Passport to Texas

Take Me Fishing Hutsell participants. Image courtesy www.katyisd.org.

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This is Passport to Texas

Fishing is hooked into the curriculum for students attending Hutsell Elementary in the Katy ISD.

This program started back in 2006 as part of Take Me Fishing Houston. And then, two years later, we were able to obtain the name Take Me Fishing Hutsell, because we extended the program through he support of Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Take me Fishing Hutsell is an annual event at Peckham Park for students and their families. Principal Margie Blount says kids prepare by taking aquatic education classes; then the day of the event, some families may win fishing gear, which encourages more time outside.

Families are able to take their children fishing in the park and experience the love for angler education beyond that day. It’s getting out parents involved. It’s getting our kids involved. And bringing the whole community together.

The program weaves classroom instruction with practical outdoor experience, resulting in improved testing.

We have had great success in our STAAR scores. Our students have really been very successful at state assessments. And even understanding the application and higher level thinking, because we allow our students to take their learning and apply it to everyday living.

The Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Enchanted Rock

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This is Passport to Texas

Visitors to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area may bring their dogs with them – as long as it’s not to the top of the granite dome.

I’m a dog lover – I have two dogs – and I can’t take my dogs up there either, anymore.

Doug Cochran, superintendent at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, says a new regulation went into effect March first; it prohibits visitors from taking their dogs to the summit in order to protect the fairy shrimp that live in the vernal pools atop the dome.

We want to protect these precious resources for future generations. I want my grand kids and my grand kids’ grand kids to come up and have the same experience on top of Enchanted Rock, looking at these fairy shrimp that the kids are have now.

Visitors have unwittingly upset the fragile ecosystems on E-Rock by allowing their pets to drink from, and relieve themselves too close to, the pools—thus polluting the water. Even so, dogs are welcome.

On our loop trail there’s a 4.5 mile walk. You can take dogs out there, and they can get really good exercise, and you can see really great parts of Enchanted Rock on our loop trail that a lot of people don’t get to see because they just go up to the summit and come down.

Find a link to the new regulation for Enchanted Rock at passporttotexas.org.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Hiking Enchanted Rock.

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This is Passport to Texas

You’ll find fragile ecosystems called vernal pools on the summit of Enchanted Rock.

They’re little formations—weathering pits that have formed over the years—and they’ll collect rainwater. And there are little lifeforms that grow in them: fairy shrimp and other invertebrates. And, it’s their own little, small ecosystem in there.

Dough Cochran is superintendent at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in the Texas Hill Country.

A scientist was doing some tests on invertebrates – testing the different kinds of algae that were present in the water. And he notices over the past three or four years that blue-green algae had been increasing in these pools of waters. And that’s an indication of pollution.

Pollution caused unintentionally by visitors who bring their dogs to hike the summit with them, and then interact with the vernal pools.

We see a lot of pets and humans going in these waters and wading through them, drinking out of them (the people don’t drink out of them, but the pets do) and in some cases they’re doing things they’re not supposed to be doing in there.

Animal waste that seeps into the pools raises the nitrogen level of the water, and disrupts ecosystem stability.

Tomorrow, learn of a new regulation intended to help nature regain her balance on Enchanted Rock.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

TPW TV: Birding in the Brushland Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS Television series broadcasts a segment the week of April 17 on birdwatching in the brushlands of South Texas.

I can go to the outdoors and have something to do, and it’s something you know it’s kind of relaxing and peaceful. You just need your binoculars and you can just do it anywhere! So that’s what I like about it and the birds are neat ya know! To see different birds!

Ruayda Bouls is one of the birdwatchers you’ll meet on the show. Texas Parks and Wildlife Ornithologist Cliff Shackelford makes an appearance to help guide the birding enthusiasts.

[Cliff Shackelford] Look at all those Chachalaca’s sitting there!
[Ruayda Bouls] It’s not very bright but I like the noise it makes!
[Cliff Shackelford] It would make a good ring-tone wouldn’t it!
[Ruayda Bouls] Yeah! Ha!
[Cliff Shackelford] Chachalaca, Chachalaca, Chachalaca!

There are 500 bird species in the south Texas ecoregion where they shot the segment, and birder, Josh Anderson, isn’t shy about picking a favorite.

13— My favorite probably is the Green Jay, I know that’s kinda like the hallmark of South Texas down here, everybody will come from miles around just to see that bird! It’s just cool, a lot of them are like camouflaged or blending in, but that one really pops out!

Birding in the Brushlands airs the week of April 17 on PBS stations statewide. Check your local listings.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Love Mother Earth by being a good steward.

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I remember the first Earth Day Celebration. It was April 22, 1970, and I was a young, impressionable kid.

Leading up to it were weeks of news reports about how we were killing the planet… with litter, toxic chemicals, wasting resources, destruction of wild places, and air pollution.

It scared me. So, I decided to do what I could to help. Not big things, of course. I was just a kid. I started turning off lights in empty rooms, and not letting water run while I brushed my teeth. I also started to pick up other people’s litter I found on the ground.

Plus, I finally understood why my mother recycled newspapers, composted our kitchen scraps, grew some of our food in a backyard garden, and always kept the thermostat at a low setting in winter.

It’s the little things we do every day that make a difference when it comes to the long-term health of our planet. Nobody expects perfection—just a bit of effort.

Perhaps this Earth Day, April 22, we can rededicate ourselves to putting forth that extra effort when it comes to keeping our big, beautiful planet, and every living thing she supports, healthy and strong for generations to come.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti