Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Lone Star College-Kingwood in Houston is transforming 100 acres of its private wetlands into a public nature area.

08—It’s just a beautiful piece of habitat. It’s used by wading birds and waterfowl, amphibians and reptiles. They have beavers that live there.

Ron Jones is a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is helping fund the project. He says this kind of wetland habitat has become increasingly rare in the Houston area.

04—Most of the habitat around it has disappeared. It’s kind of an island.

Lone Star College sustainability coordinator David Burre (Bur-ee) says over the next year and a half, the college plans to enhance an existing trail and create three boardwalks as observation decks and outdoor classrooms. Volunteers will remove invasive plants like Chinese tallow and Japanese honeysuckle that are out-competing native species.

Yet, it’s not just about creating a place where people can enjoy nature today.

12—We’re looking at what it is we need to do now to ensure that the resources are available for future generations. I kind of like to say that sustainability is living in the now for tomorrow.

Through the project, Burre says, not only students, but the whole community will be able to learn the importance of conservation.

That’s our show… the Wildlife Restoration program supports our series, working to preserve habitat in Texas… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

Budding artists take note: draw or paint any recognized state fish, include an essay on the species, and you might just win a great prize.

14—The Toyota Texas Bass Classic sponsors this, and they give us money for prizes; also for travel to the National Expo Awards Ceremony—which this year will be at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

Zoeann Stinchcomb, with the Texas Freshwater Fisheries center in Athens, says the competition is open to fourth through twelfth graders, and prizes range from $50 to $1,000! And all winners go on to the national competition.

14—This is one of my favorite times of the year, once we start getting the entries in, because I don’t think most people realize how many talented students we have as far as artwork goes—it’s amazing.

Students must also submit an essay about the fish they draw in order for judges to consider their entry.

16—The idea on that is they have to do a little bit of research about the fish that they’re going to be representing. And, they have to be able to tell us something about that fish, either the conservation status, the biology or ecology of that fish… And they can even put it in story form.

Deadline to submit an entry is March 31…the Expo and awards ceremony is June 25. Find contest details at www.statefishart.com.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration program…providing funding for management of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

One fish…two fish…red fish…blue fish is a children’s book by Dr. Seuss. It might also be what you’ll see during the State Fish Art contest—a nationwide art competition sponsored by Wildlife Forever…that has an ulterior motive.

05—The idea is to get the students involved in art and science and the out of doors.

Zoeann Stinchcomb, with the Texas Freshwater Fisheries center in Athens, says fourth through twelfth graders may compete by submitting a drawing or painting of a state fish.

11—Our state fish in Texas is the Guadalupe Bass. However, Texas students are not limited to drawing just the Guadalupe Bass. They can draw any recognized state fish from around the country.

Students from across the nation compete for prizes and a chance to have their artwork reprinted on a conservation stamp.

22—The competition in Texas is stiff; we have more entries generally every year than any other state, and sometimes more than all the other states combined.

For one thing, we promote it quite a lot, and also we give good prizes, and we have a big state, and you know, I just think that for some reason the people in Texas have realized the value of the contest.

Deadline to submit an entry is March 31. Find contest details at www.statefishart.com.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration program…providing funding for management of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Social media allows state park enthusiasts to keep connected with their favorite natural hangouts. Bryan Frazier, our State park Guide, says visitor can stay in touch with parks and activities in real time.

65—We have some 40 state parks that have Facebook pages. There’s so many ways for people to stay connected. With our tag line of: Everything you Love about Texas…now you can just get more of it.

And so you say things are happening real time, What kinds of things would matter real time.

Park events. Rare bird sightings. From Titter, from Facebook…you know, you can get that information in such a fast amount of time that you can actually do a spontaneous trip that coincides with these activities or events and things that you want at that particular moment. And it’s making it to where people can stay up to date on the things that they care about.

And so would this also be a place for somebody to plan a trip if they’d never been there to get a sense of the park?

It’s a great opportunity to do that, and the park is very good at posting that relevant information. And what we’re finding is, it’s a portal to not just plan the trip, but find out all kinds of information—maybe things you didn’t know were there, that once you get there, it’s not a total surprise. It’s a better trip; it’s something you can really do in advance so that your park experience is that much better.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet…building dependable, reliable trucks for more than 90 years.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Armed with coordinates, a GPS unit and the spirit of adventure, you and your family can find hidden treasure
in state parks when you go Geocaching. Learn more this month on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series, Producer, Whitney Bishop.

57—In our upcoming show, we follow our outdoor education director, Chris Holmes, and he’s actually out geocaching with his three young children.

What I’d like people to take away is how easy it is to Geocache, and especially now that you can use your smart phones, you really don’t need to invest in any new equipment. And, it’s a great activity for families; a lot of people go to our parks, and maybe they’re mot sure what to do with their kids. So, it’s a great way to get kids outdoors, and they’ll actually learn something. You don’t have to tell them that, but they will.

Find details about how to get started geocaching at passporttotexas.org.

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

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