Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Back in April 2005 a national announcement proclaimed the Ivory-billed woodpecker, considered extinct, had been re-discovered in an area in Arkansas known as the Big Woods.

And it was definitely the most exciting news that anyone can remember in the birding circles.

Cliff Shackelford is a non-game ornithologist with Parks and Wildlife.

There have been a lot of skeptics that have seen the documentation – it’s a little fuzzy – but there have been lots of people going back to the site, and have had glimpses. But no one’s been able to secure that really golden shot of the bird.

A team from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Ivory-Billed Woodpecker research project has a team on the ground in Arkansas looking for this elusive bird.

The exciting thing is that this bird possibly has survived after sixty years of not being detected in the US; and the last sighting of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker in Texas was in November 1904. So, it’s been a long time since that bird has been in Texas. It occurred in the eastern third of the state, roughly, in mature river-bottom habitat.

Many east Texans claim to have seen Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers, but tomorrow we discuss a case of mistaken identity.

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

Woodpeckers: Ivory Billed Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Boys and girl with an interest in hunting who don’t have a family member who hunts, can participate in Texas’ youth hunting program.

We offer a Texas youth hunting program through Parks and Wildlife and the Texas Wildlife Association.

Heidi Rao is a hunter education coordinator from Dickenson.

This is a program that offers youth hunting opportunities to those of the ages between nine and seventeen. They go through the hunter education course, and then they have opportunities to go on a variety of youth hunts that are guided by trained hunt masters.

With the proper training, even young hunters can become volunteer hunter education instructors.

We have an assistant hunter education instructor program for those who are between the ages fifteen and twenty. They have to go through the same requirements as a full instructor, such as the student course, the game warden interview, and the instructor course. The only other requirement that we have is that our assistant instructors has to team teach with a full instructor, who’s at least twenty-one years of age. When that assistant turns twenty-one, if they are still active, we will roll them over, and they will become a full instructor.
Learn more at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…supported by a grant from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase shooting, hunting, fishing and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

Teaching Youth to Hunt Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Today, the word chat is synonymous with online instant messaging. But when you ask David Todd what chat means to him, he’ll tell you:

Conservation History Association of Texas.

Todd coordinates this Austin-based non-profit, the purpose of which is two-fold.

One is to compile stories from individual conservationists, environmentalists, around the state and document their lives, and try to give them a little bit of the recognition we feel they’re due for their many different contributions. The other side of it is more one of education.

Visit the organization’s website texaslegacy.org and learn of statewide conservation efforts.

We have about 400 hours of interview taped with about 190 conservationists. The neat thing about it is that there is a huge diversity, a great breadth of conservationists. Some are rich, some are poor, some are well educated, and some not so. Great diversity of kinds of work. But the common denominator amongst all these people is… They’ve got an ethic. They’ve got an interest in stewardship. An interest in continuity and what their grandchildren may inherit.

There’s more information at passporttotexas.org.

Our show’s receives support from 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.
________________________________________________________________________

When you visit www.texaslegacy.org you will be able to:

• Learn about the narrators
• View a timeline of environmental history
• Choose a region to explore
• Search a database about conservation
• Watch videos about conservation topics
• Use the curriculum for your class
• Find out about the project partners

Conservation History Association of Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife…

It’s estimated that some 350-million monarch butterflies will arrive in Texas as part of an annual fall migration to Mexico.

They hit the Panhandle and the Red River in mid September… they’ll hit Central Texas in the first week of October. The best place is actually along the western portion of the state. They’re not common in East Texas and along the coast.

Mike Quinn, invertebrate biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife, says monarchs make the long trip, surviving on nothing more than flower nectar. And yes, there is a visual difference between the males and the females…

The male monarch has black spots in the middle of the upper side of the side wings and females lack those.

Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Monarch Watch program enlists the services of hundreds of volunteers to collect data on the species during its migration.

We recruit volunteers of all ages and backgrounds all across the state, and we have over 500 people that keep calendars, that’s the one of the most helpful bits of information that people collect for us.

Members receive a booklet and migration calendar, which helps record the presence and abundance of the species in their area.

To volunteer, log on to our website, passporttotexas.org.

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

Monarch Watch Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Before you add plants to your landscape, ask yourself these questions:

Is it drought tolerant? Is it saline-tolerant? Is it alkaline-tolerant? Does it propagate easily? What’s it beneficial to? Horses, wild game or other types of livestock, is it pollinated by honeybees? Fire-tolerant?

Kathy Boydston is the Coordinator for the Wildlife Habitat Assessment Program at Texas Parks and Wildlife, which is home to a comprehensive online Texas Plant Information Database.

Most of them are natives; some of them are what we call naturalized plants. There is a list of 150 attributes for each plant that is in that database.

Users of the database, found on the Parks and Wildlife website can determine what plants will be the most beneficial to wildlife, which are best for a certain soil and what plants grow better in the heat of the Texas sun…

Trying to get people to plant more wildlife-friendly plants, rather than a lot of exotic species. We’re trying to get people to find other alternatives for lets say, grass species in their lawn, or we’re trying to encourage people to xeriscape more, use more native plants that use less water.

Fall is an ideal time to plant perennial plants, woody shrubs and trees.

To learn more about the Texas Plant Information Database, log on to our website, at passporttotexas.org.

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

Texas Plant Information Database Play Now | Play in Popup | Download