Passport to Texas

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When Ryan Spencer worked for Texas parks and Wildlife, he connected people with nature via the Texas Outdoor Family Program.

05— I work out of a trailer and we go all over the state. It’s a unique office, but I really love it.

Ryan currently manages the Children in Nature Collaborative of Austin. But when he was with Texas Parks and Wildlife, he would…

04— …go from park to park and show people how to go camping for the first time.

Studies show that when children spend time outside with their families they are healthier, happier and smarter. In addition, the family bond grows stronger.

08— They have better family cohesion. So that means, that children who spend more time with their parents outside, become nicer teenagers when they grow up.

And it all starts with engaging the outdoors as a family.

12— We teach about “Leave No Trace” and how to protect the environment while you’re out there enjoying it. We want to give them some skills that they can repeat on their own when they come back from the state park. So, things like cooking on a camp stove; setting up a tent.

To find a Texas Outdoor Family Workshop, visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

And tune into the Texas parks and Wildlife PBS TV series this week to see Ryan Spencer in action teaching families about the outdoors. Check your local listings.

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

Trophy buck taken by Tom Roughton with guide Rene Garza, January 17, 2006.

TPW TV: Buck Fever Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

While hiking, you spy a buck in the distance with large, perfectly formed antlers. Your heart races; your breath becomes shallow; your nerves tingle. Hunters call this buck fever. What do perfect antlers look like?

06— Nice smooth lines, tall tines coming off the main beams; very symmetrical one side to the other.

John Stein should know; he’s curator at the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum in San Antonio, where antler and taxidermy covered walls draw visitors by the thousands.

05— Overall, in the collection, there’s over 12-hundred trophies that are on the walls –of all difference species.

Some hunters pay landowners handsomely to bag trophy animals—money that’s funneled into land management and conservation. For 25 years, deer experts at the Kerr WMA have studied the genetic and nutritional aspects of antler growth in bucks, and have shared the data with landowners; biologist, Gene Fuchs.

15— The information that we’ve gained from this study shows that through selection – by never allowing a buck that was a spike to ever breed a doe – we produced no spike antler yearling bucks two years in a row. And, the percentage of good quality antler yearling bucks has steadily increased.

Learn more this week when a segment called Buck Fever airs on the TPW PBS TV Series. Check your local listings.

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When you’re on the water this summer, or any time, and a Texas Game Warden approaches your boat – relax. They’re just looking out for your safety. [03 ambience]

07— How’re y’all doin’ today? Fine. How’re y’all doin? Pretty good. We’re doing a water safety check; if I could see one life jacket for each person on board, please. You betcha.

[03 ambience] Cynthia Guajardo is an East Texas Game Warden who lives in the community she serves. Keeping her neighbors safe on the water is part of her job.

08— Do you have your fire extinguisher? Yes ma’am. Have a seat for me. Here it is. Will you have a seat for me? I don’t want you fallin’.

In addition, Officer Guajardo works with philanthropic organizations in her community to raise money to take children from Cherokee County to an outdoor camp in Central Texas.

07— I enjoy it. There’s nothing like seeing a kid do something that they’ve never done before and seeing the look on their face is priceless; it’s worth all the months of preparation.

As a game warden she straddles the line between law officer and educator. And you can see more of her story on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series the week of June 1.

13— Being a game warden is a large part of who I am. Where else can you have the freedom that we have in law enforcement, which I love, and deal with the outdoors and have the freedom to educate kids. I mean, it’s a bunch of different jobs rolled into one. You can’t beat it.

Our show receives funding from Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

TPW TV: Flocking with Friends Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We’re deep in the heart of the 18th Annual Great Texas Birding Classic, which began April 15 and continues through May 15. It’s the world’s biggest and longest bird watching tournament.

Martha McLeod’s fifth grade science class – called the Awesome Ospreys – participated in last year’s event. They set their sights on seeing 100 species during the sunrise to noon tournament.

30— I’m hoping these kids can get to 100. They’re the last team to compete [Where’d he go?]; being at the tail end of migration, it’s going to be tough [It just flew over there.] Right now, they’re neck-and-neck with my fourth grade team. [Yeah, the eastern kingbird up there. There’s an Oriole! Oh, I see a spoonbill, guys. Whoa, what is that? A white ibis. The red-winged blackbird.] We’re not just doing textbook knowledge; we’re doing real world learning. And, if you put excitement in it, and you show the relevance to their own life — you’ve got them hook, line and sinker.