Passport to Texas

The day Dale Blasingame bought his Texas State Park pass. Photo credit: Dale Blasingame.

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This is Passport to Texas

A dream is a wish your heart makes. So says the song from the 1950s Disney classic, Cinderella. Perhaps the night Dale Blasingame had a dream about driving around the country—his heart was revealing its deepest wish.

I woke up that next day, and it was all I could think about—and I was coming to the end of the semester and I was about to have a break. And so I just decided to go for it. And so, I went on this trip across the entire west.

During his travels, Dale—a social journalism lecturer at Texas State University—visited national parks.

When I got home, it was one of those vacation blues type things, where I was just kind of bored. And a friend of mine suggested that I go to a state park. And, that kind of spawned the whole thing.

That thing: visit Texas’ 95 state parks in a single year. He writes about his journey in the January/February issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

I really didn’t do a ton of planning. There were a couple of times I took big, huge trips and I would hit 15 or 18 parks at one time. But it really just kind of started as: ‘Okay, here’s this one. This is the next closest one—I’m going to go there…’  I’d wake up on a Saturday morning, or I’d think about it the Friday the night before, and ask: ‘Where am I going to go tomorrow?’

Tomorrow Dale Blasingame tells us how he found a hiking buddy. Read his story, One is Not Enough, in the January/February issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

That’s our show… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram.

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

Learning to fish with family.

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This is Passport to Texas

Why is fishing growing in popularity?

Access Is there. It’s not expensive. There’s a draw to water. And young kids are excited to get into fishing typically, [because] it’s weird. [laughs].

Caleb Harris, an aquatic education training specialist, says access may be the top reason why people fish.

There’s significant access to fishing in Texas. We have lots of lakes and lots of parks. Within ten minutes of most homes you can find a place to stick a hook in the water.

Find neighborhood fishing locations on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. And, if you’re new to fishing attend a Go Fish Event at Texas State Parks.

The Go Fish events are free events in the park, and they start in the morning – typically – and they’ll have education stations. And, they’re very specific for exactly those people who say I’m interested in fishing but I really don’t even know where to start. And after about an hour and a half to two hours of basic hands on activities to learn these things, then there’s an opportunity to borrow some fishing poles and go fishing right there in the park. And after that, most people would have an example of where they could fish, what type of bait to use, how to tie on lures and hooks, what different fish they could expect to catch with certain types of bait – they would get that information at these events. It really is a good starting point.

Find Go Fish events in the calendar section of the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

This project…and our show… was funded in part by a grant from the Sport Fish Restoration Program.

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

Photo credit: www.texaseliteangler.com

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This is Passport to Texas

As more people gravitate toward fishing, the need for trained angler education instructors increases.

Our strategy is to equip people so that they can bring fishing activities and events and outdoor experiences to their own communities.

Caleb Harris is an aquatic education training specialist. He trains interested folks how to host fishing events.

What we offer is some training to equip people to bring that to their own communities – whether it be their city, their church, their scout group… And then we can train them how to put on those events and we can give them the resources to successfully do it.

Interested in becoming a volunteer angler education instructor? Start with a skills workshop.

There’s at least one or two happening each month somewhere in the state. And our workshops are free, too, to people who are interested in them. So, people can contact us directly and ask when the next workshop is, or they can follow the calendar of events on Texas Parks and Wildlife website. They’ll all be posted there, too.

Harris says the people who reach out to the agency for training are enthusiastic, and believe in fishing as a way to engage the outdoors and bring families together.

Our volunteers are pretty incredible, actually, how motivated they are to help families get outside and have a good experience in fishing.

A grant from the Sport Fish Restoration Program helps fund this project and our show. Find an angler education workshop near you on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Enjoying a trail ride in a State Park.

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This is Passport to Texas

While driving is the way most folks enter a state park… Barbara McKnight says once inside… you can see more of the natural beauty of your surroundings… on hay power.

Something about riding a horse…looking at things is so much better. You’re more likely to see wildlife. We see bobcats and other things that will hear the engine of a car or smell it and they’ll leave.

As a member of the Texas Equestrian Trail Riders Association, she says state parks offer the perfect opportunity for exploring while on a horse. But before you hit the trail, there are a few safety precautions you need to be aware of…

The horse you want for trail riding needs to be completely unflappable, things shouldn’t scare it. It should be brave about walking up a hill, through water and over bridges. And the main thing you need to be sure and understand that horse and know how to control it.

Find a list of state parks with equestrian facilities on the Texas Parks and Wildlife web site.

We record our series in Austin at the Block House. Joel Block engineers our program.

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

Various Purple Martin Houses.

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Purple Martins begin to travel across Texas this month, stopping to nest in birdhouses designed for them. They rely on our help because they’ve adapted to manmade “nest boxes” originally constructed from gourds by Native Americans.

Yet, opinions vary about how this relationship between bird and man began. Some believe native people placed gourds on the ends of their teepee poles to intentionally attract the purple martins. The birds provided insect control, and chased off creatures that tried to eat game left out to dry by the hunters.

Other martin enthusiasts believe the relationship was accidental. Native Americans hung gourds high off the ground to prevent rotting, and rodents from chewing holes in them. The clever rodents found and chewed holes in the gourds, just the same.

The purple martins, while hunting for a nesting cavity spotted openings in the gourds, and nested inside them. Living close to man meant fewer predators—and they did eat pesky insects. Their symbiotic relationship allegedly evolved from there.

Whatever the truth, today’s purple martin houses are either “gourd-type” single-family dwellings made from polyethylene, or “house-type” multi-family units made out of aluminum, or wood. And they remain a great bird to have around the house.

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