Passport to Texas

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

Smiley Nava served as borderlands biologist at Texas Parks and Wildlife before retiring last year. His job involved understanding and developing conservation strategies for the natural resources along the shared border between Texas and Mexico.

We have ecosystems; we have natural resources that we share between Mexico and the state of Texas. We’re talking about an area that is a little over 12-hundred miles in length – from El Paso, Ciudad Juarez – to the mouth of the Rio Grand. And that’s all inclusive of the area that is my project.

Nava identified local, state and governmental partners in Mexico to join this mission. During his tenure, Nava said one border city, in particular, lead the way.

The City of Nuevo Laredo, they have an ecological department. It’s a sub directoria de la ecología – as it’s called — subdirectory of ecology. They make sure that there’s conservation implemented… if they’re clearing out trees that they’re replanted with native vegetation. And they’re very proactive… They’re setting the example and showing their other cities along the border how this can work and be beneficial.

Learn more about Borderlands Ecology and other conservation topics on our website, passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program.

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

Borderland Ecology, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Borders are political demarcations, conceived of by man. Nature, meanwhile, knows no such boundaries.

The boundary to Texas and the United States doesn’t stop midway in the Rio Grande. It goes all the way to the Mexican side as far as the resources are concerned.

Smiley Nava is recently retired from Texas Parks and Wildlife where he served as its borderlands biologist. His work focused on the natural resources along the 12-hundred mile border shared between Texas and Mexico.

We are specifically looking at the state natural resources that we share with our four Mexican states. We’re right at around fifty percent of the US/Mexico border, so Texas is an important component of those shared resources.

The area Smiley oversaw is diverse.

The Tamaulipan scrub land is one of the provinces that are prominent for a good part of our border that we share with Mexico. The other part, the upper basin of the Rio Grande, as you move inland, is more typical of the Chihuahuan desert. So the species utilize those, what natural resources and components we share with Mexico in those regions, kind of drive where we’re trying to focus our work.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program.

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

Borderland Ecology, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Whether you seek the cool comfort of a mountain setting, or the peaceful nature of a prairie, the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series has what you want in July. Writer/Producer, Alan Fisher, fills us in.

In the later part of July, we’ll pay a visit to the Davis Mountains. Davis Mountains State Park is home to Indian Lodge, which is a fantastic lodge built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the thirties.

We have hiking trails all over this park. So, if you want to get out and exercise, this is the place to do it. Mountain biking, equestrian trails, hiking, backpacking, or you just kick back and relax.

We’ll also explore the challenges of finding a balance between conservation and urban expansion on the Katy Prairie which is west of Houston. This area has traditionally been agricultural land and wildlife habitat for waterfowl, but it’s becoming more and more a part of Houston. And, as the city grows, displacing the farms and the wildlife habitat can be a problem.

I’m working on my fifty-ninth crop here. And I’d like to see the geese and what ducks there are and the sandhill cranes and what have you, have a place to stay as long as I’m around here, you know.

The story is a good reminder that anywhere we move as human beings, there’s something else that used to be there, and can also be really important to our lives.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Television series airs on PBS stations. Check your local listings.

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

Texas Parks and Wildlife on PBS and Cable
Times and dates are subject to change, especially during PBS membership drives.

• Amarillo, KACV-TV, Channel 2: October–March, Saturday 6 p.m.
• Austin, KLRU-TV, Channel 18: Monday, 12:30 p.m.; Friday 5:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. KLRU2, Cable 20: Tuesday, 11 p.m.
• Bryan-College Station, KAMU-TV, Channel 15: Sunday, 5 p.m.; Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Corpus Christi, KEDT-TV, Channel 16: Sunday, 12 p.m.; Friday, 2 p.m.
• Dallas-Fort Worth, KERA-TV, Channel 13: October–March, Saturday, 6 p.m. Also serving Abilene, Denton, Longview, Marshall, San Angelo, Texarkana, Tyler, Wichita Falls and Sherman.
• El Paso, KCOS-TV, Channel 13: Saturday, 3 p.m.
• Harlingen, KMBH-TV, Channel 60: Sunday, 5 p.m. Also serving McAllen, Mission and Brownsville.
• Houston, KUHT-TV, Channel 8: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.; Friday 1:30 p.m. Also serving Beaumont, Port Arthur, Galveston, Texas City and Victoria.
• Killeen, KNCT-TV, Channel 46: Sunday, 5 p.m. Also serving Temple.
• Lubbock, KTXT-TV, Channel 5: Saturday, 10 a.m.
• Odessa-Midland, KPBT-TV, Channel 36: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
• San Antonio and Laredo, KLRN-TV, Channel 9: Sunday, 1 p.m.
• Waco, KWBU-TV, Channel 34: Saturday, 3 p.m.
• Portales, New Mexico, KENW-TV, Channel 3: Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
• The New York Network, NYN, Thursday 8:30 p.m.; Saturday 2:30 p.m. Serving the Albany area.

CABLE

Texas Parks & Wildlife can also be seen on a variety of government, educational and access cable channels in the following communities: Abilene, Allen, Atlanta, Boerne, Collin County Community College, Coppell, Del Mar College, Denton, Flower Mound, Frisco, Garland, Irving, McKinney, North Richland Hills, Plano, Rogers State University, Texarkana College, The Colony, Tyler, Waco and Wichita Falls. Check your local listings for days and times.

TPWD TV -- Mountains & Prairies Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Whether you seek the cool comfort of a mountain setting, or the peaceful nature of a prairie, the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series has what you want in July. Writer/Producer, Alan Fisher, fills us in.

In the later part of July, we’ll pay a visit to the Davis Mountains. Davis Mountains State Park is home to Indian Lodge, which is a fantastic lodge built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the thirties.

We have hiking trails all over this park. So, if you want to get out and exercise, this is the place to do it. Mountain biking, equestrian trails, hiking, backpacking, or you just kick back and relax.

We’ll also explore the challenges of finding a balance between conservation and urban expansion on the Katy Prairie which is west of Houston. This area has traditionally been agricultural land and wildlife habitat for waterfowl, but it’s becoming more and more a part of Houston. And, as the city grows, displacing the farms and the wildlife habitat can be a problem.

I’m working on my fifty-ninth crop here. And I’d like to see the geese and what ducks there are and the sandhill cranes and what have you, have a place to stay as long as I’m around here, you know.

The story is a good reminder that anywhere we move as human beings, there’s something else that used to be there, and can also be really important to our lives.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Television series airs on PBS stations. Check your local listings.

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

Texas Parks and Wildlife on PBS and Cable
Times and dates are subject to change, especially during PBS membership drives.

• Amarillo, KACV-TV, Channel 2: October–March, Saturday 6 p.m.
• Austin, KLRU-TV, Channel 18: Monday, 12:30 p.m.; Friday 5:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. KLRU2, Cable 20: Tuesday, 11 p.m.
• Bryan-College Station, KAMU-TV, Channel 15: Sunday, 5 p.m.; Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Corpus Christi, KEDT-TV, Channel 16: Sunday, 12 p.m.; Friday, 2 p.m.
• Dallas-Fort Worth, KERA-TV, Channel 13: October–March, Saturday, 6 p.m. Also serving Abilene, Denton, Longview, Marshall, San Angelo, Texarkana, Tyler, Wichita Falls and Sherman.
• El Paso, KCOS-TV, Channel 13: Saturday, 3 p.m.
• Harlingen, KMBH-TV, Channel 60: Sunday, 5 p.m. Also serving McAllen, Mission and Brownsville.
• Houston, KUHT-TV, Channel 8: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.; Friday 1:30 p.m. Also serving Beaumont, Port Arthur, Galveston, Texas City and Victoria.
• Killeen, KNCT-TV, Channel 46: Sunday, 5 p.m. Also serving Temple.
• Lubbock, KTXT-TV, Channel 5: Saturday, 10 a.m.
• Odessa-Midland, KPBT-TV, Channel 36: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
• San Antonio and Laredo, KLRN-TV, Channel 9: Sunday, 1 p.m.
• Waco, KWBU-TV, Channel 34: Saturday, 3 p.m.
• Portales, New Mexico, KENW-TV, Channel 3: Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
• The New York Network, NYN, Thursday 8:30 p.m.; Saturday 2:30 p.m. Serving the Albany area.

CABLE

Texas Parks & Wildlife can also be seen on a variety of government, educational and access cable channels in the following communities: Abilene, Allen, Atlanta, Boerne, Collin County Community College, Coppell, Del Mar College, Denton, Flower Mound, Frisco, Garland, Irving, McKinney, North Richland Hills, Plano, Rogers State University, Texarkana College, The Colony, Tyler, Waco and Wichita Falls. Check your local listings for days and times.

TPWD TV -- Mountains & Prairies Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

The 12th annual Lone Star Land Steward Awards were handed out last month in Austin to private landowners for the innovative ways in which each manages land for habitat and wildlife.

The highest honor, the Leopold Conservation Award, was presented, in partnership with the Sand County Foundation, to a north Texas couple.

We are pleased to award it this year to 77 Ranch in Navarro County. Gary and Sue price are the owner operators. They’ve done tremendous work in restoring Blackland Prairie, grassland prairie, over many years, and are very deserving of the highest recognition.

Linda Campbell is program director for private lands and public hunting.

They have been working at this for about thirty years. They’ve taken a lot of old, worn out cotton farms; they have reintroduced native grasses… He’s a leader in the community, Mr. Price. And they are true land stewards to the absolute definition of the term. They’ve done a tremendous amount of work on their own place, and have had a lot of influence, I think, on many other landowners as well. :22

The Leopold Conservation Award comes with a $10,000 prize and the Leopold crystal award.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Aldo Leopold Conservation Award Play Now | Play in Popup | Download