Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Budding artists take note: draw or paint any recognized state fish, include an essay on the species, and you might just win a great prize.

14—The Toyota Texas Bass Classic sponsors this, and they give us money for prizes; also for travel to the National Expo Awards Ceremony—which this year will be at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

Zoeann Stinchcomb, with the Texas Freshwater Fisheries center in Athens, says the competition is open to fourth through twelfth graders, and prizes range from $50 to $1,000! And all winners go on to the national competition.

14—This is one of my favorite times of the year, once we start getting the entries in, because I don’t think most people realize how many talented students we have as far as artwork goes—it’s amazing.

Students must also submit an essay about the fish they draw in order for judges to consider their entry.

16—The idea on that is they have to do a little bit of research about the fish that they’re going to be representing. And, they have to be able to tell us something about that fish, either the conservation status, the biology or ecology of that fish… And they can even put it in story form.

Deadline to submit an entry is March 31…the Expo and awards ceremony is June 25. Find contest details at www.statefishart.com.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration program…providing funding for management of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

One fish…two fish…red fish…blue fish is a children’s book by Dr. Seuss. It might also be what you’ll see during the State Fish Art contest—a nationwide art competition sponsored by Wildlife Forever…that has an ulterior motive.

05—The idea is to get the students involved in art and science and the out of doors.

Zoeann Stinchcomb, with the Texas Freshwater Fisheries center in Athens, says fourth through twelfth graders may compete by submitting a drawing or painting of a state fish.

11—Our state fish in Texas is the Guadalupe Bass. However, Texas students are not limited to drawing just the Guadalupe Bass. They can draw any recognized state fish from around the country.

Students from across the nation compete for prizes and a chance to have their artwork reprinted on a conservation stamp.

22—The competition in Texas is stiff; we have more entries generally every year than any other state, and sometimes more than all the other states combined.

For one thing, we promote it quite a lot, and also we give good prizes, and we have a big state, and you know, I just think that for some reason the people in Texas have realized the value of the contest.

Deadline to submit an entry is March 31. Find contest details at www.statefishart.com.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration program…providing funding for management of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Nathan Kuhn is a wetlands biologist who spends his time studying marshes.

13—There are a lot of different categories, but the ones that I usually operate with are the four categories of freshwater, intermediate, brackish and saltwater marshes. And, basically, that’s a gradient from lowest salinity to highest salinity.

He explains that wetland is another term to describe marshland as well as other soggy bottoms.

16—Essentially they’re the same. A marsh is just a kind of wetland. A marsh is typically made up of grasses and other herb type plants. Whereas a swamp is another type of wetland, and that’s mainly composed of trees, like your bald cypress and tupelo gum trees.

We’re more inclined to visit a mall than we are a marsh. And as hard as it is to believe, our overall quality of life would not decline if malls disappeared. The same is not true were we to lose our marshes.

14—Without them, in many cases we would not have the shrimp or the speckled trout that a lot of people go to the Texas coast to enjoy. So, there are a lot of invisible values of these wetlands that these people don’t necessarily realize unless they were gone.

Tomorrow we see how a decline in marshland means an increase in flooding.

Our show is made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Habitat: What is a Marsh? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Fall is harvest time in nature. It’s the time of year when foraging for native produce may provide us with a bountiful harvest, especially when it comes to nuts.

04—Once we get into fall that’s the time when a lot of nut trees produce.

Scooter Cheatham is a naturalist and co-author of The Useful Wild Plants of Texas, the Southeastern and Southwestern United States, the Southern Plains, and Northern Mexico, a multi-volume set of encyclopedias that details the various uses for native plants.

Native walnuts ripen in the fall, and grow wild throughout the state. The ubiquitous acorn is another edible native nut, but requires extensive processing to be palatable.

Of course pecans are a favorite around these parts, and figure prominently at the end of many Thanksgiving meals, when made into a sweet filling cradled in a flaky crust. Yet, as good as pecans are, Cheatham says there’s one nut better…its cousin the hickory.

08—A lot of people who’ve made Thanksgiving pies from hickory swear that hickory is better than pecan. They’re awfully good. I’ve made them and I’m convinced.

Learn about wild food, and never bite into anything you cannot fully identify. Acquaint yourself with these edibles by joining your local chapter of the native plant society. Or visit www.usefulwildplants.org for more information.

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

The Hickory Versus the Pecan: Which is the Tastiest Nut? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Delicious traditional foods take center stage during holiday meals. And that food doesn’t have to come from a market if you know where to look and what you’re looking for. Savor the flavors of an earlier time in Texas when you forage for and cook with native produce.

10—I almost prefer fall over spring in certain ways because a lot of complex foods – the fruits and beans and seeds and things like that — really ripen in the fall.

Scooter Cheatham is a naturalist and co-author of The Useful Wild Plants of Texas, the Southeastern and Southwestern United States, the Southern Plains, and Northern Mexico, a multi-volume set of encyclopedias detailing the various uses for plants that grow around us. And fall is a great time to forage for some of the edible ones.

20—The Mexican persimmon’s a substantial fruit. Many grapes are still ripening, Mexican plums are ripening. Malvaviscus, Turks’ Cap’s…many species of grass. The seteriars are getting ripe now. That makes a really nice little seed cracker. Dallas grass of Paspalum dilatatum is ripening. Lynn’s made some really good crackers from those.

Before you start snacking on feral foods, make sure you’re 100% certain of what it is. Although you can eat any wild food once, if you don’t know what you’re eating, you may not get a second chance. Join your local chapter of the Native Plant Society to learn about native nourishment.

You can also log onto www.usefulwildplants.org for more information. Tomorrow…getting nutty about hickories.

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

Foraging in Nature's Grocery Store Play Now | Play in Popup | Download