Passport to Texas

Hands on Hunter Education

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This is Passport to Texas

Being a successful hunter begins with hunter education.

Anybody who handles firearms or goes hunting or practices shooting sports should take hunter education.

Hunter education is mandatory for those born on or after September 2, 1971. Steve Hall oversees the program at Parks and Wildlife. The course both prepares hunters for the season, and keeps them in good standing with the law.

The number one ticket we write is for no hunter’s education.

Andrew Alexander is a Texas Game Warden out of Bastrop County.

We write a lot of those [citations]. And the main thing we want there is—we don’t want them to pay a fine. We want them to take the course. They have 90 days to take the course and get their certification. Show proof to the judge, and then that citation will be dismissed.

The Texas Hunter Education program is primarily focuses on younger hunters, that’s not true of all states, which is important to understand if you hunt outside of Texas.

All fifty states require hunter education. We’re reciprocal with all of those states. And the ones that get us the most are the Colorado bound hunters who have to take it [if they’re born] on or after January 1, 1949. So, we get a lot of adults in our class that have it to have it to hunt in Colorado that may not need to have it to hunt in Texas.

Find hunter education information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife Restoration Program Supports our series.

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

Chef Jeff Martinez preparing Alligator Ancho Relleno.

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This is Passport to Texas

If you’ve never eaten alligator, its flesh is firm like pork, with a mild flavor of chicken and fish. Chef Jeff Martinez.

Most of the time when you get alligator meat, it’s going to be the jaw or the tail.

Using ground alligator tail meat, Chef Jeff prepares a recipe for ancho alligator chile relleno.

I’ve got a hot pan here. We’re going to add some extra virgin olive oil to the bottom. We’re going to add our white onion that’s been diced up. We’re going to let this sauté.

Next Chef adds diced garlic, tomatoes and ground gator.

Alligator is a very lean meat, so the cooking time is minimal. So, we’re going to add a little more flavor to this dish by throwing in some sliced green olives. And then we’re going to add some of these raisins. And we’re going to finish it off with slivered almonds that have been toasted, and fresh chopped parsley. And once you put that parsley in, you don’t want to leave it on the stove cooking for too long, because you still want that brightness, that freshness from the parsley.

He salts to taste and then stuffs the mixture into ancho chiles that he rehydrated in hot water and brown sugar.

I’m going to make sure it’s nice and full, but you want to leave enough room so you can take the ancho chile and wrap it back around the meat. And I’m going to set that into an oven proof baking dish.

That goes into a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. When done, he garnishes them with crema and parsley.

Find the recipe and instructions at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Alligator Ancho Relleno Recipe

Preparing the Chiles:

8-10 large ancho chiles
10 qts boiling water
3 cups piloncillo or brown sugar
Add piloncillo to boiling water. Let dissolve, stirring occasionally. Slit the anchos down the side, lengthwise. Remove seeds from inside. Place anchos in container that’ll hold anchos and piloncillo water. Pour hot piloncillo water over anchos and let sit for 2 hours or until anchos are rehydrated. They’ll become softer to the touch and brighter red in color.

Once 2 hours have passed. Drain anchos from piloncillo water and allow them to cool.

Making the Stuffing:

2 lbs ground alligator tail meat
2 medium onions, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1/2 cup green olives, chopped
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 cup raisins
Salt and pepper to taste
Sautée onions and garlic for about 3 minutes. Throw in tomatoes. Let cook for about 5 minutes. Add ground alligator tail meat and let cook for 5 minutes. Mix in olives, almonds, raisins and parsley. Remove from pan and let cool.

Assembling the Rellenos:

Divide stuffing into 8 equal portions and stuff them into the anchos, being careful not to rip the skin. Once stuffed, place all rellenos on a baking dish and place in preheated oven set to 400 degrees. Leave in oven for 15-20 minutes or until hot all the way through.

Remove all anchos from oven and place on a serving plate. Garnish with Honduran crema or regular sour cream and chopped cilantro. Serve with white rice and beans.

A Texas State Park is closer than you think.

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This is Passport to Texas

With an increase in state park visitation by more than half a million over the past four years, parks stay pretty busy.

Some, too busy. In fact, the more popular parks in the system, such as Enchanted Rock, Garner, and Pedernales often close their gates early due to maximum visitor capacity.

To get around the crowds, try visiting during non-peak hours. Usually during the week. Check each park’s social media for the latest closure updates.

Of course, if you’re already there, instead of waiting in line for the gates to reopen, visitors are encouraged to consider the nearby alternatives to their favorite Texas state parks.

For example, if you find yourself on the wrong side of the gate at Garner State Park:

Lost Maples State Natural Area,

Hill Country State Natural Area,  and

Kickapoo Cavern State Park are three sites located within an hour of Garner.

And, just south of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area and Pedernales Falls State Park lie four hidden gems waiting to be discovered:

Old Tunnel State Park,

Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site,

Blanco State Park, and

South Llano River State Park.

Find a map of all Texas State Parks at texasstateparks.org, or download the Texas State Parks Mobile App, from iTunes or Google Play.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

Hardworking native bumblebee

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This is Passport to Texas

Jessica Beckham is on a quest to catch some fuzzy flying
Insects.

Today we are out here surveying bumblebees in a little roadside area of Denton County.

She’s been studying bumblebees at the University of North Texas while pursuing a Ph.D. in environmental science. Next week, the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS follows her efforts in a segment called The Bee Searcher.

Here in Texas, we have sweat bees, digger bees, leaf cutter bees, resin bees. About 700 to 800 species of bees that are native bees. Including nine species of bumblebees.

We know about honeybees and colony collapse disorder, but Jessica Beckham wants to know more about the plight of native bumblebees.

I’m studying native pollinators, bumblebees in particular, because native pollinators may serve as an insurance policy against these losses of honeybees.

Insect pollinators, including bumblebees are responsible for about 80 percent of the pollination of wild flowering plants and about 75 percent of our agricultural plants.

Bumblebees are great pollinators, because the bees deliberately collect pollen and they have a lot more hair than honeybees, and they move a lot of pollen from flower to flower.

View the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV segment The Bee Searcher next week on PBS. Check your local listings.

The Wildlife restoration program supports our series.

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

Some things never change.

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This is Passport to Texas

There’s a provocative article in the July issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine I want to tell you about. In it, author Russell Roe essentially explores evolution.

He writes that the mix of plants and animals you see around you is not what people saw 100 years ago, and it won’t be what people will see 100 years from now. He asks us to consider that “99.99 percent of all species that have lived on Earth have gone extinct.”

This thought-provoking article explains how humans are accelerating ecological change by removing established species, introducing new species, and by diverting the flow of water, among other things. He writes that by doing so, humans are rapidly changing the playing field for life in Texas.

In the article The New Natives [changed to New in Town] in the July issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, Russell Roe tells readers it’s difficult to untangle the web of cause-and-effect that led to the mix of species we see today, adding that iconic species that once defined the character of natural regions have been lost not only from the landscape, but also from the collective memory of generations of Texans.

He closes the article by putting the spotlight on three of Texas’ iconic species to illustrate how they have changed and adapted over time.

Find The New Natives in the July issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.

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