Passport to Texas

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

The Federal Sport Fish Restoration program—funded by your purchase of fishing equipment and motor boat fuel—funds a variety of conservation projects in Texas. Last year Texas Parks and Wildlife received $20-million from the program.

That funding went to support sport fisheries management, sport fish stocking in Texas waters, fish habitat conservation, enhancement and restoration efforts, and aquatic education.

Timothy Birdsong coordinates the Sport Fish program for Parks and Wildlife.

Fifteen percent of that program is used to perform improvement to boat ramps and other boating access facilities around the state.

Birdsong says this is a successful conservation model—a user pay user benefit program.

The taxes that you contribute as anglers, and as boaters, to this pot of money, is used to improve the resource for you…to provide additional opportunities…provide additional access to these waters. So, it is vital that we continue to have the support of the anglers and the boating community to be able to maintain the program at the level that it is currently.

See how Parks and Wildlife spends these funds when you visit passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…funded by your purchase of fishing equipment and motor boat fuel.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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CLICK HERE to see how Texas spends the money collected through the Sport Fish Restoration Program.

Sport Fish Restoration Program: Conservation Dollars Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

We regularly mention the Sport Fish Restoration Program as a Passport sponsor, but you may not know what it is.

The Sport Fish Restoration Program is a partnership between anglers, boaters, the fishing and boating industry, Texas Parks and Wildlife, other state fish and game agencies across the country and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Timothy Birdsong coordinates the program for Parks and Wildlife. This federal program collects taxes on fishing equipment and motor boat fuel.

This funding is distributed across the country to states based on a formula that includes land and water area and number of resident licensed anglers in that state. We had over one million recreational anglers fish Texas waters in 2007. You take that number along with our total land and water area and we position Texas to receive the maximum available apportionment under this program, which is five percent of the total amount of money that is available which is about four hundred million nationwide.

In 2008, Texas Parks and Wildlife received approximately twenty million dollars from this fund, and tomorrow we learn how the money was spent.

It went to support sport fisheries management and sport fish stocking in Texas waters.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…funded by your purchase of fishing equipment and motor boat fuel.

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

Intro to the Sport Fish Restoration Program Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

The Pierce Ranch is great. They’re motivated and they’re, they’re looking to do things from a wildlife and habitat standpoint.

Pierce Ranch is the Lone Star Land Steward Award Winner for the gulf prairies and marshes eco-region. David Forrester, a Parks and Wildlife Biologist, says managing for wildlife and habitat is only part of the equation.

Of course they’re looking at these things from an economic standpoint, too. But they always keep in mind, trying to preserve and enhance what they have.

Through careful planning, and work with Parks and Wildlife, Laurence Armour, III—the great-great grandson of the Ranch’s founder cattleman Shanghai Pierce—maintains the health of the habitat, wildlife and even his wallet.

This is a wetland that we flooded up because it was easy to put water in, and it was a nice little duck hole. It’s not hunted—this is sort of a resting pond for ducks. And then we started seeding with crawfish; and this year is our most productive crawfish pond. And we’re pulling up between two and three hundred pounds a day of crawfish out of this one pond here.

Learn how to nominate a landowner for a Land Steward Award at passportototexas.org.

That’s out show…with support from the Wildlife restoration Program… providing funding for the Private Lands and Habitat Enhancement Program… for Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Pierce Ranch: Wildlife and Water Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Pierce Ranch, the Lone Star Land Steward Award winner in the gulf prairies and marshes eco-region, has a long history of stewardship. Laurence Armour, III.

I’m the fifth generation that has run the ranch; it was started by Shanghai Pierce who was a famous cattle driver back in the 1870s and 80s. He is my great-great-grandfather.

Wetlands development through rice farming—something the Pierce family has done for more than 100 years—also provides habitat for a variety of species.

What the rice field does is provide sort of a wetland ecosystem for those animals that need that kind of ecosystem to survive. As a result, we have a great deal of wildlife that we might not otherwise have.

Bill Stansky with the Texas Rice Industry Coalition for the Environment applauds the family’s native prairie restoration efforts.

Well, this part of the Pierce Ranch is part of a few hundred acres that has never been farmed. And there’s very, very little native prairie left on the Texas coast. It’s just almost gone. And so it’s very valuable, and they harvest seed from this. And sell it to restore prairies all along the gulf coast.

Learn more at passporttotexas.org.

That’s out show…with support from the Wildlife restoration Program… providing funding for the Private Lands and Habitat Enhancement Program… for Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Pierce Ranch: History of Stewardship Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

For an inexpensive, entry-level fishing experience the entire family can enjoy, it doesn’t get much easier than winter rainbow trout fishing in Texas.

In fact that’s one of the fish we use at the Expo each year to allow kids to catch their first fish.

Carl Kittle oversees the Texas Parks and Wildlife trout-stocking program. The agency will distribute up to 275-thousand fish to 120 sites—including additional urban locations—between December and March.

We’re excited about having a number of new ponds on line for our neighborhood fishing program. We actually stock slightly larger trout and we stock frequently—every other week—at specific sites that are set up near urban centers to provide opportunities for urban anglers.

If you prefer to get away from the city for your rainbow connection, then state parks provide the perfect escape.

A number of our state park ponds will get stocked with trout. For those ponds and lakes that are located completely within a state park, the license will not be required. The limits will still apply: five fish per day, and there is no size limit on trout.

Anglers fishing in locations other than state parks must have a valid license.

Find the trout-stocking schedule at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… helping to fund fish hatchery management and operations in Texas.

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

Winter Trout Stocking, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download