Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas From Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program

Before Houston and surrounding communities took root, and farmers turned wild land into farmland, the area was covered in tall grass prairies.

We’re restoring these croplands back to the historic tall grass prairies that they were fifty, a hundred years ago.

Robert Comstock is superintendent of Sheldon Lake State Park, outside of Houston. Four hundred acres in the park have been identified for restoration, and volunteers have already replanted 100 acres with native grasses.

And they’re what we call rescuing grasses from, say, highway projects, construction projects all throughout the city. They bring them out here, and cut them up, and pot them into smaller pots, and then grow them out, and then transplant them into the prairie.

Comstock says he’s already seen an increase in wildlife.

That’s what’s most exciting about this. A year or so after we did the first one hundred acres, our bird census has already documented close to a dozen species of birds that we’ve never seen before in the park. So there’s tangible results right then and there that we’re doing is good and is improving the environment and the habitat in the area.

Volunteers are always welcome to help with this project. Find more information at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…made possible by a grant from the sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program…working to restore native habitat in Texas.

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

______________________________________________________

August 2009 — Sheldon Lake SP — Prairie Restoration — Every Tuesday. Volunteers are needed to help with the ongoing restoration of 80 acres of tall grass prairie. Activities include separating and potting rescued grasses, planting mature grasses and collecting seed. No training necessary, work gloves and boots recommended. Meet at the Park Office. 8-11a.m. (281) 456-2800.

Sheldon Lake State Park Prairie Restoration Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program

Robert Comstock can see the Houston Skyline from his office at Sheldon Lake State Park.

And yet, I can walk out the back door and go around the corner, and there is a chance that I will see bobcats, 250 different species of birds, coyotes, rabbits, and deer—there’s no telling what. And it’s all in Houston’s backyard.

Superintendant Comstock says the 3-thousand acre park, located in northeast Harris County, is unique among other parks in the system.

It’s actually one of the few state parks whose main reason is education with recreation as a secondary aspect.

Thousands of area school children visit the Sheldon Lake SP each year, and environmental education, including alternative energy, is on the curriculum.

[We] have a wind turbine out here generating a one and a half kilowatts of electricity, two solar arrays and geothermal air conditioning, and all our water in our restrooms are heated with solar heaters. And then there’s compost and recycling demonstration areas. They can get a well-rounded experience during their stay here.

From high tech to high touch–Sheldon Lake SP is restoring 400 acres of native tall grass prairie—and you can help. Learn how on tomorrow’s show.

That’s our show…made possible by a grant from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program…working to restore native habitat in Texas.

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

Sheldon Lake State Park Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

When you hear the word tilapia, you may think of a savory meal with lemon butter sauce, but you probably don’t think of the term “invasive species.”

The tilapia are great to eat. They’re raised as a food fish, and they’re quite tasty. They’re quite popular in restaurants. But the problem is when they’re in our natural waters they are upsetting the ecosystem.

Tilapia have been in Texas for decades. They were originally brought in as a food source to be raised in fish farms, but eventually made they’re way into Texas waters.

Gary Garrett, a Texas Parks and Wildlife fisheries biologist, says tilapia can be a threat to large mouth bass and other native species.

They build big pit nests and in doing that they stir up a lot of the settlement. And it’s been shown, for example, with large mouth bass, all that sediment stirred up and settling back down will often kill large mouth bass eggs.

When tilapia do this, they can potentially damage the entire ecosystem because of the intricate food chain.

Texas Parks and Wildlife does have state regulations for tilapia, but because tilapia are found all over the state, they are difficult to control. But if you like to fish, Garrett says you can help.

Don’t throw them back. If you catch them, keep them.

So next time you catch a tilapia, turn on the grill and get cooking. You’ll be doing yourself and the Texas ecosystem a favor.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Fighting an Invasive with Fork and Knife Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

How far would you travel to ensure the future of your favorite exotic aquarium fish?

We had some folks telling us that they would go as far as 50 miles to find an appropriate body of water.

You may think releasing your pet fish into Texas waters, when you can no longer care for it, is humane. Yet these exotic aquarium species disrupt natural ecosystems and out-compete native fish for resources.

Priscilla Weeks is a senior research scientist at the Houston Advanced Research Center, http://www.harc.edu/. Her team is using a Texas Parks and Wildlife grant to research why people release their fish into Texas waters.

I think there might be a stereotype where folks think that it is easy, emotionally, just to release a fish. But actually what we’re finding is folks are very attached to their pets.

Weeks says research shows whether a person gets rid of their fish depends on personal preference.

What we’re finding so far, but this is very preliminary, is that different individuals prefer different attributes of a fish. So it’s not necessarily that it grows too big in my tank because I may like a big fish.

…but if you don’t like big fish, you could have a problem. So what do you do?

Weeks says some people think releasing a fish is the only option, but, among the alternatives are euthanizing and the less drastic—taking it back to the pet store.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Understanding Why Pet Fish Get Dumped Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

He’s gonna get out of here. He’s going to get flushed. What a smart little guy!

Many people love the Finding Nemo* scenario…the aquarium trapped fish being released back into the wild. The problem is many of the fish in Texas aquariums aren’t from Texas.

Luci Cook-Hildreth is a Texas Parks and Wildlife projects coordinator in Inland Fisheries.

Even really really smart people sometimes don’t understand that a fish is not just a fish and water is not just water. They go, “I have a creek in my backyard, and I have a fish that’s too big for my tank. Well, why don’t I just set him free?” And they don’t understand that there’s a lot of biological and ecological ramifications to that decision.

Many of these fish end up thriving in Texas waters and out-competing native fish populations.

Cook-Hildreth says controlling what fish people own is practically impossible because of the Internet. Despite state laws, there seems to be a constant supply and demand for illegal species. And these fish can sometimes be expensive.

Folks that are interested in selling illegal fish have the potential to make thousands of dollars on these fish. And we can slap a fine on them, for 200 or 300 dollars, and it’s really just the cost of doing business for these folks.

So remember, by releasing your fish into the wild, you might just be endangering a lot more.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.
_______________________________________________
*Finding Nemo is a Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios animated movie.

Aquarium Fish Cause Trouble for Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download