Passport to Texas

Bringing the outdoors to children.

Education: Outdoor Outreach Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Texas parks and Wildlife offers a variety of enhancements for teachers and educators to use in and out of the classroom.

19— We offer outdoor skills training; we offer additions to curriculum – all kinds of supportive materials – to help people introduce youth to the outdoors and to outdoor skills so that they become more aware of their surroundings, enjoy the natural world, and feel connected to our natural resources.

Nancy Herron is Director of Outreach and Education. Water is a vital issue in Texas, and a curriculum on Aquatic Ecosystems of Texas provides a template for better understanding the resource and its users.

31— Without a basic understanding of how our aquatic systems work, it’s going to be very difficult to make those tough decisions that are facing us, such as how much water we need to have in a stream? Isn’t that an unusual question? I mean, it’s not something that people normally would think about; how would you even understand how to approach that question? Our folks are going to be making a lot of touch decisions in the future as we balance the needs of people and the environment. And we need to have a good understanding of how the environment works to do that.

Find the electronic student and teacher guides for Aquatic Ecosystems of Texas on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, and partner websites: the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, and the Hart Research Institute.

That’s our show for today. .. Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

A handful of roasted crickets. Photo by Cecilia Nasti.

Conservation/Food: Eating Bugs to Save the World Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Experts predict the world’s population will increase to nine billion people by 2050. That’s two billion more mouths to feed. And Robert Nathan Allen says an eco-friendly protein to help nourish the masses is insects.

07— Compared to say a cow, where we can only really eat about forty percent of the cow, with insects; we can eat most if not all of them.

Allen founded the nonprofit Little Herds to educate the public about insects as a nutritious alternative food source. Insects are high in protein and rich in fiber and micronutrients. Currently 70% of agricultural land supports meat production, which limits the industry’s future growth.

15—So, with insects, we can raise them in a modular fashion vertically on a fraction of the land as traditional livestock, with a fraction of the water, with a fraction of the feed, and end up with more nutritional valuable protein.

It’s a huge leap from eating burgers to bugs. For the brave ones, Allen recommends obtaining edible insects from farms that raise them for human consumption.

11—That way we can assure that they’re raised in a hygienic, safe, clean environment. We can make sure that there’s no risk of diseases and parasites, and we can make sure tht they’re eating a clean, wholesome diet.

According to a UN report, over 2 billion people worldwide already supplement their diet with insects. Intrigued? Learn more about edible insects at littleherds.org.

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

Robert Nathan Allen, founder of Little Herds, with a container of roasted crickets at McKinney Falls State Park, photo by Cecilia Nasti.

Wildlife/Food: Eating Insects Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Bugs have a way of showing up just as you unpack your picnic. But what if you welcomed their presence? No, not as guests… as snacks.

04— They really do have a crunch [crunches]; really similar to roasted nuts.

That’s Robert Nathan Allen, who was just then crunching a toasted cricket. He’s founder of the Austin, Texas based nonprofit Little Herds (www.littleherds.org).

08—And we focus primarily educating the public and particularly children about edible insects and why and how we can adopt them into
our diet.

We call eating insects as food Entomophagy; it’s commonplace among 80% of the world’s population. But we westerners steer clear.

19—Once western societies started becoming very agriculturally based, particularly in northern climates, it just became ingrained in our society that insects are dirty. And so, that idea has continued to be passed down generation to generation in these western cultures. Whereas in the tropical environments where the habit has continued, it’s just another food source.

The thing is, we already eat more than 400 insects a year without knowing it. Allen says by intentionally swapping insect protein for animal protein we can feed ourselves and help the environment. That’s tomorrow.

We record our series at The Block House in Austin, Texas, and Joel Block engineers our program…

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

Habitat: Tree Planting Tips Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Trees are habitat for wildlife. And if you’re adding new trees to your landscape, you need to know the rules.

19—People frequently ask how close they can put a tree to the house, because shade on the house obviously is a huge energy savings. The general rule of thumb is you go no closer to the house than the eaves are high. So, if you measure up to the eaves of your house, and it’s ten feet high, then you need to get ten feet back from the house.

Scott Harris, a certified arborist in Austin, recommends planting only native specimens.

21—You always want to plant your trees at the exact level they were in the pot. Don’t dig a big deep hole, dig a big wide hole. Always use the same soil you took out to backfill. But, you can put your compost underneath the mulch, and then all of that organic goodness will dribble down in the way that nature intended.

By watering infrequently and deeply, we can help new trees develop extensive root systems.

12—If you just have a little bit of water in one area, that’s where the roots are going to go. But if you water very deeply, it’ll spread into the surrounding soil, and the roots will follow that moisture out.

Strong root systems help trees remain strong and withstand drought.

That’s our show…Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram…

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

Texas Madrone, image from Aggi-Horticulture

Habitat: Planting Native Trees Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Now is an ideal time to plant trees throughout most of Texas…and you might wonder why.

08—Two reasons: the two most important constituents in tree planting—the people planting the trees and the trees. It’s just much easier on them.

Scott Harris is a certified arborist in Austin. Tree planting season in Texas started in October and continues through March.

11—Getting the trees in the ground in the fall [and winter], they have the entire cool season, dormant season, to spread roots out before the big demands on roots and water start in the spring.

Just because a tree will grow in Texas, doesn’t mean it should grow here. Harris advises that we all exercise caution about what we plant in our yards.

:20—The biggest thing to avoid is non-natives. Our natives have all of the features you would want, but they’ve spent thousands and thousands of years getting used to being here, and with all of the wildlife used to having them, too. It’s all a web, and you can’t tell which string you can pull out without upsetting things.

Tomorrow we’ll have a few tree planting tips to help you and your newly planted tree enjoy a long and happy life together

That’s our show…Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.