Passport to Texas

The stars at night….

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Few of us have ever experienced a truly dark sky.

A dark sky is what humanity saw for basically its entire history up until the invention of electric light a little more than a century ago.

While we may feel safer outdoors at night because artificial light illuminates our way, over time, it may actually do more harm than good, says John Barentine, with the International Dark Sky Assn.

We know that artificial light at night has a measurable impact on wildlife; we know that it has an impact on human health. Light governs the night and day cycles of all organisms, so when we put light into the environment when our bodies aren’t expecting it, there are inevitable results—some of which we are just beginning to learn – but turns out that it may be related (at least in humans) to incidents of some types of chronic disease.

Until the advent and widespread use of electric lighting, the sun, and to a lesser extent the moon, governed the cycle of day and night.

That set a rhythm among living things we’ve been disrupting ever since. And we’ll have more about that tomorrow.

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

Camping with the Family

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Fall camping season is here. And Texas Outdoor Family coordinator, Robert Owen, says following a few simple suggestions will enhance your camping experience.

Plan ahead for your activities. Make sure you have a good pair of comfortable shoes to go along with your weekend; while you’re spending time on the trail you’ll want to keep your feet comfortable. Bring some water and sunscreen along regardless of the season. I like to bring along a GPS unit when I camp because I do enjoy Geocaching as a sport. Bring along that fishing equipment – the fish always tend to bite better in the cooler months. And also [bring some] binoculars – the winter months provide great opportunities for bird watching at Texas State Parks, and wildlife watching as well. Would you say that going to texasstateparks.org is a good place for people to begin their camping trip? Absolutely. It’s broken down into a map view, so you can find a park that’s nearby home or if you’re looking for a reason to get out and explore someplace new. It will tell you all about what the park has to offer; you can check out the park map there, and get a feel for what each campsite may offer. And, there may be a schedule of interpretive activities as well.

Thanks, Robert.

Go to texasstateparks.org to plan your next campout.

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.

Tossing a “ghost” through a ring is just one of the kid-friendly activities offered in the fright-free area at Halloween at the Hatchery.

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Get into the spirit of Halloween at a Texas state park.

Plan an overnight stay at a nearby park with family and friends. When night falls, build a campfire, huddle ‘round, and share scary stories while the fire pops and crackles.

Campfire s’more take on a whole new look at Halloween with ghost shaped marshmallow peeps! Toast your ghost over the flames and then squish it between graham crackers and chocolate. Now who’s scary?

Invite wildlife to your party; it’s easy when you use animal call apps on your smart phone. A raptor that’s usually spying on you anyway, is the screech owl. If you play its call and wait, chances are it will join you.

You don’t have to set up camp to enjoy Halloween in parks. Just come for a few hours. Some parks will have activities including Edible Creepy Crawlies, to Bat Themed crafts, to Trick-or-Treating in the park, to Zombie Apocalypse Hikes and more.

At Cleburne State Park, visitors 13 and older who wish to partake in trick or treating, the guided night hike, or the night sounds presentation, will have their entrance fee waived when they bring a can of food for the food bank.

Find parks, dates, and complete details on Halloween hijinks in State Parks at texasstateparks.org.

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.

Paddling on Caddo Lake.

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When mist cloaks Caddo Lake it’s easy to understand how the lore and legend about this east Texas water body came to pass.

Native American legend says a giant flood created Caddo Lake. Others say an earthquake was responsible.

Meanwhile, scientists believe the lake formed when floodwaters, blocked by massive log jams on the Red River, backed up into the Cypress Bayou watershed, forming the lake.

One thing that is true: Caddo Lake’s beauty. And visitors to Caddo Lake State Park/WMA not only experience nature at her most beguiling, they also have a plethora of recreational opportunities — from hiking to hunting – to choose from.

With an annual public hunting permit, hunters may harvest deer, eastern wild turkey, and quail during appropriate seasons. Licensed anglers find largemouth bass, catfish and brim plentiful in the lake.

Find more on Caddo Lake SP/WMA at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show, made possible by the Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration program providing funding for the operations and management of more than 50 wildlife management areas.

For Texas parks and wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

It’s Your World — let’s make it beautiful.

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A project in El Paso, has HS students and the local art community turning roadside trash to treasure.

It’s called It’s Your World, and it’s a really, really cool project.

Nicole Roque, an AmeriCorps volunteer with Texas Parks and Wildlife, based in El Paso, heard about El Dorado HS art teacher, Candace Printz who, with her students, created the project to improve their community.

She started It’s Your World, and what they do is they go into the community and they do cleanups. They adopted a portion of highway and they went out a few months and cleaned it completely. And they kept statistic on what they found, and then they took all this trash back to their school, they cleaned it up, they separated it, and then used it as art supplies.

It’s Your World compliments AmeriCorps’ mission of improving the human condition. Nicole partnered with the project to develop art workshops.

And they’ve created some of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. They recently had an art exhibition; I went to go see it, and it floors you to look at some of these really amazing things [made from trash]. And one of my favorite things that Candace told me is they opened their portable where they had all the supplies, and local artists were coming in to collect supplies for their art, and people were fighting over the trash.

One man’s trash…. Learn more about It’s Your World…we have a link to their website at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Some of the students working on art projects made from trash collected along a two-mile stretch of road in El Paso.

It’s Your World workshop.