Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

June Hershey, who in 1941 penned the lyrics of the well-loved song, Deep in the Heart of Texas, must have been inspired by a nighttime visit to the Trans Pecos region for her first verse.

The stars at night are big and bright (Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!) Deep in the heart of Texas….

Once you experience the deep, velvety blackness of the West Texas night sky, studded with a profusion of luminous stars, you’ll come away thinking….

The stars are unbelievable.

David Bischofhausen manages Davis Mountains State Park. He says that in West Texas, dark skies are the law.

There is a dark sky policy in town. You have to have restrictions on lights and such.

Poorly directed outdoor lighting interferes with our ability to see stars clearly. And dark skies are crucial to the park’s neighbor – the McDonald Observatory.

From the park headquarters you can see McDonald Observatory. It’s about thirteen miles away. They built the observatory here because some of the darkest skies in North America are right here. And I’ve seen a picture McDonald observatory did on a slide show of the United States at night. You can definitely tell where Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth are…and then you look over here, and there’s this big black spot where Big Bend and Davis Mountains are. And it’s just unbelievable.

Learn more about Davis Mountain State Park.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Spring is that ephemeral expanse of time between our unpredictable winters and our all-too- predictable summers.

The unrelenting heat and humidity of summer turns many Texans into prisoners of indoor air conditioning. Yet, imagine if you can, a place in our great state where in July people wear sweaters and light jackets to protect themselves against the chill of the night air. Is this just some beautiful dream? No, my friends, it’s the Davis Mountains of West Texas.

One thing nice about the Davis Mountains is you can’t beat the weather.

David Bischofhausen manages the Davis Mountains State Park Complex.

I see people on the fourth of July in the park having to wear sweatshirts because it gets so cool at night. It’s generally dry and usually – you know – ten to fifteen degrees cooler up in the mountains than it is down in the flats. The lodge is right about 5-thousand feet in elevation. Park headquarters is about 49-hundred — so we go up from there.

We’re in the foothills of the Davis Mountains. So, we’re definitely in a sky island with lots of vegetation and lots of wildlife. Just a beautiful place. And, some people don’t think there are mountains in Texas…you come out here and it’s just unbelievable. I mean it’s just gorgeous.

So when you can’t stand the heat…head to the mountains.

Learn more about Davis Mountain State Park.

That’s our show for today…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 and Wildlife Restoration Program

It’s time to enjoy our state parks; and Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series producer, Don Cash, says the show delivers an eyeful of parks all month long.

And a couple of them come to mind. Martin Dies, Junior SP in Jasper, which suffered quite a bit of hurricane damage from hurricane Rita, and was closed for awhile, has reopened part of their camping area, and they are again doing the float trip down the Angelina River.

The Angelina River down here is really…it’s very clean. The water’s pretty clear. It’s really nice. Makes the trip real enjoyable.

One of the other parks is Goose Island SP, which is on the coast across the Copano Bay across from Rockport and Fulton. Fishing is the big thing at Goose Island.

Ever since I been a little kid been coming out here. It’s relaxing. One of these days we might get lucky and catch a fish.

You can fish out of a boat. You can wade fish. You can take your kayak into the shallows. And they’ve got a sixteen hundred foot fishing pier at Goose Island SP that people are fishing on all day and all night.

Check local listings to see when the show airs in your town.

That’s our show…supported by the Sport Fish and Wildlife restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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