Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas with Support from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

Protecting Texas’ natural resources requires effort from all Texans.

09 – Well, as a state agency, we are constrained by our budget, and so we can’t possibly put as many eyes in the sky and boots on the ground as we need.

Urban biologist, Kelley Bender, encourages folks to learn about and share the conservation message by becoming a Master Naturalist.

22 – The Texas Master Naturalist Program is a really exciting way for people to get involved in nature and wildlife in the state of Texas. There’s a nine-week course that’s provided by professionals in the field, where they get training that includes classroom training as well as field trips. And then we ask for a commitment back to provide 40 hours of volunteer service a year.

Master Naturalist training prepares people to become leaders in community-based conservation efforts.

19 – Most chapters offer a get-to-know you class where they introduce all the topics that are going to be discussed. They also talk about what the commitment is and what will be expected of the students as well as what will be expected of the program. And all people are welcome and invited to join. We ask that people be 18 years and over.

Find a local Master naturalist chapter near you on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and funds diverse conservations project throughout Texas…for Texas parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Passport to Texas with support from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

The underlying concept of the Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan is simple: do what’s necessary to ensure the survival of rare, threatened and endangered species – that depend on the Aquifer and the San Marcos and Comal Rivers – while permitting continued use of the resource by human constituents.

06—There’s federal law requiring this, but it’s the right thing to do in terms of protecting the resource for all of us into the future.

Cindy Loeffler is water resources branch chief at TPW and one of the architects of the protection plan. Convincing people to do the right thing – like modifying their usage of the resource based on the needs of rare species – can be a hard sell.

The plan includes ongoing water conservation –especially during times of drought – removing invasive species, and declaring a portion of the San Marcos River a state scientific area that would make it illegal to uproot endangered Texas Wild Rice.

But Loeffler says these protected species are indicators of a healthy ecosystem – which benefits everyone.

21—By providing these protections for these species, that helps ensure the San Marcos river, the Comal River will keep flowing. Keeping these springs flowing is really at the heart and soul of the work done by the recovery implementation program. And so that benefits the species, of course, but also benefits people as well.

Find a link to the plan’s website at passporttotexas.org.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program …supports our series and funds diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…

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

Passport to Texas with support from the Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program

Two million people – from Central to Southwest Texas – depend on the Edwards Aquifer for their drinking water.

06—it also supplies important water sources for industry, agriculture, recreation…a number of things.

Cindy Loeffler, water resources branch chief at Texas Parks and Wildlife, says eight federally listed threatened and endangered species call the aquifer home; they exist in this location only. The Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan intends to protect them, and allow Texans’ continued use of the shared resource by implementing a mixture of strategies.

36—Water conservation is a key part of it…but also [part of it is] looking at different ways to manage water. For example, we do currently have different levels of conservation that kick in to action as drought increases, and also many measures to help make the ecosystems more resilient. Things like removing non-native species, [and] helping to restore habitat that’s been compromised. One notable thing, especially for folks who recreate on the San Marcos River that’s been done, is to create a state scientific area that makes it unlawful to uproot Texas Wild Rice, a federally protected plant.

It is easy to be dismissive of a plan to protect species which exist in very small numbers or that we do not often see. Tomorrow we talk about the value of these species.

The Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program …supports our series and funds diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…

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

Passport to Texas with support from the Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program

An ecosystem is a complex set of interrelationships among plants, animals, microorganisms, land, and water. And Texas Parks and Wildlife is a collaborator on a conservation plan to protect a special ecosystem: the Southern Edwards Aquifer.

08—The Edwards aquifer is home to many, many rare species, including eight federally listed threatened and endangered species.

Cindy Loeffler is water resources branch chief at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

19—Some of the most visible endangered species associated with the Edwards Aquifer are Texas Wild Rice – it’s only found in the upper two miles of the San Marcos River. Also, fountain daters, small fish that are found in the San Marcos River and the Comal River, and a number of cave-dwelling species you might not see just recreating in the rivers – but they’re there.

Loeffler worked on the Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan. All of the species she mentioned are unique to the Edwards Aquifer Ecosystem.

15—It’s important to protect these species for that reason, but also, this is a major water supply for many of us here in Texas, so finding a way to share that resource –finding the proper balance – that’s what the Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program has been about.

What’s in the plan to help protect endangered species? We look at that tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program…supports our series and funds diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…

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

This is Passport to Texas sponsored by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

With a couple of months of hurricane season 2012 remaining, it’s important to remember lessons from the past. We learned seven years ago from Katrina that abundant, healthy wetlands may have helped to moderate the storm surge that devastated the city.

12 –I think there’s a greater appreciation now than ever before of the values that wetlands provide. At least from the standpoint of improving water quality and storm abatement and attenuation of flood flows.

Nathan Kuhn is a wetland ecologist at Texas Parks and Wildlife. He explains how wetlands buffer coastlines from the overwhelming impact of storms.

36 – They basically block the winds and tides and everything else when these hurricanes come in. They’re essentially a buffer. It slowly reduces storm surges as you go farther inland, and it also reduces – just in general – the power of a hurricane. You know how hurricanes always lose power as they’re going over Florida? It’s because they’ve made landfall. Warm water is the driver for hurricanes; and once they hit the land then they lose power. That’s why they lose strength, it’s because they’re no longer getting fuel anymore. That’s the value of wetlands. If you have them way out in the gulf of Mexico from where your house is, then by the time it hits your house it’ll already have lost a lot of steam.

And that can mean the difference between minor structural damage and losing everything.

That’s our show for today… made possible by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program… providing funding for wetland conservation through the Private Lands Enhancement Program.

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