Passport to Texas

Pine burning in wildland fire

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Homeowners in close proximity to wildlands are at greatest risk of property damage from wildfires. A firewise landscape won’t stop flames, but it could slow them long enough to allow families to escape safely.

13— That means selecting our plants and landscaping materials, as well as some of our outbuildings and structures associated with our home, in a way that will help reduce the probability of a wildfire having catastrophic results for us.

Mark Klym coordinates the Wildscapes program for Parks and Wildlife. He says what you plant on your property, and where you plant it, makes all the difference during a wildfire.

25— You definitely don’t want anything that’s highly explosive or that ignites very easily close to your home. Some examples would be cedar, or any of our holly plants – which a lot of people want right up against their house. And the firefighter’s nickname for holly is “green gas” – it’s very explosive. So, you want to avoid that type of plant around your home. You also want to avoid anything that might ignite at ground level and carry the fire to your roof.

Mark Klym’s wrote an article about firewise landscaping for the October issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

Funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

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

Sauer-Beckman Farm

TPW TV: Moving Pictures Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

For years, Earl Nottingham captured the beauty of nature still photographs for Texas Parks and Wildlife. He now works that same magic with video, as Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series producer Don Cash explains.

57— Earl is moving into the video realm now since every camera made has video and stills. It’s phenomenal what high quality video can be captured with a DSLR camera. It opens up a lot of creative opportunities for a traditional still photographer such as myself. One of the things Earl did was a video essay, if you will, at the Sauer Beckmann Farm in Stonewall. It was such a nice piece that we just had to run it on the show. I think that regardless of what type of camera you use to capture an image, all you’re really trying to do is tell a story visually. For a still photographer like Earl to make the transition from stills to video has got to be a little difficult, but he seems to pull it off just fine. Back in college, I minored in cinematography, but pursued a career in photography. So, I’m really enjoying the opportunity to now shoot some video with the advent of the DSLR. And, I get to use some of the very same film techniques I learned with the old 16mm movie camera.

The video essay on Saur-Beckmann Farm airs the week of August 18 on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series.

Support provided by Ram Trucks. Doing what’s right and good regardless of the degree of difficulty — takes guts. Those are the people who build Ram trucks. RAM.

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

Outdoor Kids

Back to School Week: Teach the Outdoors Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Texas Parks and Wildlife offers a variety of enhancements for teachers and educators to use in and out of the classroom.

19— We offer outdoor skills training; we offer additions to curriculum – all kinds of supportive materials – to help people introduce youth to the outdoors and to outdoor skills so that they become more aware of their surroundings, enjoy the natural world, and feel connected to our natural resources.

Nancy Herron is Director of Outreach and Education. A new curriculum on aquatic ecosystems of Texas provides a template for understanding water, the living things that depend on it, and our future decisions about it.

31— Without a basic understanding of how our aquatic systems work, it’s going to be very difficult to make those tough decisions that are facing us, such as how much water we need to have in a stream? Isn’t that an unusual question? I mean, it’s not something that people normally would think about; how would you even understand how to approach that question? Our folks are going to be making a lot of tough decisions in the future as we balance the needs of people and the environment. And we need to have a good understanding of how the environment works to do that.

The electronic student and teacher guides for aquatic ecosystems of Texas will be available on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, and partner website: the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, and the Hart Research Institute.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and works increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

Burnie Kessner teaching teachers archery

Back to School Week: Archery in Schools Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Archery—the original shooting sport—fell out of favor as a component of physical education in public schools some years ago. But, now, thanks to the National Archery in Schools program, interest in the sport is growing fast.

The National Archery in Schools program certifies teachers as instructors. Educators learn the program just as they will teach it to their students.

06—It’s an all day workshop to become a certified instructor. They learn with the same equipment and the same method.

Burnie Kessner is archery coordinator for Texas Parks and Wildlife.

10—We use international style archery. It’s bulls-eye target faces, Olympic size. We use Olympic whistle commands, and they learn the same way worldwide.

Kessner says while certified instructors prepare students for tournaments, the successes a child experiences extend beyond the bulls-eye.

13—So, when a kid is shooting archery, and they’re on the shooting line—they’re all the same. So, it doesn’t matter what kind of home they go home to after the tournament, when they’re at the tournament, they’re the same as everyone else. So, that’s the self-esteem building piece; it’s standardized.

Learn more about bringing the Archery in Schools program to your district on the Texas parks and Wildlife Website.

Our series receives support from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program… working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

Project Wild

Back to School Week: Project Wild Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ag Science Teacher Emily Rollison doesn’t mind if her Rivera ISD students get wild in the classroom. In fact, it’s part of the curriculum.

11— I have wildlife classes that I teach every year. And I use Project Wild as part of the curriculum in my class to reinforce the TEKS and the standards that I’m supposed to meet.

Project WILD is an environmental and conservation education program from Parks and Wildlife that emphasizes understanding wildlife and natural resources.

19— I’ve been working with Project Wild for probably the last seven years now. I taught it at A&M, and now I’m teaching it in the high school classroom. My students really enjoy the projects and activities that they’re exposed to, because we get outside of the classroom. And even the indoor activities really enhance their creativity.

Project WILD helps students develop critical thinking, too.

20 —They do a lot of problem-solving in Project WILD – especially when they have to determine what the outcome is going to be in the middle of the project. And we’ll stop in the middle and I’ll ask, ‘What do you think is going to happen?” Then we’ll go on and complete the project, and then we’ll discuss: ‘Is that what you thought was going to happen, or is it not –and why or why not?’

Learn about TPW outreach and education programs on the TPW website.

The WSFR program supports our series and funds diverse conservation projects throughout Texas.

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