Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

If you’ve never spent time in a state park, it’s easy to come up with all kinds of reasons why they may not be for you. Our Stat Park guide, Bryan Frazier, says one myth about parks is that in order to get the most out of the experience—you have to go extreme.

And the good thing about state parks in Texas is, if you like those kinds of extreme activities—the mountain climbing, or the mountain biking—we have some pretty technical things where you can actually enjoy just about as an extreme experience as you want.

So, we don’t want people to be intimidated of the outdoors. We’ve got pretty much everything you’re looking for, whether it’s just a nice little walk, or something more than that at a state park in Texas.

Thanks, Bryan.

Start planning your next state park getaway—whether relaxed or adrenaline fueled—when you log onto the Texas and Wildlife website.

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

State Parks Myth #2--Only For Extreme Sports Enthusiasts Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Everyone has a favorite state park—sometimes more than one. The Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS television series takes viewers to four parks in July. One of the parks you’ll visit also happens to be a favorite of producer, Abe Moore.

I produced a story on Mustang Island State Park down by Port Aransas. It’s got the beach, it’s got the sun, it’s go the fun—it’s a great place to take the family for the summer.

So, it’s one of my favorite state parks, and I always recommend—especially with the summer and seaweed and everything going on, it’s good to check the park for beach conditions before you go down there. Parks and Wildlife television is on PBS stations all across the state, and you can go to our website to find stations and times in your area.

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

TPW TV--Mustang Island Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

It’s easy to forget how the sounds of nature enrich our well-being, or how some man-made sounds can have the opposite effect. The World Listening Project recognizes these relationships.

08—The World Listening Project is a not for profit organization whose goal is to help people better understand our relationships with the sounds around us.

Dan Godston lives in Chicago and is involved in the World Listening Project. He says Sunday, July 18 is World Listening Day, and one way to observe it is by taking a sound walk in a state park.

05—And a sound walk is where you’re focused on what you hear in your sound scape, your sonic environment.

In parks you might hear birds, rustling leaves, water, buzzing insects, the sound of mountain bikes whizzing by, people’s voices, and the crunch of a hiking trail beneath your feet.

Traffic, the clanging and growling of industry and manufacturing, and the thumping bass of car stereos heard from blocks away, are also part of the sonic environment, and often considered sound pollution. Just as bright city lights obscure our view of stars in the night sky, excessive man-made sounds muffle our ability to connect with the natural world.

10—As stewards of this planet, we should try to be careful about what’s happening to biodiversity, and certainly, I think, having the range of sounds relates to that.

We have a collection of sounds at passporttotexas.org, and instructions for making a sound map. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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World Listening Day Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Bats Emerging Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Prairie Mountain Soundscape Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Noé Cuéllar is a sound designer, photographer, and curator originally from Laredo, Texas, who currently lives in Chicago. He worked on a project called “Prairie Mountain Soundscape” for which Chicago-based anthropologist Lise McKean commissioned him to compose a soundscape of Chicago’s both natural and urban sounds. The podcast is above.

“Prairie Mountain Soundscape” is a sound journey through the evaporation and condensation of Chicago’s sound environment, where the audible embodies urban and natural landscapes.
– Noé Cuéllar

MAKE A SOUND MAP

What You Need:

• Paper
• Clipboard, tablet or something to write on
• Something to write with like a pencil or pen

Directions:

1. Find a comfortable spot to sit outdoors
2. Mark an “X” in the center of the paper. This shows YOU on the map
3. Close your eyes and listen for at least one minute. Listen for sounds from animals, birds, people and other activities
4. Keep listening, but now draw pictures or symbols on the map representing all the sounds you hear, and where they are coming from
5. At the top of your page, write down the date, time and where you were (school yard, park, etc.)

What Did You Discover?
Did you hear something from each direction around you?
Could you hear at least 10 different sounds?
Could you identify all the sounds you heard?
If you did this with a friend, compare your maps!

Stuff to Think About:
What would happen if you sat somewhere else?
What would be different at another time of day?
Another season?

This is Passport to Texas

Our state park guide, Bryan Frazier, says when it comes to our parks and the outdoors, we can hold a slew of unwarranted beliefs. One of the biggies out there is that state parks are boring—that they’re places where only retired people in RV’s go for the winter.

That is a very real stereotype out there, and we want to address that in the fact that it is completely NOT the case.

Those are sometimes the most fun of all: the wildlife that you see, the experiences…if that’s what people really think…give it a second chance…and I think they’ll come to realize and remember just how enjoyable and exciting state parks can be.

Thanks, Bryan.

Blow those myths out of the water, and start planning your next state park getaway when you log onto the Texas and Wildlife website.

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

Myth #1 About State Parks--They"re Boring Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

White Nose Syndrome is headed to Texas.

O6—This disease has the potential to impact over half of our North American bat species.

Mylea Bayless is a conservation biologist with Bat Conservation International, also called BCI. Little is clear about the disease, other than it’s a fungus that’s killed about a million hibernating bats, mostly in the northeast, since its discovery in NY State in 2006.

As of June 15, the disease had affected nine species of bats, in 14 states. In May, it was confirmed in Oklahoma, poised on Texas’ doorstep.

O3—So what we’re trying to do right now is to implement a surveillance plan.

John Young is a non-game mammalogist for Parks and Wildlife. He’s enlisting the help of BCI, the Texas Department of Health, Universities and others to help monitor the diseases’ progression. So far, it’s not been found in Texas.

16—We have taken a bit of a proactive stance on our wildlife management areas and some of out state parks where we’re looking at closing cave access if there’s bats present. But that won’t be all of the caves that we have because some don’t have bats, and it will only be a select number of caves.

Find detailed information about your role in limiting the spread of this disease at passporttotexas.org.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our show.

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

Stopping White Nose Syndrome at the Border Play Now | Play in Popup | Download