Passport to Texas

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

Don’t let the fact you’ve never gone fishing—or that your skills are a bit rusty—keep you from casting a line soon.

We do offer classes, but we can’t offer classes to everyone. So, we thought a little video series would help.

Ann Miller coordinates aquatic education for TPW. She said the agency received many inquiries from adults interested in learning to fish for the first time, or who wanted to know how to get their children involved. Miller helped to develop—and hosts—the agency’s new Fishing 101 video series, which demonstrates basic fishing skills.

So, we have really started with the very basic knowledge and skills, just to get people started. Then, of course, we have also included a lot of links to resources, so that people will figure out the next steps to be able to increase their fishing knowledge.

The videos, available on YouTube and the TPW website, are for adults who want to hone their skills.

We do gear this for adults; both to teach them how to go fishing again if they’ve forgotten, or to help them teach their children.

Find links to the videos at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…we produce our show with a grant form the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas…

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Fishing 101 Videos on YouTube

Fishing 101, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The summer drought inspires one family to conserve water. Gretchen Mahan tells us more.

My family agreed to try and reduce their personal water use by implementing simple conservation techniques. The day before our experiment began, I printed out the San Antonio Water System conservation tips and posted them in bathrooms and the kitchen. My dad, Jim, reads one of the tips.

When brushing teeth, turn the water off until it is time to rinse. When shaving fill the lavatory basin with hot water instead of letting the water run continuously. I think that’s a good, conservative use of water.

We also changed the shower head in my brothers’ bathroom to a more water efficient one from San Antonio Water System. My brother Peter tells us about it.

There are two kinds of sprays…the normal spray, the massage.

But my older brother, Trey, says taking shorter showers, wasn’t the most enjoyable experience.

My shower today was approximately seven and a half minutes compared to what it used to be was over fifteen minutes. It was a very painful process, but it was well worth it to save the environment.

Okay, so there may have been a little sarcasm in that last line. My brothers aren’t exactly the environmentalists of the family. But with a little prodding, we managed to do fairly well, saving 3,000 gallons or 13 percent of our total water use.

Thanks Gretchen. That’s our show…Find more information at passporttotexas.org. For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Water Conservation Family Style, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Estuaries act as nurseries for juvenile species of saltwater fish. And freshwater inflows keep estuaries in top form.

Freshwater brings sediments which builds nursery areas. Freshwater also brings nutrients which feed the plants and animals that grow and form the basis for the food web in the estuary.

Former TPW Coastal Studies Team Leader, Dave Buzan, says since the 1950’s we’ve restricted water flow to the gulf by building reservoirs and flood control structures.

Historically we have controlled water because we know we need water for people to drink, for industries, and for agriculture.

Human need has effectively changed Texas from a land of rivers and streams into a land of impounded water, meaning less fresh water reaches our estuaries.

In hindsight, we’re able to see that the more of these reservoirs and flood control structures we’ve built have really reduced our ability to get water to the estuary on a consistent basis.

And when fresh water doesn’t flow consistently into estuaries, the health of these ecosystems as well as the health of a significant segment of our economy suffers the consequences.

We’ll look at that tomorrow.

That’s our show … 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.

Freshwater Inflows, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

The Gulf of Mexico has a soft bottom.

The Gulf [of Mexico] in itself is basically barren of a lot of hard substrate.

This is a problem for marine invertebrates like coral, barnacles and sponges that need to attach to hard surfaces to survive.

To address this lack of substrate in the Gulf, TPW developed an artificial reef program. Dale Shively is its coordinator.

Reefs in general provide habitat for marine organisms, and we have reefs that are made from oil platforms—obsolete oil platforms—which are in the rigs to reefs program. We have ships to reefs program, which includes things like the Texas Clipper Ship that we reefed recently. And then we have other materials that we try to reef near shore in our near shore reefing program.

Near shore reefing, sometimes called public reefing, allows organizations and private citizens to deposit materials such as concrete and steel, in predetermined locations, off shore.

So, these smaller reefs and the materials that we put out provide a base for marine life to grow. That creates a mini-ecosystem reef environment in which larger fishes will live and reproduce.

There’s a process involved in public reefing, and we’ll discuss that tomorrow.

The Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and provides funding for the operations and management of Sea Center Texas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Artificial Reefs Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

So, there’s the beetles…and there’s some egg sacks in there.

That’s Mike Janis, a natural resource specialist at the Matador WMA in the Texas Panhandle, opening a container of 200 salt cedar leaf beetles from the USDA. In early June, researchers released one-third of the insects at Matador, hoping they will multiply and devour troublesome salt cedar trees—a water-thirsty non-native that’s overtaken about half of a million acres in Texas.

The salt cedar was introduced to the U.S. in 19th century to control riverbank erosion. But, Chip Ruthven, leader of the project, says the cedars became a problem in themselves.

It forms dense thickets and out-competes native plants, which are generally highly beneficial to wildlife from a food and a cover standpoint. Then they’re also heavy water users as well.

Jerry Michels is a research professor at the Texas AgriLife Extension. His team has been trying to establish a beetle population in the panhandle near Meredith Lake.

We’re hoping, we’re optimistic that this summer might be the year that they really explode up here.

Researchers don’t expect problems with beetles destroying other plant communities because they’re picky eaters. They only eat salt cedars. The beetles seem to be a cheap, effective tool to keep salt cedars in check, but Michels says beetles alone won’t terminate the trees.

I think that salt cedar control if it is going to be effective is going to have to be a combination of different techniques.

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

Biological Control for Salt Cedar Play Now | Play in Popup | Download