Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The facilities at the current Texas Game Warden Academy are limited.

We’re on about six point two five acres in downtown Austin. We have a dormitory; we have a classroom; and we have an administrative office. Other than that, we do a little physical training.

Randy Odom is Chief of Training. The center is next to an Austin neighborhood, so most training is off site – and that presents challenges to instructors and cadets alike.

Currently if we have someone that say, for instance, has a problem with firearms training, we have to schedule the range, go after hours, go on the weekends.

Odom says accessing off site training locations involves hours on the road that could be spent honing skills.

We are in the process now of calculating all of our travel time. We have to travel to a range, from a range. It costs us per diem to pay cadets to be out of county for firing range access. Travel time is built into there, so it cuts into our training time.

The firing range is only one aspect of cadet training that occurs away from the Academy. But that’s about to change.

This facility in Hamilton County, which was donated to us by the Police Activities League out of Houston, is about two-hundred and twenty four acres.

We’ll tell you all about the new Game Warden Training Center tomorrow.

Until then, that’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Texas Game Warden Academy Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

If you didn’t grow up spending time outdoors, you may have concerns about what it takes to enjoy nature.

There’s a lot of misconception that it’s much more complicated – that it’s not safe. And all those aren’t true, but if someone hasn’t take you out, or hasn’t shown you the opposite, that could really prevent you from taking your family.

Ashley Mathews oversees the Outdoor Families program for Parks and Wildlife. The program offers families opportunities to participate in overnight camp outs where they’ll learn skills to help them get them most out of their experience.

We also want to make sure that these families know how to feed themselves; that’s really important. It’s one thing to get out there, but once you’re out there and you don’t know what to do to get yourselves fed, that’s no fun. So, we have them cook for themselves; we always have a campfire and s’mores – the traditional things we think about camping. And we usually try to take a night hike with the kids.

Although many activities are for the kiddos.…

We don’t forget the parents. We’re going to make you get in a kayak, we’re going to put a fly rod in your hand; we don’t want you to just sit on the sidelines and watch your kid have fun. We want you to get as enthusiastic and as excited about the outdoors as they are.

Find the next outdoor family adventure at passporttotexas.org.

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

Outdoor Families: Unplugged Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

A generation ago, families spent some part of every day together outdoors. That doesn’t happen as much today; Ashley Mathews says that may have to do with location.

My generation of adults have typically been raised in urban settings, and unless we were involved in scouting, have not often been taught those basic outdoor skills that we might have learned on the farms, or out on our families ranches.

Mathews oversees the Outdoor Families program for Parks and Wildlife.

Now that we have children — young children – we might not feel capable of taking them on these outdoor experiences, or we might feel a little foolish is we didn’t excel at it.

A typical Outdoor Family event includes an overnight family camp out, where families learn the skills they need to get the most from their outdoor experience.

It’s a two-day event; we usually start early on Saturday mornings and run through Sunday about lunchtime. Saturday afternoon we break up and go to various classes of their choosing…everything from fly-fishing, to fishing basics, to camping, air rifle, archery, kayaking, and then we have a lot of youth nature activities as well. And then we transition the group to a camp out experience.

We’ll have more about Outdoor Families tomorrow.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Outdoor Families Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

It won’t be long before the holidays are here. And this month, Louie Bond, Managing Editor of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, previews the December issue, which is sure to get any outdoor enthusiast thinking about their wish list.

In December we’ll take a look at what might be under our reader’s Christmas trees. And if they’ve been nice and not naughty, they might get something wonderful like the hydro-jet canoe: a seventeen foot fiber glass craft with a gas motor that weighs only a hundred and ten pounds, and goes five hours on one gallon of gas. So you’ll never have to get tired of paddling again.

Imagine sitting out by a campfire on Christmas Eve. One family bakes pies in their cabin. And even has a timed hike that brings them back at precisely the right moment when the pies are coming out of the oven. It’s easy to see why they describe it as a magical experience, and the come back year after year.

The December issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.

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

TPW December Magazine Preview Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

A raptor hunts for food primarily using its talons. Think hawks and eagles.

Raptors are the birds that are living just almost the same level as we are.

John Karger is Executive Director of Last Chance Forever Bird of Prey Conservancy. He rehabilitates injured and orphaned birds and — when feasible – releases them back into the wild, where they play an important role.

The raptors are prime indicators. When they get sick, we’re going to be sick. Thus in the 1960s we realized that we put a lot of chemicals on the earth. We knew that we did that because the birds were disappearing.

Each October, Karger brings his raptors to Parks and Wildlife Expo to demonstrate their prowess, and more importantly, to stir in visitors a sense of stewardship.

If I could get them to do one thing – just take a moment – realize how incredible nature is, and that it can really give you a sense of awe…a sense of incredible. What I really want people to do it to come to the Expo and realize that the whole outdoor world is there, and it is ours for just enjoying tremendously if we just take care of it.

Learn more about John Karger’s Last Chance Forever Birds of Prey Conservancy at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today…for Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
_______________________________________________________________

Visit John Karger’s last Chance Forever Birds of Prey website: http://www.lastchanceforever.org/ (copy and paste into browser)

From their website: Founded in 1978 by Master Falconer and Veterinary Technician John Karger, Last Chance Forever is a nonprofit, tax exempt organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of sick, injured and orphaned birds of prey, scientific investigation, and also just as importantly, the education of the public. Each year the project receives between 150-300 birds into the facility for care. An average of 65-80% of all cases are successfully returned to nature. Birds which are deemed non-releasable and are not suffering –when possible– are held to be placed in propagation projects, natural science centers for educational purposes, or humane research projects.

In addition to properly caring for the birds, Last Chance Forever has designed an educational program for presentation to children, civic organizations and interested individuals. This program is seen by over 500,000 people annually throughout the United States. It promotes a common sense attitude towards the interaction of mankind and our environment. Through this program, we also hope to encourage a change in attitudes concerning birds of prey such as hawks, owls, falcons, vultures and eagles.

Birds of Prey Play Now | Play in Popup | Download