Passport to Texas

Bison at Caprock Canyons State Park

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This is Passport to Texas

For the past 30 years, PBS viewers have experienced the Texas outdoors through Texas Parks and Wildlife’s television series. To celebrate, show producers, including Karen Loke who’s been with the series 24 years, share their favorite stories from the past.

And my favorite story is called Rescuing History. It’s about the capture and relocation of the last of the Southern Plains bison herd.

[Narrator Jim Swift] Doug is helping capture and relocate the last few descendants of the Southern Plains Bison. A pure, genetic strain of buffalo found nowhere else in the world.

[Doug Humphreys] But what makes this one different is that another buffalo has never been brought into this herd. There’s been no outside gene source introduced into this particular bison herd. So we’ve got a distinct genetic strain of buffalo that doesn’t exist anywhere else.

Producer Karen Loke said this touched her due to something rather unexpected that happened during filming. You can see for yourself when you tune into the Texas Parks and Wildlife television series on PBS the week of July 17.

[Roy Welch] To those of us involved in this project, it’s turned into be something quite more than just a simple matter of capturing a bison herd and relocating them over here to Caprock Canyons, in essence, we’re literally capturing a living piece of Texas history.

The award-winning Texas Parks and Wildlife Television series celebrates 30 years on PBS all season long. Check your local listings.

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

Fun in the water at state parks.

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This is Passport to Texas

Don’t hunker down indoors with the air conditioning running this summer. Get outside to a state park and cool off. Many parks offer a refreshing alternative to air-conditioned cabin fever with a number of swimming opportunities…

Public swimming pools can be fun, but if you prefer a more natural setting, float your cares away at Blanco State Park, 40 miles north of San Antonio. Although it got hit hard by floods in 2015, the water’s fine. Here you’ll find cool, clear, spring-fed swimming for anyone seeking refuge from the long Texas summer.

Just 10 miles north of Beaumont is Village Creek State Park, and a free-flowing stream, popular with tubers and paddlers. [Due to recent flooding, swimming is not allowed]

About one hour from Fort Worth, Dinosaur Valley State Park allows visitors to swim in the same Paluxy River where dinosaurs roamed 113-million years ago.

Garner State Park near Uvalde is home to 10 acres of Frio riverfront, giving visitors plenty of space to swim the clear water, scoot the rapids in inner tubes, or even rent pedal boats.

Find listings of river and creek swimming sites at state parks when you log onto texassrtateparks.org. You’ll also find a list of sites with lake swimming, and even some with ocean swimming. When taking a dip in natural setting, always use caution. Find safety tips on the Parks and Wildlife website. And don’t forget your sunscreen!

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.

Prairie Dog at Lake Arrowhead State Park, copyright Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.

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This is Passport to Texas

There’s no telling the diversity of wildlife that will cross your path—from birds to bison—when you spend time outdoors.

If you missed the May issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine, you can find it online at tpwmagazine.com. In that issue, writer Dale Blasingame put together a list of state parks that offer some of the best wildlife viewing in Texas. We mention some of them here.

If you want to set eyes on one big mammal—the bison—you can do that at Caprock Canyons State park, where the official herd of Texas roams freely. These majestic animals will leave you in awe.

Brazos Bend and Sea Rim State Parks are known for their alligators—which have a prehistoric look about them. The park also boasts a wide array of beautiful bird species.

Speaking of birds, Choke Canyon State park in South Texas has been recognized by the American Birding Association for the diversity of species one can see there.

If you prefer to keep your eyes to the ground, Lake Arrowhead will charm you with its prairie dog town. But you have to be patient, as those little guys are shy—but it’s worth the wait when you see them pop up from their burrows.

Find the complete list of the nine best state parks for wildlife viewing at tpwmagazine.com. 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.

Albert & Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area

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The Texas Legislature approved $90 million dollars for state parks during its 2015 session; critical park repairs are just beginning of how the money will be spent.

One of the things people will see in the coming years is the development of several new parks.

Kevin Good is special assistant to the director of state parks.

First in line of those is Palo Pinto Mountains State Park, located halfway between Fort Worth and Abilene, right off of I-20. We’re doing the planning and design right now, and we’ll be approaching the legislature about funding for construction of that site in the next session.

Good says if all goes as planned, Palo Pinto State Park will begin receiving visitors in as few as five years from now.

After that, there are other park sites. The [Albert and] Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area near San Antonio will be another site that will come online largely due to this increased funding.

Another park under development is Powderhorn Ranch, near Matagorda Bay along the Gulf Coast. Part of its more than 17-thousand acres will eventually become a state park while the rest will serve as a wildlife management area.

Find details on park improvements on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Sandcastle on beach at Galveston Island State Park.

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This is Passport to Texas

In 2015 the Texas Legislature approved $90 million dollars for critical park repairs and other capital projects.

11— The legislature passed HB 158 that provided sustained funding, fully dedicating the Sporting Goods sales taxes to the state park system and local park grants.

Kevin Good is special assistant to the director of state parks. In the short-term, he says most of the new funding will pay for repairs and improvements that aren’t “sexy”.

11— A good deal of the increased funding will be used to address infrastructure needs. The water and wastewater systems are things that you don’t see as a visitor, but you will know if they are not functioning.

Yet, not all updates and projects deal with park plumbing.

29—Currently we’re doing planning on redevelopment of Galveston Island State Park, which obviously was impacted heavily by Hurricane Ike several years ago. On the other side of the state we are currently planning to build a visitor center at Franklin Mountains. Huntsville, north of Houston, we’re doing some repairs to the facilities that were built by the CCC [Civilian Conservation Corps] in the 1930s there. So, we’ll be working on the dam, the boathouse and lodge.

Most parks will benefit from the new funding over time. Log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website for additional information.

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