one story –it’s about snow geese. One of the frightening things that most people don’t even know about snow geese — there’s six million of them, and that’s about four million too many. They’re literally eating themselves out of house and home. And they’re stripping bare the vegetation that’s around them. And the biologists are worried right now that it’s just going to cause a vicious cycle that’s going to continue for years.

The following week there’s a story at Dinosaur Valley State Park. You hear about dinosaurs all the time, but you don’t make that connection until you see the actual tracks, and that’s what they have there. This isn’t Hollywood. This is the real thing.

Then following week, we went to Big Bend Ranch State Park. And this is the biggest State Park in Texas by Far. It covers three hundred thousand acres, four hundred and fifty square miles – it’s huge. This park was originally a working sheep and cattle ranch…and they even have a lot of outreach programs where people can come in and behave like cowboys.

[Whistling] Anybody that wants to get in here and help…yes sir…good caught there….it’s a hands on experience…they’re out there, you know, working the cattle [moo]…

One of the segments in the show is about learning new skills when you’re outdoors. And, we did a three-part series on cooking with Dutch ovens. They’re one pot meals – it’s a skillet that you cook over the fire.

Thank you, Ron. Check your local listings.

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

TPWD TV June Highlights Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

National Fishing and Boating Week is June 2 through 10– and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Texas is diving into the celebration.

Well, right here at the beginning of the summer, we want to celebrate the fact that Texas has a multitude of opportunities for people to get out on the water to enjoy fishing and enjoy boasting and enjoy family time.

Ann Miller is aquatic education coordinator for Parks and Wildlife.

All over the state, we’ve got some wonderful family oriented events that are happening. And these events include fishing clinics and fishing derbies, and they cover the entire state from Lake Arrowhead State Park and Eisenhower State Park, up near the Oklahoma border to Galveston Island State Park and Huntsville State Park. And even in San Antonio and the Austin area – we’ve got lots of state parks who are holding these events.

When it comes to enjoying the outdoors, most people like to add water to the mix.

Every person enjoys water in a different way. But I think there’s just something innate in humans that water is just one of those ingredients that create fun.

Find links to boating and fishing opportunities at passportotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… encouraging Texans to participate in Free Sport Fishing Day —Saturday, June 2nd. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

National Fishing and Boating Week Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

National fishing day is Saturday June 2nd, and activities for kids and families are planned statewide.

From 9 to noon, Bastrop State Park, in the Prairies and Lakes Region, encourages kids from 6 – 13 to attend a Junior Angler Fishing Clinic, where they’ll learn the basics of freshwater angling, and win prizes.

At the Caprock Canyon State Park and Trailway, located in the Panhandle Plains Region, the whole family can fish for largemouth bass, channel catfish, crappie and sunfish in tranquil Lake Theo from 8 to 5.

Have competitive kiddos? Enter them in the All American Fishing derby sponsored by Wal-Mart, which takes place from 10 to 2 at Cedar Hills State Park just southwest of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the day.

If you live along the gulf coast, do not pass up your chance to tour the state-of-the-art Conservation Association/Central Power and Light Marine Development Center State Fish Hatchery, from 8 to noon. Participate in catch and release fishing in two stocked hatchery ponds…but bring your own pole and bait since.

Fishing builds bonds between families and creates lifelong memories…it’s fun you can take to the bank.

That’s our show for today…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration program… encouraging Texans to participate in National Fishing Day —June 2nd.

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

National Fishing Day Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

You may know about bird houses… but Bat Conservation International, known as Bat Conservation International, wants you to know about bat houses, too.

A bat house is a structure that’s generally made out of wood and it has chambers inside of it. Rather than having an opening on the side, as you would for instance in a bird house, a bat house is open on the bottom. So the bats are able to fly in from underneath and them climb up into these chambers inside of the wooden house. You may have a bat house that holds 50 or fewer bats, or you may have a bat house that could hold 300 or more bats. Bats are very small, so a lot of bats can roost in a very small space.

Barbara French is a Biologist and Science Officer for Bat Conservation International.

We generally recommend that they are on a pole. Sometimes they’re on a side of a building, but it’s better that they’re not in trees because they don’t seem to do as well when they’re put in trees as they do if they’re on a poll.

Ready to get started? Bat Conservation International makes it easy.

At BCI, we sell a bat house builder’s handbook. It has a lot of information on how to build a bat house with all of the instructions and all of the information you would need to build one in there.

Details about bat houses and the builder’s guide are available at www.batcon.org.

That’s our show for today…with research and writing help fro Loren Seeger…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Bat Houses Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, boasts a bat population numbering 1.5 million, making it a unique and appreciated tourist attraction. But that wasn’t always the case, says Barbara French.

There were modifications done to the bridge that ended up making just the perfect sized crevices underneath the bridge. There probably had been bats there for sometime, but they began moving in, in larger numbers then. It drew the attention of, you know, many different kinds of people and people began being worried, and thinking that this was a danger to the city. They were actually considering exterminating those bats.

French is a Biologist and Science Officer for Bat Conservation International. She says Austin had a change of heart about the bats thanks to Merlin Tuttle.

Merlin Tuttle, who is the founder of Bat Conservation International, was headquartered in Wisconsin, and he came here and talked to a lot of officials and explained that the bats were actually a tremendous benefit and was able to protect the colony. Once the colony started growing and once people started realizing just how important these bats were in helping to control the insect pests, they became more interested in having the bats. As it became a unique site and known to people around the country, and then even around the world, people began coming to Austin to visit just specifically to see these bats.

Learn more about Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge bats at www.batcon.org.

That’s our show for today…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Congress Avenue Bridge Bats, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download