Passport to Texas

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

Most of us only know mussels—bivalve mollusks—from the grocery store seafood counter. What you may not know is Texas hosts more than fifty species of native freshwater mussels.

They can vary in shapes and sizes. Some of them are very small to, say, an inch or two. And some of them can be very large—nine or ten inches. And they can live anywhere from ten years to a hundred years, depending on the species.

Marsha May oversees the Texas Mussel Watch Program, a citizen science project that enlists people to monitor freshwater mussels, one of the most imperiled groups of organisms in the US.

They are very sensitive to changes in their environment, and many species of freshwater mussels can’t handle that change. We’re finding shells in those situations where the animals have died off.

Mussel Watch participants play a vital role in helping researchers understand these organisms. If you want to become a citizen scientist, you must attend a workshop.

We have a few workshops scheduled for the spring. One will be in Tyler, we’ll have another one in San Antonio, and we’ll have another one in Bastrop. And if folks are interested, they can go to our website to find out when these workshops occur.

Find links to Mussel Watch Workshops at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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April 12, 2008 — Old Sabine Bottom WMA — Texas Mussel Watch Train the Trainer Workshop — This workshop is sponsored by the East Texas Master Naturalist Chapter. SBEC and TEEAC credit available for teachers. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; fee $10, includes materials; preregistration required. To register and for more information, contact Irene Hamel at Irene.hamel@tpwd.state.tx.us or (903) 566-9394. (903) 566-1626.

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

It may interest you to learn that…

Freshwater musselsare the most imperiled group of organism in North America.

Marsha May oversees the Texas Mussel Watch Program for Texas Parks and Wildlife.

We have fifty-two, fifty-three species of freshwater mussels in Texas, and they live in our freshwater streams and lakes and ponds, and even in stock ponds and tanks. And they have
been in Texas for thousands and thousands of years. And they’re just amazing creatures. They clean the systems. They’re nature’s bio-filters, and a very important part of the ecosystem.

Texas Mussels Watch is an ongoing citizen science project that needs your help.

We want to get citizens involved in monitoring their populations throughout the state, because there’s been very little monitoring being done. And, they are a very important organism. To get involved a citizen would have to have to go through training, because you have to have a permit in order to even handle a shell of a freshwater mussel. So, we supply workshops where we train individuals on how to monitor them and how to be very careful with them. And, we really just want to know where they are, and how many there are out there.

Find links to Mussel Watch Workshops at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…we receive support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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April 12, 2008 — Old Sabine Bottom WMA — Texas Mussel Watch Train the Trainer Workshop — This workshop is sponsored by the East Texas Master Naturalist Chapter. SBEC and TEEAC credit available for teachers. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; fee $10, includes materials; preregistration required. To register and for more information, contact Irene Hamel at Irene.hamel@tpwd.state.tx.us or (903) 566-9394. (903) 566-1626.

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

Amphibians are good indicator species because they live on land and in water during their lifecycle.

Amphibians, because of their very lifestyle, you can imagine are sensitive to a lot of changes in our environment. They’re kind of canaries in the coal mine.

Lee Ann Linam coordinates the Texas Amphibian Watch program. Because of their land/water lifestyle and semi permeable skin, amphibians experience the best and worst of both worlds.

They’re affected by habitat loss, by broader changes in the world around them. Things like climate change that may shift rainfall patterns. Or, they’re sensitive to UV radiation, so those kinds of changes can affect them. They’re sensitive to environmental contaminants that can be absorbed through their skin. So, you can see that they’re kind of a good picture of the overall ecosystem health.

If that’s the case, humans better pay attention.

A recent assessment by an international group of scientists showed that somewhere between one-third and one-half of all the six thousand amphibian species in the world are in trouble. One hundred and twenty-two of them are already extinct as far as we know. And so this is a rate of extinction that perhaps is unprecedented in this period of time.

Help monitor the health of amphibians. Find out how at passporttotexas.org.

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

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

The Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series airs a segment this month about a splash course in Marine Science. Producer, Don Cash.

The Down Under, Out Yonder Program is sponsored by the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, and what it does, it takes teachers, educators out on a five-day workshop, and it’s on a boat, and what they’re trying to do is teach the teachers about marine sciences, and they in turn will take that back to their classrooms.

I want to be able to go back in and relate this to my students in my class next year.

One of the schools in Houston that we feature has actually started a scuba diving class in the school—and the students are becoming certified scuba divers.

It’s fun. It’s hand’s on. They’ll walk away from here, and not matter where they go in the world, they’re a certified scuba diver. And they learned that at F.M. Black Middle School.

The marine science to a science education class is a natural connection, but one of the different connections was, an art teacher who went and took a lot of the photographs and stuff back to his classroom and had his students drawing what he had seen down in the ocean. So, it’s a really interesting program. A great way to teach teachers is to get them out there in the environment, and they can take that hands-on experience and bring it back to their classrooms.

Thanks Don.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…working to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Here’s a link to cut and paste into your browser that will take you to the Down Under, Out Yonder program Don talked about,
http://www.gulfmex.org/duoy.htm

CLICK HERE to find the PBS station near you that broadcast the TP&W Television series.

T&PW TV Feature: Down Under, Out Yonder Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

The Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series airs a segment this month about a splash course in Marine Science. Producer, Don Cash.

The Down Under, Out Yonder Program is sponsored by the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, and what it does, it takes teachers, educators out on a five-day workshop, and it’s on a boat, and what they’re trying to do is teach the teachers about marine sciences, and they in turn will take that back to their classrooms.

I want to be able to go back in and relate this to my students in my class next year.

One of the schools in Houston that we feature has actually started a scuba diving class in the school—and the students are becoming certified scuba divers.

It’s fun. It’s hand’s on. They’ll walk away from here, and not matter where they go in the world, they’re a certified scuba diver. And they learned that at F.M. Black Middle School.

The marine science to a science education class is a natural connection, but one of the different connections was, an art teacher who went and took a lot of the photographs and stuff back to his classroom and had his students drawing what he had seen down in the ocean. So, it’s a really interesting program. A great way to teach teachers is to get them out there in the environment, and they can take that hands-on experience and bring it back to their classrooms.

Thanks Don.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…working to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
____________________________________________________

Here’s a link to cut and paste into your browser that will take you to the Down Under, Out Yonder program Don talked about,
http://www.gulfmex.org/duoy.htm

CLICK HERE to find the PBS station near you that broadcast the TP&W Television series.

T&PW TV Feature: Down Under, Out Yonder Play Now | Play in Popup | Download