Passport to Texas

Franklin Mountains State Park

TPW TV: Franklin Mountains Bike Trails Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Catch a segment on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series that puts you in the seat of a mountain bike on the trails at Franklin Mountains State Park: Producer Abe Moore.

48 – I went out there, and didn’t know what to expect as far as Franklin Mountains. But it’s actually mountains with hardcore mountain biking trails right in the city limits of El Paso.

Yeah, it was definitely an adrenaline rush going in. Some of the guys that I talked to when I went out there. You could see they were big burly guys; the ladies, too, for that matter. They could handle their business when it comes to mountain biking.

Thanks, Abe.

This show airs the week of July 14 on PBS stations; check your local listings.

That’s our show for today…with 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.

Kemp’s Ridley resting on Sargassum; Image © Joseph Scarola

Nature: The Value of Sargassum Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

The arrival of brown colored algae, called sargassum, to Texas beaches is nearly as predictable as the return of the swallows to Capistrano, but not as welcome.

07 – It shows up on the beach, late spring through early summer, and it can be a nuisance to your average partygoer.

Paul Hammerschmidt, with Coastal Fisheries, says tons of it washes up on the Texas coast from the North Atlantic, hindering beachgoer access to the water. Yet, sargassum is far from being a mere nuisance. It provides habitat for other living things.

13 – There are many animals that only live in the sargassum weed in the Sargasso Sea. It also is a nursery area for a whole lot of game fish like Mahi Mahi, Marlin, Sailfish, that type of thing.

On shore, Hammerschmidt says beachcombers discover shells and sea beans in the slimy tangle, as well as live animals. Cities and counties that obtain permits may move the seaweed to help rebuild sand dunes. If you get a hankering to bring home some Sargassum, it does make a good garden fertilizer – with one caveat.

07 – One thing you really do have to do is rinse the saltwater off of it. You don’t want that saltwater in your garden; that’s just not healthy for your garden.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series, and funds the work of saltwater fisheries in Texas.

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

Sargassum, Image © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Nature: What's up With the Sargassum? Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Every spring and summer, visitors to the Texas coast encounter piles of brown, wet, slimy vegetation lining Texas beaches.

02 – It’s a brown algae called sargassum.

Paul Hammerschmidt, with Coastal Fisheries, says sargassum may accumulate on tide lines for miles.

21 – It belongs to a whole group of plants that belong to the sargassum group. Most of those plants are attached to hard substrate – rocks, shells – that kind of thing. These particular species don’t attach to anything; they’re floating. They have little tiny gas bladders that help the plant float. So, periodically that breaks away and ends up on the Texas beach.

Sargassum originates in the Sargasso Sea, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean.

16 –…in a big floating gyre; a gyre is a big eddy. And this particular sea has no shoreline at all – no land shoreline. It’s surrounded by four different ocean currents that keep that seaweed trapped in this one particular area.

Yet, tons of sargassum escape and end up on Texas shores.

13 – Changes in the currents; winds and storms can occur in the area, and sections of it actually break off and get into the main currents. Those main currents will bring them into the gulf and eventually onto the beaches.

Tomorrow: the value of sargassum.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

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

Neches Paddling Trail, Image © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Recreation: Paddling Trail Program Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Paddling down a river, or on a lake, bay or bayou is great summer fun; yet, access to public waterways is a challenge in Texas.

04— Texas is definitely a private land state; more than 94% of our state is privately owned.

Shelly Plante, paddling trail coordinator, says Parks and Wildlife has an interest in granting people access to public waterways.

24— There are places where you can get in on a river to go canoeing or kayaking and you may not have another public access site for forty miles – which is far more than a day trip. And you are now stuck on a river overnight, or trespassing on private property. So, the paddling trails program allowed us the ability to really educate people where they could go paddling for short day trips, where — if they put in here, six miles downriver there’s going to be another public access site. You will be able to get out.

Communities along waterways apply to participate in the program; Texas has more than 50 inland and coastal trails suitable for all skill levels. Find them all on the paddling trail website.

11— The paddling trail website is great. There are maps for every single trail in the program. And they show you exactly where you’ll be able to put in to go canoeing or kayaking, and where you’ll be able to take out.

On site kiosks provide additional information about conditions you might encounter while underway.

That’s our show…with 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.

Safety training in the field.

TPW TV: Shooting Safety Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Smart hunters make time to practice shooting before the season begins. The smartest hunters use proper safety gear. Learn more on the TPW PBS TV series this month. Series producer, Don Cash.

54 –We offer some advice on how to protect your eyes and how to protect your ears when you’re shooting.

You can watch this the week of July 7th on the Texas parks and Wildlife PBS Television show. If you happen to miss it, we’ve got a YouTube channel, a lot of hunter education and hunter related videos there.

Thanks, Don.

Support provided the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program…funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motorboat fuel.

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