Passport to Texas

Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest

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This is Passport to Texas

Excellent management has made Texas a destination for bass fishing. And more than a hundred of the nation’s top professional bass anglers will be at Lake Travis, May 17-20, for the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest.

Well, what’s so cool about this event in its 12 fabulous years is we’ve gotten the opportunity to showcase our fisheries all across the state.

Dave Terre is chief of fish management and research at TPW, and helps to coordinate the event for the agency.

The event is really a benefit event for Texas Parks and Wildlife, to help the department raise funds to benefit our youth fishing activities; including the neighborhood fishin’ program, the state fish art contest, and other programs that get youth involved in fishing.

An Outdoor Adventures Area will provide visitors a chance to meet pro anglers and participate in outdoor activities.

Where the weigh-ins happen, there’ll be an onsite expo. Families can come, learn how to cast, meet a fisheries biologist, learn how to camp, learn about our state parks. You can learn about how we do our fisheries management business. You can learn all about the outdoors in our Outdoor Adventures Area. So it’s a great time to come and get the kids involved, and we hope everybody will come and enjoy this.

It’s free to attend the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest, May 17-20th, on Lake Travis at Jones Brothers Park. Find details at bassmaster.com.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, Cecilia Nasti.

Surf’s up in Corpus Christi. Image from http://www.visitcorpuschristitx.org

TPW Magazine: Texas Surfing Championships Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

While you won’t find world-class waves along Texas’ 367 miles of coastline, you will find a legion of surfing enthusiasts engaging the sport with almost cult-like fanaticism.

And in the May issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine writer, Dave Brown, introduces readers to competitive surfers, in his article: Epic Texas Challenge — Texas Surfing Championships.

Brown puts readers in the middle of the action at the Texas Gulf Surfing Association State Surfing Championships, held each spring at Bob Hall Pier in Corpus Christi.

In the article, we meet surfers, including nine-year-old Keagan Sohls who won the state champion titles in both the Menehune and Micro-Grom divisions. And longtime surfer, Brett Hopkins, who is a grandfather.

Brown writes: There weren’t many surfers in Texas before 1960, but by 1965 that changed. Perhaps due to the Beach Boys romanticizing the sport.

Whet your appetite for surfing with Dave Brown’s article: Epic Texas Challenge — Texas Surfing Championships in the May issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

That’s our show…. brought to you in part by Ram trucks: built to serve.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

On April 22, 1970—48 years ago—tens of millions of people worldwide demonstrated for a healthy, sustainable environment. Thus began the annual observance called Earth Day.

The demonstration evolved into a celebration—but the message is the same: let’s keep the planet healthy.

Celebrating our environment once a year is meaningless if that’s where it ends. So, let’s challenge ourselves to do something every day to care for our planet.

What can we do? Reduce, reuse and recycle comes to mind. So does upcycle—which is like reuse 2.0. It’s when you repurpose a product and create new value. Such as when we turn old truck tires into beautiful containers for ornamental gardens.

If you do plant a garden, use native species. They require less water and provide food and shelter for pollinators and other wildlife.

Leave the outdoors better than you found it. Pick up and discard trash you see. When fishing, be sure to properly dispose of monofilament fishing line. And choose to spend time outdoors with your family. Get in the middle of nature instead of just watching nature programs on television.

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.

Join the City Nature Challenge.

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This is Passport to Texas

Seven Texas regions will square off as teams against the world and one another during the City Nature Challenge. Teams try to document more plant and animal species than their competitors. Marsha May is a biologist and coordinator for Austin.

And we are using a format called iNaturalist, which is a real easy way of collecting data. You don’t even have to know what it is, because other people will come in and help you identify it through the program.

Last year DFW, Austin and Houston were in the challenge, igniting friendly competition.

Austin and Houston competed for the greatest number of species. We were going neck-and-neck for a while. And it looked like Austin was going to win, but then on the final count, Houston won—by five species. Dallas/Fort Worth, though, had the most observers and the most observations, So, they won with observations, but they had a very, um, gung-ho urban biologist up there.

That gung-ho DFW urban biologist was Sam Kieschnick.
Download the app to your smart phone from iNaturalist.org. Observations made in the metro areas of each city during the challenge will be counted. Any last words, Marsha?

Sam! We’re coming. We’re going to beat you this time. [laughter]

The City Nature Challenge is April 27-30th. There’s more information on the Texas Nature Trackers Page on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

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

Join the City Nature Challenge in your region.

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This is Passport to Texas

The first City Nature Challenge took place in 2016 between Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2017, 16 additional cities joined in, including Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and Greater Houston. This year…

There are over 60 cities worldwide that are involved in this challenge.

Marsha May is a biologist and coordinator for the Austin region. Seven Texas regions will compete this year; the goal: document more species than other regions using the iNaturalist app.

We are competing against the world, and we’re also competing against one another. DFW is competing against Austin, competing against San Antonio, Houston—all seven of the regions that are involved in this project. It’s fun competition.

Go to iNaturalist.org to download the app to your smart phone. All observations made in the greater metropolitan area of each city—and uploaded to the app—will count during the challenge.

Then, all that data is collected in iNaturalist; it will be evaluated a week after the challenge is over, and a winner will be announced. Really, all you win is somebody beat somebody. So, everybody will be trying to get as many species as possible in their own regions.

The City Nature Challenge is April 27-30th, and a Nature Challenger rivalry is brewing in Texas. That’s tomorrow.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

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