Passport to Texas

ShareLunker No. 565 | Caught by Bruce Butler of Canyon, TX | April 13, 2016 in Alan Henry | 13.13 pounds | length 26 inches | girth 21 inches

Toyota Sharelunker Program Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The Toyota Sharelunker program is in full swing.

It’s an angler recognition program and it’s a selective breeding program.

Kyle Brookshear coordinates the program for Texas Parks and Wildlife. For the past 30 years, anglers who reeled in 13-pound or bigger largemouth bass, caught legally in Texas waters, could donate their fish to the program.

We bring that fish back to the Texas freshwater Fisheries center in Athens and then attempt to spawn that fish. Once the fish is successfully spawned, we return the fish to the angler. The angler releases the fish back to the reservoir [where it was caught]. We will raise those fry up, and then stock them back into the public waters of Texas.

By breeding the big bass Texas Parks and Wildlife creates a better bass fishery in Texas with more potential for trophy fish. New this season, only largemouth bass caught between January and March may be entered into the breeding program.

Through our analysis, we’ve determined that not only do we get more candidates during that time, but those candidates actually do spawn successfully.

Brookshear says fish caught outside this window may still be certified as a sharelunker, and then released back into the reservoir. Anglers who have lunkers accepted into the Toyota Sharelunker program receive a fiberglass replica of their fish.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and helps fund the operation of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens.

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

Orville Rice’s iconic artwork graced covers of Texas Game and Fish for a decade (1945-1955). Scanned from Family Archives, Dinah Chancellor

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This is Passport to Texas

All year long Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine plans to make room in its issues to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

The biggest celebrations will be in January and December [2017]. The issue we’re just putting to bed for January/February will contain a history of the magazine and a feature on Orville Rice. And both of those are written by longtime staffers who have now retired.

I spoke with Magazine Editor Louie Bond in November of last year about this year’s issues.

Throughout the year, we’re going to do some scrapbooks of different decades and some of the funny things. We’ve picked out our special favorites, and we’re going to be sharing those with readers every month.

But you’ll have to keep tabs on the magazine to find out just what those funny things might be.

And then December is kind of a secret. We’re going to do something we’ve never done in 75 years. And, we’re going to really save it as a surprise. But we’ll be doing the entire issue in a different way that we’ve never done before. So, I’m just going to hang that out there, and you y’all need to hang around ‘til December to see what kind of special fun we have for the actual month of the anniversary.

With as fast as these years are going, December will be here before you know it. The January/February issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.

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

Butchering and curing workshop at Barrington Living History Farm.

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This is Passport to Texas

They’re going whole hog at Barrington Living History Farm January 14 & 15. That’s when they’ll present a hog butchering and curing program to the public.

Butchering is just one part of many things that we do seasonally throughout the year.

Barb King is a park interpreter at the farm, located at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site. The program takes place outdoors in January just as would have happened in 1850s rural Texas.

So, all the meat that will be produced, and the sausage and the fat that we will save for soap or cooking all needs to be at a constant temperature, which is cold—like your fridge. So that we can start the curing process without worrying about it spoiling.

Staff will dispatch a heritage breed hog before visitors arrive. Barb says the rest of the process is for public view, which is mostly a demonstration…

People are able to do a tiny bit if they choose—like helping us scrape the hogs. But cutting up the carcass into specific portions of meat is only done by staff. A lot of people come right at 10, and we normally have a big group waiting. And then on Sunday, we focus on more of the preservation aspect.

Visitors who return Sunday will observe how staff cures the meat for storage. The butchering and curing program at Barrington Living History Farm is January 14 & 15, from 10am – 4pm both days. Admission fees apply. Find complete details at texasstateparks.org.

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

Bats emerging from Bracken Cave.

TPW TV - Bat Monitoring for White Nose Syndrome Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Texas is home to 33 of the world’s more than 13-hundred bat species. Bats devour tons of agricultural insect pests, pollinate crops and native plants, and bring tourists to Texas.

We have the largest congregations of bats in the entire world. People travel all over the world to see Bracken Bat Cave, Old Tunnel State Park, Congress Street Bridge. It’s a wildlife phenomenon

But Jonah Evans, Texas Parks and Wildlife mammologist, says Texas bats face a serious threat: White Nose Syndrome, a fungal disease fatal to hibernating bats, discovered 10 years ago in the Northeast.

It’s right at our border. And during that time, it has killed an estimated 6-million bats. Which, in some states, amounts to a very high percentage of all the bats in their states.

Evans and other bat conservators discuss the problem of white nose syndrome next week on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS.

At this point, all we can do is monitor closely, learn what we can, and be prepared if an opportunity to apply some kind of treatment arises. There is currently no way to stop the spread of White Nose Syndrome. However, there are many smart people working really hard on trying to find ways of doing just that.

Watch this highly informative segment on Bat Monitoring in Texas on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS the week of January 1, 2017. Check your local listings.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

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

Palo Duro Canyon First Day Hike, Upper Comanche Trail.

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This is Passport to Texas

As another New Year draws near, we make resolutions to do better and to be better. Increasing our physical activity rates high for most of us. Texas State Parks are stepping up to help you reach your goals with First Day Hikes and other outdoor fun beginning Day One.

That’s right. New year new goals.

That’s Aaron Friar with Texas State Parks.

We have a lot of cool first day hikes, where folks can come out on New year’s Day… on the trails…or we even have biking seminars…or even paddling events. Our parks really embrace the whole New year, new you, new goals and getting people out using the parks. If you’re doing something that’s fun, and you enjoy it—you forget about the work side of it. So, I think when you’re out in the parks and you’re being active, you enjoy it a lot more, and are more inclined to do it again—and make it a habit. If you go to www.texasstateparks.org, we have an events page; our parks are constantly posting events on that page. And our first day hikes [and other first day activities] will definitely be on there. The parks really embrace it and have a lot of fun with it.

Find all first day activities at www.texasstateparks.org.

We record our series at The Block House and Joel Block engineers our program.

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.