Passport to Texas

Invasives: Zebra Mussels Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There are two types of aquatic mussels in Texas: those that belong here, and those that don’t.

Texas Parks and Wildlife aquatic habitat enhancement director Earl Chilton says native mussels indicate when rivers and lakes are healthy.

10—Native mussels often have pretty strict environmental requirements, and you can tell whether a system is healthy or not by the kind of native mussel population it has.

Invasive species like zebra mussels aren’t native to Texas. Because they have no natural competitors here, they reproduce quickly. And large numbers of zebra mussels can clog pipes and even kill native mussels.

14—Unlike native mussels, zebra mussels have byssal threads they use to attach to various objects. They also can attach to native mussels and when enough of them attach to a native mussel they can actually suffocate that mussel.

So how can you tell the difference between these good and bad mussels?

07—Zebra mussels are small and they’re going to attach to things. If you see a mussel attached to something it is a non-native mussel.

But native freshwater mussels don’t attach to anything. Now that you know the difference, you can find out how you can help stop the spread of zebra mussels and protect the native species www.texasinvasives.org.

That’s our show… the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program supports our series… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Gifts for the Conservationist on Your List Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Holidays challenge the creativity of gift-givers everywhere. However, if you have nature lovers on your list, gift giving is easy—and the giving is twice as nice.

A seventy-dollar Texas State Parks Pass is a thoughtful and sensible gift for your outdoor enthusiast. Pass holders enjoy twelve months of unlimited visits to more than ninety state parks and historic sites.

They also receive discounts on camping, park store merchandise and recreational equipment rentals. Money spent on the pass supports your Texas state parks.

For thirty dollars each, you can give the drivers on your list a conservation license plate. Twenty-two dollars from every sale goes directly to help fund conservation efforts in Texas. The horned lizard plate, in particular, funds research and conservation of non-game species such as the iconic horned lizard.

Give every outdoor lover on your list access to more than a million acres of public land—with the Limited Use Permit—for the ridiculously reasonable price of twelve dollars.

Permit holders receive twelve months of access to Texas’ wildlife management areas, where they can fish, hike, bird watch, cycle, and camp.

When you give one of these gifts, you delight the receiver, and help support state parks and conservation in Texas.

That’s our show…we receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Conserving Sea Grass Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Redfin Bay is a popular destination for anglers.

In fact, this area is number one for guided fishing trips, and second highest along the Texas coast for private boat anglers. Visitors outnumber locals two to one.

Popularity comes with a price, says Faye Grubbs, a coastal fisheries biologist based in Corpus Christi. Seagrass provides essential food and habitat for marine life. Yet, submerged propellers severly trench the area uprooting the aquatic plants. There is a regulation to protects these plants.

And the basics of that regulation are, there’s no uprooting of Seagrass allowed inside this scientific area – that includes 32-thousand acres. Now, boaters are allowed throughout the area – no area’s shut down. Trolling motors and anchors are exempted from the regulations. So if you do uproot any seagrass by using one of those devices, you’re exempted from the law.

Trolling motors and anchors are exempt because any damage they might inflict is minimal.

[seagull call] Overall, what we’re trying to do is really get boaters to think about what they’re doing out in the water. The onus, the responsibility, is on the boater to know the area he’s fishing in, and also protect and preserve some of the habitat that supports the fish that he’s fishing for.

Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series. Through your purchases of hunting and fishing equipment and motorboat fuels, over 40 million dollars in conservation efforts are funded in Texas each year.

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

Water Quality and Quantity Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Water quality in Texas has improved from last century, but increasing demand, coupled with current drought conditions, means we have less of it.

Andrew Sansom, executive director of the River Systems Institute at Texas State University, leads a team of 2,000 volunteers, called the Stream Team. These concerned citizens signed on to track Texas’ water quality.

26—Our waters from a quality standpoint are much better than they were a generation ago. The waters in Texas were far more polluted in the 50s and 60s than they are today. The principle issue that we’re facing today is an issue of quantity. Because we are essentially running out of it. And the more our population grows, the worse this drought becomes, the more acute that problem will be.

If you take a look at the U.S. Geological Survey Web site, you’ll find a map of the United States—a map with dots representing current stream flow. The redder the dot, the more the stream flow is below average. Take a look at Texas and you’ll see it covered in dark, red dots.

11—Today, the hill country of Texas is in the most extreme drought conditions in the United States. You can see evidence of the drought in the hill country anywhere you look.

We’re nearing drought of record proportions. All citizens can make a difference by reducing water use in the home and landscape.

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

Houston Toads: From the Ashes Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

With its habitat ravaged by wildfires, the future seems bleak for the endangered Houston toad. But this lost pines local has a friend in Professor Mike Forstner from Texas State.

10—My students, myself, and a large group of collaborators do significant ecological restoration, habitat recovery, particularly focused with landowners in Bastrop.

Before the fire, toad populations were stable due to landowners conserving their habitat. Now, it could take 40 years before the land recovers. What’s a toad to do?

19—in 2006 and 2007, we began a head starting program that included a captive assurance colony held at the Houston Zoo, with additional individuals at Fort Worth. And, we have better than 60% of the genetic diversity that we have detected in the wild—in a decade—represented in the captive colony.

Bastrop State Park, which took a big hit from the wildfires, is a significant study site for the Houston Toad, and the State Parks division at Texas Parks and Wildlife funds part of the study.

Scattered pockets of Houston Toad habitat exist, and may receive captive bred animals, but work is needed to improve the genetic diversity of the species in these locales.

26—Outside of Bastrop, the majority of the population fragments that remain, are effectively like having a single family, not a population of wildlife. And we haven’t developed a strategy that’s been approved yet that will enable bolstering that genetic diversity and those populations. The core is getting the support of the landowners in those areas to become as engaged as the landowners in Bastrop currently are.

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