Passport to Texas

Conservation: Coastal Expo Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you can’t get to the coast, then look for a Coastal Expo.

08—Coastal Expo’s an educational outreach event, where we’re teaching the public about the Texas Coast and why it’s important and why we need to protect it.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department brings the coast to communities (even communities on the coast) with Coastal Expo. Kris Shipman coordinates the events.

12— We have all sorts of great hands-on activities where they can go to a touch tank and touch sea stars and crabs and different things like that. We have areas where we talk about water quality; we talk about sea grass and wetlands and what functions they serve.

Kris Shipman says she takes the coastal expo exhibits statewide to help people understand their connection to the gulf and the oceans of the world.

22—The entire state of Texas forms the watershed for the Gulf of Mexico. And so if somebody in Abilene were to drop a piece of trash on the ground, that trash would eventually end up in some sort of watershed. Eventually that water is going to drain to the Gulf of Mexico. So, all of that trash, if it doesn’t get picked up, that’s where it ends up—is out in the Gulf of Mexico and out into the rest of the ocean.

The Next Coastal Expo is June 9th at the KEE-muh Boardwalk in Galveston Bay. Find information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and funds conservation projects in Texas.

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

Plan Bee Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Once twin sisters Markley and Louisa Ehrlich (UR-lick), seniors at Austin High in Austin, learned about colony collapse disorder—a phenomenon that causes the death of honeybee colonies—they wanted to do something to help.

05—So, I decided to call Texas Parks and Wildlife and they connected me with him.

“Him” is invertebrate biologist, Michael Warriner. Markley says they originally wanted to build a hive for European honeybees as a class project. But Warriner suggested an alternative.

05—I steered them more toward making bee blocks in that it helps native bees.

Native bees do not use hives or make honey. Some, called solitary bees, will use the bee blocks—hefty pieces of untreated lumber drilled with holes—in which to lay their eggs. Louisa Ehrlich says bee blocks are safe in suburban backyards as solitary bees won’t defend their nests; plus, they’re an asset to agriculture.

07—And so, it really surprised me that there were these local solitary bees that, in fact, are heavier pollinators than the honeybees.

In a one acre orchard, for example, two hundred solitary bees are more effective pollinators than 10,000 European honey bees. The girls, with the help of their brother, made and marketed two dozen bee nesting blocks. They’re donating the money they raise to pollinator conservation through the Houston Zoo.

Make your own bee block. Find out how at passportotexas.org. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Managing Problem Porkers Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Feral hogs pose a serious problem at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge where they’ve destroyed acres of fragile habitat. The center’s Rob Denkhaus says working with various groups the center developed a management strategy that met the needs of the community and the hogs.

34—And the key to it was determining how we could do it in the most humane way possible that would allow the animal welfare community to accept it. And, we needed to do it in a certain safe fashion, because we are inside the city limits, where discharge of firearms is generally not allowed. So, we went through a whole process, a whole matrix of different ideas that we worked on in order to come up with the one that actually fit best – that met all of our criteria.

In the end, trapping and shooting the animals was the simplest, most effective, and most humane solution.

14—We go to great, great lengths to make sure no animal suffers in our traps, which any responsible hunter or trapper of any kind is supposed to do as well.

Learn more about hunting and trapping feral hogs on the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series… funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels…

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

A Plague of Pigs Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You may not know this, but wild hogs aren’t from around here.

05—Hogs are an invasive, exotic species; they’re not native to anywhere in North America.

Rob Denkhaus (DANK-howz) is Natural Resource Manager for the city of Fort Worth.

Descendents of escaped domestic hogs introduced by Spanish Explorers 300 years ago, bred with runaway Eurasian wild boars that brought to Texas in the 1930s by ranchers for sport hunting. The by-product of this porcine parentage has resulted in a large, destructive, modern day wild pig population.

16—The activities that they get involved in like rooting – where they can root several feet into the soft soils – and they’re eating invertebrates, they’re consuming the bulbs and rhizomes of plants and everything. So, they’re having a negative affect on the plant community as well as the wildlife community.

These hogs, says Denkhaus, also prey on native wildlife species.

07—Ground nesting birds, reptiles and amphibians, and the like. So, their impact is far-reaching…and all negative.

More about this plague of pigs tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series…funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels…

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Earth Day Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment…and thus began the annual celebration of the planet called Earth Day.

2012 marks the 42nd Anniversary of Earth Day, and millions of people worldwide are gearing up for it. But a once a year celebration is useless if that’s where it ends. So I want to challenge everyone listening, to do something every day to care for Mother Earth.

What kinds of things can you do? Perhaps plant native plants that use less water and provide food and shelter for wildlife. Or take a ceramic coffee mug to the office instead of using disposable cups. Perhaps you could make sure to properly dispose of monofilament fishing line so it doesn’t harm aquatic life.

In addition, when camping, leave your campsite in better shape than you found it. Or, your stewardship goal might be to spend time with your family outdoors instead of inside with the television—because you’re no good to nature with a remote in your hand.

Mix it up, and add new earth friendly activities to your list every week…or at least every month. As for me, I plan to be better about composting my kitchen scraps, and being more mindful about water use around my home. I also plan to plant a bird and butterfly garden this year.

What will you do?

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