Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

We usually say that state parks are for everyone, right? Well…there is one exception.

Big Bend Ranch State Park is not for everybody. Not everyone is going to enjoy a visit there.

Dan Sholly is Deputy Director of Texas State Parks. By all means visit the park—it’s fantastic. Unless, of course, you need creature comforts.

If you don’t want wildness…if you don’t want desolation and desert solitude and you want to have your cell phone work—don’t go to Big Bend Ranch, because you cell phone’s not going to work there; you’re going to be on your own to figure out what it is that you want to do out in the middle of an incredibly beautiful, sacred, wild land.

The park is 300-thousand acres of diverse, rugged, unspoiled beauty. Until recently, access was tightly controlled while staff developed a visitation plan. Regional Interpretive specialist, Linda Hedges.

Now we do have a plan in place that addresses safety issues, where every visitor who goes to the ranch to go into the back country—off the beaten path—goes through an orientation session with park staff. So, we now feel we are equipped with a plan to deal with public safety so that folks can enjoy the ranch safely.

On November 13 through 15, the park hosts a Fiesta to introduce visitors to everything the park has to offer—except a cell phone signal.

We’ll have details about Fiesta tomorrow.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Geocaching involves inputting latitude and longitude coordinates into a GPS unit and using the information to locate hidden caches.

What we’re going to do is, we’re going to have a low tech version, too, where it will just be a physical description of how to get to the cache.

Chris Holmes, outdoor education coordinator for state parks, is talking about The Texas Geocache Challenge—a four month pilot program (beginning November 1), which brings geocaching into 12 Central Texas State Parks…and more people into the outdoors.

So, people—if they don’t have this technology—can still participate in the event. They’ll just have physical directions to get to the cache; and then they can still find treasure in state parks.

Don’t think the low tech version is without its challenges.

That’s what the fun part is—making these descriptions so that they are a little bit challenging. For example, it may be, make sure that you walk east on the lost pines trail for half a mile until you see the big outcropping of rocks. And the cache is within 300 feet of the outcrop.

As the pilot is successful, it will be expanded into more parks. Go to passporttotexas.org to learn how geocaching works, and how locating all 12 caches will make you eligible for additional prizes.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Technology and nature join forces in the Texas Geocache Challenge.

It’s a new program that we’re piloting in Central Texas. And really what it is is using technology and going out and finding treasure in state parks.

Chris Holmes, outdoor education coordinator for state parks, says to play…visit the 12 State parks in the pilot between November and February and find each of the hidden caches.

What they’re going to do is they’ll go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website and they’ll look at the Texas Geocache Challenge site, and they’ll have an opportunity to download a PDF passport. And this passport will have the 12 sites in there, with an area where they can prove that they’ve actually been to the geocache.

There’s a stamp inside each cache unique to the site—you’ll use it to mark your passport. That’ll prove you found the goodies.

Once they’ve done the 12 sites, and they’ve got their 12 stamps in the passport, then they can send it back to us, and we will provide an additional prize for them. It’s going to be a certificate, and it’s going to be a nice poster with a map of all the caches that they’ve been to.

No GPS? No problem. You can still play—and we tell you how tomorrow.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Five dollars might buy a couple of gallons of gas for your truck—but that won’t get you far. Now, if you were to spend those five dollars on a chance to win a Lifetime Super Combo hunting and fishing license…

That enables folks to hunt and fish for free forever…if you’re a winner.

And forever is a very long time. Glenda Beasley is TPW marketing manager. If you were to buy a Lifetime Super Combo license, you’d spend $1,800.

It’s quite a value for you to be able to buy a five dollar entry to win the chance for an $1,800 prize. And, with the lifetime license, you also receive all of the state required stamps that go with that. So it is an additional value.

Everything except the federal duck stamp is included for your lifetime license. The drawing is open only to Texas residents; enter as many times as you like. Buy entries wherever you buy hunting or fishing licenses. There will be two drawings.

The deadlines for entering are the evening of December 27, 2009, and June 27, 2010. And if you enter before December 27th, you’re also eligible to be in the drawing that is going to occur after June 27th.

That’s as long as you don’t win the December 30th drawing. Fingers crossed, right?

Money spent on these chances goes to support conservation work in Texas. We have a link to the official rules at passporttotexas.org.

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

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

Anglers the world over know they can reel in really big bass in Texas.

We have more big bass caught in Texas than anywhere I know of. I’m talking about anywhere in the United States or anywhere in the world.

David Campbell coordinates a bass spawning program at Parks and Wildlife, called the Toyota Sharelunker program.

I know there’s been some bigger fish caught in California, Florida—but it’s the numbers of big fish. And the anglers can go to almost any reservoir in the state of Texas and have the potential of catching a thirteen pound plus large-mouth bass. I don’t think that Anyone else can come close to that.

Now through April, anglers that reel in largemouth bass weighing 13-pounds or more are encouraged to donate them to the Toyota ShareLunker program. The donated bass enter into a spawning program, with the hope of creating bigger bass—maybe even a world record.

We had somewhere in the neighborhood of three quarter of a million fry from the sharelunkers through the years. We’ve had some years we didn’t have any spawn. Then some years we might have five, six or seven spawn.

That’s a whole lot of potential. Find information about the Toyota Sharelunker program when you log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website.

That’s our show for today…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…providing funding for the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens…

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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