Passport to Texas

Surfing at South Padre

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As a kid, Tony Smith loved knowing how things worked and creating with his hands; he also had a passion for water.

We grew up in Houston and so we would go down and go fishing—my brothers, my parents. All the time. We just loved being around the water. Later in life, in college, I started surfing and really fell in love with that. Hence, wanting to build paddleboards and surfboards in the first place.

Today Tony handcrafts paddleboards and surfboards in a warehouse using sustainably harvested wood, reclaimed lumber and recycled foam. He built boards for personal use in his free time while working a finance job he loved. His hobby became a business; he had a foot in each world

I came here on my lunchbreak one day. Did a little bit of work, zipped back to the office, and my Admin said, ‘Dude—you have sawdust all over the back of your suit.’ And I knew then, it’s time to make that decision to go for it and haven’t looked back since.

Now he spends his days handcrafting unique paddle and surf boards, under the name Jarvis Boards. Boards that, help people enjoy their time outdoors.

It’s really taken me aback how much I’ve enjoyed connecting with the individuals that have purchased our boards. And literally seeing on Instagram somebody in California, or Michigan or Switzerland out paddling with their family and making those family memories. It’s really cool for me personally because I feel like I’m a small part of that.

Learn Tony Smith’s story at jarvisboards.com

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

The Lady Bird Lake Paddling Trail is approximately 11 miles long and features multiple public access sites and recreational opportunities. The Lady Bird Lake Paddling Trail provides an excellent venue for the novice and experienced paddler alike.

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Nature tourism fostered the development of many trails statewide. On land and water.

Parks and Wildlife has the Texas paddling trails program we kicked off in 2006 with our first inland trail.

Shelly Plante is the Nature Tourism Manager at Texas Parks and Wildlife

Here we are now in 2019 and we have 76 trails throughout the state of Texas. We have coastal trails, inland trails. Some are on rivers. Some are on ponds or bijous. Some are on bays. We give information about the local canoe and kayak rentals or who provide a shuttle if you have your own. So, we try to make it as easy as possible to get out on the water and enjoy nature from a different perspective.

Canoeing and kayaking offer distinct benefits over traditional hike or bike trails.

Paddling on a trail just gives you a different view of nature. You’re quieter, you’re able to sneak up on the animals a little bit so they don’t fly off as much or run away and you can see things in their natural habitat.

The nature tourism movement has made a positive impact on both rural and urban communities throughout the state

Paddling trails aren’t just at state parks. We have them all over. They require community partners so, they’re in stretches of river outside small towns like Seguin or lulling. Austin has one. San Antonio has one called the Mission Reach and it goes right through the cultural district around the missions.

Find Texas paddling trails on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Centennial Artist, Clemente Guzman

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I love nature. I love being outside.

Artist Clemente Guzman has a genuine affection for the outdoors. He spent twenty-nine and a half years at Texas Parks and Wildlife depicting the natural beauty of the state.

I create art because it inspires me, it moves me, and being out in nature does that to me. It has that magic. You know when you have it, because you can’t sleep. You know you get up. It’s like falling in love. You know, you’re just thinking of that all the time.

Now Clemente has come out of retirement for a higher calling. He’s one of thirty-one centennial artists chosen to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of Texas State Parks. Government Canyon State Park is his first assignment.

I went out there to Government Canyon and I did some of the trails, especially one of them that goes to the dinosaur tracks. And I took some pictures and got my mind thinking. I found this lizard that I though it would be a great idea to put him inside of a dinosaur track. It just fit beautifully, the angle of the lizard and the footprint. I’m going to paint that for Government Canyon.

The centennial artists will cover sixty-two parks in all, and their work will be featured in a printed book to be published in the centennial year 2023.

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

Texas State Parks.

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The year 2023 is the centennial anniversary of Texas State Parks, and thirty-one Texas artists have been chosen to create illustrations for a printed book about the State Park System.

The whole history of conservation in the United States, particularly in the national parks, it was aided and abetted by artists.

Former Texas Parks and Wildlife executive director Andy Sansom is project organizer and co-author of the centennial book.

They are all Texas artists. Each one of them will paint two paintings. There will be sixty-two parks in the book. And then the text will be written by me and my colleague Bill Reaves. And Bill will write mainly about the artists, and then my portion of the book will be about the State Park System. ‘Be a little bit of history, a little bit of personal reflection on my own experiences, a little bit about contemporary issues facing state parks, and celebration of the hundredth anniversary.

The paintings will be offered for sale, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation to benefit the State Park System.

The book is scheduled to come out during the centennial year, along with an initial public exhibition of the paintings at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin.

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

Endangered Ocelot

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The endangered Ocelot once roamed many parts of Texas. But over the years, loss of their native thorn-scrub habitat has left only a handful of Ocelots in the Rio Grande Valley.

We need to restore their habitat as quickly as possible because they’re just really in dire need.

Dr. Sandra Rideout-Hanzak is a restoration ecologist at Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute.

The thornscrub is really unique and it’s highly diverse. We’re talking about small trees or large shrubs. They’re multi-stemmed so they’ve got lots of branches coming out very low to the ground. To humans it looks like this impassable jungle, but to Ocelots it’s just perfect.

Traditionally Ocelot habitat was left alone to restore itself. Now a new study is hoping to accelerate restoration efforts with woody plant seedlings.

We’ve kind of figured out how to replant these species of trees that become thornscrub. We have 700 seedlings that we’ve planted ourselves to see what we can do to get them to that multi-stemmed habitat where they’re growing in the right shape as quickly as possible.

The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series and funds Ocelot research in Texas.

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