Passport to Texas

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

Texas Parks and Wildlife recognizes and honors private landowners for habitat management and wildlife conservation with the Lone Star Land Steward Awards Program.

A land steward is just somebody who just manages and takes care of their land. These folks are very committed to conservation, and maintaining healthy lands under their management.

Linda Campbell is program director for private lands and public hunting.

Each year we open the nominations in June, and anybody can nominate a landowner for recognition in Lone Star Land Steward. So we receive nominations through November. Our biologists in each of the eco-regions visit each of the nominees, and then make a recommendation to those that should be awarded the Lone Star Land Steward award for that eco-region.

Biologists visit nominated landowners who have managed their property for a minimum of 5 years, to evaluate their practices.

They talk with the landowner or the manager. They try to evaluate what types of management actions that they are undertaking. They look at their motivations and really what makes them special in terms of taking care of the resources under their control.

Passporttotexas.org has links to nomination forms.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program.

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

National Fishing and Boating Week is June 2 through 10– and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Texas is diving into the celebration.

Well, right here at the beginning of the summer, we want to celebrate the fact that Texas has a multitude of opportunities for people to get out on the water to enjoy fishing and enjoy boasting and enjoy family time.

Ann Miller is aquatic education coordinator for Parks and Wildlife.

All over the state, we’ve got some wonderful family oriented events that are happening. And these events include fishing clinics and fishing derbies, and they cover the entire state from Lake Arrowhead State Park and Eisenhower State Park, up near the Oklahoma border to Galveston Island State Park and Huntsville State Park. And even in San Antonio and the Austin area – we’ve got lots of state parks who are holding these events.

When it comes to enjoying the outdoors, most people like to add water to the mix.

Every person enjoys water in a different way. But I think there’s just something innate in humans that water is just one of those ingredients that create fun.

Find links to boating and fishing opportunities at passportotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… encouraging Texans to participate in Free Sport Fishing Day —Saturday, June 2nd. 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

National fishing day is Saturday June 2nd, and activities for kids and families are planned statewide.

From 9 to noon, Bastrop State Park, in the Prairies and Lakes Region, encourages kids from 6 – 13 to attend a Junior Angler Fishing Clinic, where they’ll learn the basics of freshwater angling, and win prizes.

At the Caprock Canyon State Park and Trailway, located in the Panhandle Plains Region, the whole family can fish for largemouth bass, channel catfish, crappie and sunfish in tranquil Lake Theo from 8 to 5.

Have competitive kiddos? Enter them in the All American Fishing derby sponsored by Wal-Mart, which takes place from 10 to 2 at Cedar Hills State Park just southwest of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the day.

If you live along the gulf coast, do not pass up your chance to tour the state-of-the-art Conservation Association/Central Power and Light Marine Development Center State Fish Hatchery, from 8 to noon. Participate in catch and release fishing in two stocked hatchery ponds…but bring your own pole and bait since.

Fishing builds bonds between families and creates lifelong memories…it’s fun you can take to the bank.

That’s our show for today…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration program… encouraging Texans to participate in National Fishing Day —June 2nd.

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

In the mid-1970s, non-native Smallmouth Bass were introduced into the Guadalupe River as an additional sport fish, and an alternative to our native Guadalupe Bass. Then something unintended happened.

Even though they look very different, the problem is, they can’t tell each other apart. Evidentially, they act similar enough, behaviorally, that they’ll reproduce, and they have hybrids.

Dr. Gary Garrett is a biologist at Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center in Kerrville. The hybrid offspring of these two species started to outnumber pure Guadalupe bass. For the past thirteen years — and with support from the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, http://www.ugra.org/, and the Hill Country Fly Fishers, http://www.hillcountryflyfishers.com/, researchers at Heart of the Hills have worked to reverse this trend.

We’re raising thousands of pure Guadalupe Bass here at the research station. And every year we stock them back into nature. Basically what we’re doing is replacing the hybrids that are out there with the pure Guadalupe Bass. And we’ll let nature takes its course from there. Here in Johnson Creek, where we began the study, about thirty percent of the fish were hybrids. And that wasn’t stable. It was still increasing when we started. It’s now down to around three percent, which is excellent. Now we want to go from three to zero.

Dr. Garrett says fish will be released in May and June.

That’s our show…we had help from Tom Harvey… our series receives support from the Sport Fish Restoration program, which funds research at the Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center…

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

Biologists at the Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center in Kerrville for the past thirteen years have worked to reestablish the Guadalupe Bass, which had experienced a significant population decline.

It has two different problems it’s facing throughout its range. One is just habitat loss – which a lot of animals face. Here, and in most of the places it occurs, that’s not nearly as much of a problem as hybridization with the smallmouth bass.

Dr. Gary Garrett is a fisheries biologist at Heart of the Hills. The Guadalupe bass occurs only in the Texas Hill Country, in the headwaters of the streams that drain the Edwards Plateau. Smallmouth bass, introduced to these waters in the mid-1970s to provide additional sport fish for anglers, hybridized with the native species.

So, they’re not as well adapted for their environment. They may do well in the short run, but in the long haul they’re really not going to be as good a species.

Efforts to restore the Guadalupe bass population began with a study of Johnson Creek.

Here in Johnson Creek where we began the study, we started with about thirty percent of the fish were hybrids –and that wasn’t stable – it was still increasing when we started.

The prognosis for the state fish of Texas is excellent. And we’ll tell you about it tomorrow.

That’s our show for today…supported by the Sport Fish Restoration program, which funds research at the Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center…

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Guadalupe Bass Restoration, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download