Passport to Texas

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

Caddo Lake borders Texas and Louisiana, and it’s one of the largest and most mature cypress swamps in the south.

Historically, Caddo Lake was the only naturally formed lake in Texas—by a great raft on the Red River—which backed water up–that was here even before the state of Texas was here.

Vanessa Adams is the area biologist at the Caddo Lake Wildlife Management Area.

They had a convention in Ramsar, Iran, and decided to designate certain wetlands across the world as wetlands of international importance. In 1993, Caddo Lake was designated; and it is the first and only one in the state of Texas with that designation.

Wetlands, like those at Caddo Lake, perform important functions.

The ones here at Caddo Lake, they will act as catch basins, and they slow floods. When the water backs up into these bottom lands and in these swamps, it slows their flow. And during that slow flow, the nutrients will fall out. Therefore, you have a bit of a filtering system for the water that goes further downstream, or further into that lake. And it acts as a way to clean the water.

The wildlife of Caddo Lake—that’s tomorrow.

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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CLICK HERE for an Interpretive Guide to Caddo Lake State Park. [PDF Document]

CLICK HERE for Fishing and Lake information.

Wetlands Month--Caddo Lake, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

[Harp glissando]

Darcy Bontempo has a dream.

I’d like to see every single car have a plate that either has a deer, a bass, a bluebonnet, or a horned lizard on it. I think that would be just wonderful.

Bontempo is Marketing Director for Texas parks and Wildlife and a huge fan of the agency’s conservation license plates— introduced in 1999. You have probably seen the plates, but what you may not realize is the money from their sales funds conservation efforts statewide.

We’ve raised more than three million dollars in less than ten years, and I think that we’re going to continue to see that increase as people become more and more interested in helping.

Each image corresponds with the program or project they fund: bluebonnets/state parks, deer/big-game hunting, bass/fisheries research and stocking. Then there is the horned lizard plate.

The horned lizard plate was our first plate. And that plate funds a wide number of projects that benefit native wildlife here in Texas—such things as the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken, the horned lizard, of course, the freshwater turtles…as well as native grasses and other species of plants.

The plates cost $30 with $22 of that going directly to fund conservation projects, and this year they can even be purchased online at conservation—dash—plate—dot—org.

That’s our show for today… 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

McAllis Point on West Galveston Island has it all—algal flats to coastal prairie—making it important habitat for wildlife.

So, if this were not saved for conservation, then, it would be developed into housing, or commercial—it could be a combination of the two since it does have road frontage.

Linda Shead is with the Trust for Public Land, TPL. In cooperation with federal and state agencies, Congress, local governments, and the private sector, TPL completed the purchase of the first 60 acres of the 127 acres of this environmentally important parcel.

This particular piece of property—the sixty acres, and then the ultimate 127—will be owned by the County of Galveston. In terms of its long-term stewardship, they are looking into the idea of partnering with a non-profit organization that’s interested in doing stewardship.

While the land is permanently protected from dense development, it’s not off limits to the public.

You know, there could be a string of kayak launches on the backside of Galveston island. Bird blinds—that sort of thing. It’s really prime for being able to do that, and being a destination. And consequently, it can contribute to the economics of the island. It is particularly a birding Mecca. And this could be one of the major stops, on tours, that people do of Galveston Island to see birds.

Learn more about McAllis Point 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.
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CLICK HERE to find out about West Galveston Green Printing (it’s like a blueprint, but with the environment in mind).

Wetland Month -- McAllis Point, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Rapid development of West Galveston Island threatened McAllis Point, one of the few remaining large tracts of property available for conservation acquisition.

What we’re talking about is a total complex of nearly 300 acres; some of which is open water, but surrounded by marsh.

Linda Shead is with the Trust for Public Land, or TPL.

Our mission is to conserve land for people. So, we’re really about trying to get land that’s going to have high public benefit, and that usually means public access.

With help from Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a pioneering relationship between TPL, the General Land Office and Permanent School Fund took shape. In addition, funding support from Congress, TP&W, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, the Galveston Bay Estuary Program, the TCEQ—local governments, and the private sector—brought nearly 2.6 million dollars to the table to complete phase one of the conservation plan: the purchase of sixty acres of this special wetland area for Galveston County.

It features almost every habitat that’s found on a barrier island like Galveston. So, it has algal flats, inter tidal marsh, brackish marsh, freshwater marsh, coastal prairie. So, it just really has that whole array of habitats, which provides greater wildlife benefit.

The TPL is currently raising funds to purchase the remaining 67 acres of McAllis Point.

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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CLICK HERE to see Design Options for a Nature Park at McAllis Point.

Wetland Month -- McAllis Point, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

The Toyota Texas Bass Classic planned for Lake Fork this month demonstrates how conservation and competition need not be at odds.

It’s really a conservation type tournament being done to benefit Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Dave Terre is chief of Inland Fisheries research and management. He says once caught, the bass are weighed and returned to the lake. Nearly 100-percent of bass reeled in during the three-day tournament survive.

This gives the Texas Parks and Wildlife department a great opportunity to tell the world about fishing opportunities in Texas, and what we’ve done to manage fish populations in a wonderful lake…. It just brings a good sense about what Texas Parks and Wildlife department is doing to make fishing better, and to promote conservation.

The event, April 18 through 20, involves one hundred four professional bass anglers vying for prizes totaling $750-thousand dollars, provided by Toyota and its sponsors.

Of course, $250-thousand dollars of that comes right back to the department to allow us to enhance fishing in our neighborhood fishing program, which is kind of a unique way that we have gone now to help utilize this money to promote fishing in our urban areas.

Event details at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish restoration program…which provides funding for the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

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

Toyota Texas Bass Classic, 2 of 3 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download