Passport to Texas

Cactus and wetlands along Powderhorn Lake. Photo courtesy of the Nature Conservancy, Jerod Foster

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This is Passport to Texas

Volunteers are vital to the work of Texas Parks and Wildlife. If you don’t have time to volunteer but still want to help, there’s always membership in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation is the official non-profit partner of Texas parks and Wildlife. And we fund transformational projects that benefit the people of Texas.

Anne (Annie) Brown is executive director of the foundation; membership dues help fund conservation of Texas’ wild things and places, for generations to come.

We have two levels. We have a hundred dollar level, and that’s for individual/family. And then we have a forty-five dollar level. And the difference between those is the hundred dollar level, you receive a subscription to Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine, and at the forty-five dollar level you do not.

Supporters receive members-only communication, special invitations, and updates about Texas parks and Wildlife from Director, Carter Smith. The best benefit is the diverse projects members help to fund.

So, Powderhorn Ranch is one of our largest initiatives, and that will hopefully be complete in March of this year. That was a 49-million dollar acquisition. Our pronghorn restoration project in West Texas—trans-relocating pronghorns to their natural area in West Texas. Our Guadalupe Bass program that we do in Central Texas with the department on Central Texas rivers, restocking native Guadalupe Bass to those rivers….

Find information on becoming a Texas parks and Wildlife Foundation member at tpwf.org.

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

Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation is the official non-profit partner of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

And we fund transformational projects to benefit the people of Texas.

Anne (Annie) Brown is executive director of the foundation, which works to ensure the continued vitality of Texas lands, waters, and wildlife for the benefit of all Texans. She invites interested persons to consider membership in the foundation.

It’s really a way for individuals to help conserve Texas wild things and wild places for generations to come. All of the funds that are raised in our membership program go into special projects.

Special requests from parks, such as for bird blinds, or youth hunting programs, and neighborhood fishing opportunities are just a few of the projects membership helps to fund.

So this is really funding that is made available for special projects that benefit the land, water and wildlife in Texas.

Find out how to become a member when you log onto the Texas parks and Wildlife foundation website at tpwf.org.

We try to make it easy. We have two levels.

Membership has its privileges. That’s tomorrow.

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

Tim Birdsong receiving an Employee Recognition Award for his work, from TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith.

Conservation Leader: Tim Birdsong Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Tim Birdsong is Chief of Habitat Conservation for Inland Fisheries at Parks and Wildlife.

I feel like it’s my job as a rivers biologist here at Texas Parks and Wildlife to help people understand what would be lost if we didn’t take care of these resources.

He works closely with landowners to develop projects to preserve healthy, flowing waters in Texas.

Since 2010, We’ve entered into agreements with over 100 landowners to do stream corridor conservation projects to conserve these lands along these flowing waters like you see here. In my personal life, I love to get out and recreate on rivers and streams, and so I don’t really feel like my job is work. So conserving those natural resources is about conserving that relationship that I want to pass down to my own children.

Conservation is hard work for all involved, and can at times seem like one step forward and two steps back. But people like Tim Birdsong never lose focus or faith.

I feel like I’ve made a difference. I feel like the team that I work with has made a difference. I associate my work with not just conserving fish and wildlife, but preserving a way of life. If I can have a role in helping more people get out and experience the outdoors, or promote a way of life that’s going to lead to a healthier, happier society then I’m all for it.

Meet Tim next week in a segment on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV show on PBS, Check your local listings.

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

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Texans are not afraid to roll up their sleeves and pitch in when their state parks need them: such as after the 2015 Memorial Day Floods.

A lot of our friends groups were leading a lot of those efforts.

Audrey Muntz is the volunteer coordinator for Texas state parks. She says she expects opportunities to help flood damaged parks will continue for some time.

Especially for areas where there has been major trail damage, or major damage to work areas or campgrounds.

The floods may have happened eight months ago, but volunteer opportunities to get them sorted are ongoing. And Audrey Muntz says volunteers participate in various projects throughout the year for personal reasons.

There’s this really deep desire to make sure we’re providing this for future generations. So, I really see that through these volunteer efforts.

Interested in becoming a volunteer at your Texas State Parks? Log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website and register to become a volunteer, receive updates, and search a wide variety of available projects.

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

TEXAS CITY Y OIL SPILL RESPONSE TEAM GROUP PHOTO

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On March 22nd, 2014 two vessels collided in the Houston ship channel. And that’s when the TPW Oil Spill Response team sprang to action.

[Winston Denton] There was a timing issue with an incoming inbound ship and a barge and tug crossing the channel.

[Steven Mitchell] The crew members started reporting that they had oil leaking from the barge.

[Rebbecca Hensley] We had about 170,000 gallons of fuel that was spilled into the ship channel.

[Don Pitts] Any large spill like this, we get notified by the Coast Guard or the General Land Office to come and assist in the role of Natural Resource Advisors.

[Heather Biggs] Since it was a large event, we did pull people from Austin, from Corpus, even down from Brownsville we had folks coming in to help us.

[Angela Schrift] We coordinated, figured out what we’d need. Got the materials together and got down to the coast as soon as we could.

Meet the team, and find out what happened next, when you view their story next week on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV Series on PBS.

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

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