Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

July sizzles, but you won’t when you visit state parks with lakes. This month the TW&W TV Series highlights wet and wild summer recreation. Series producer, Don Cash.

Getting in the water is just a great thing to do. So, we’re going to head off to Lake Livingston State Park and follow a family that’s been coming for years, and one of the things they like to do is spend time around the water fishing.

Just let it go, or you can like hold it, and throw it and let it go at the same time. (reel) Nice cast! Oh, man! My hook came off. (laughter)

Another park we’ll go to is Lake Somerville State Park. It’s got a pretty good sized lake there good for boating, fishing, water skiing; but one of the really relaxing ways to enjoy the park and the water is with a canoe trip.

(canoe paddle in water) The best float trips that we have are going to be really small groups. We see lots more wildlife.

And, finally, we end up at one of my favorite state parks, Inks Lake State Park. One of the main draws there is the swimming hole.

(yell and splash) One of the unique areas of this park is Devil’s Waterhole. I think a lot of people like to jump off those cliffs, but that’s what makes it fun. (splash)

So, if it’s a little too hot out there for you, we’ll give you some pointers on places to go and enjoy the water in Texas State Parks.

Go to passporttotexas.org and find a link to PBS stations that air the series.

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

CLICK HERE for a list of PBS stations that air the series.

TP&W TV--State Park Water Recreation Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

July sizzles, but you won’t when you visit state parks with lakes. This month the TW&W TV Series highlights wet and wild summer recreation. Series producer, Don Cash.

Getting in the water is just a great thing to do. So, we’re going to head off to Lake Livingston State Park and follow a family that’s been coming for years, and one of the things they like to do is spend time around the water fishing.

Just let it go, or you can like hold it, and throw it and let it go at the same time. (reel) Nice cast! Oh, man! My hook came off. (laughter)

Another park we’ll go to is Lake Somerville State Park. It’s got a pretty good sized lake there good for boating, fishing, water skiing; but one of the really relaxing ways to enjoy the park and the water is with a canoe trip.

(canoe paddle in water) The best float trips that we have are going to be really small groups. We see lots more wildlife.

And, finally, we end up at one of my favorite state parks, Inks Lake State Park. One of the main draws there is the swimming hole.

(yell and splash) One of the unique areas of this park is Devil’s Waterhole. I think a lot of people like to jump off those cliffs, but that’s what makes it fun. (splash)

So, if it’s a little too hot out there for you, we’ll give you some pointers on places to go and enjoy the water in Texas State Parks.

Go to passporttotexas.org and find a link to PBS stations that air the series.

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

CLICK HERE for a list of PBS stations that air the series.

TP&W TV--State Park Water Recreation Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Not all wildlife is in the wilderness, and this month Texas Parks and Wildlife television series viewers meet urban biologists. Writer / producer, Alan Fisher gives us the scoop.

You know, when you think about Texas wildlife, you probably don’t really think about the urban—the big cities: Dallas, Houston, El Paso. But, in fact, there are half a dozen biologists who are assigned to these areas in the state. And, it’s very different depending on what city you’re talking about.

In Houston, I met a biologist who was responsible for helping the city develop an urban bat colony as a tourist attraction. There is a large number of bats that live under a downtown bridge, and people are now getting to go watch them fly out in the evenings and learn more about bats.

There are 250-thousand to 300-thousand bats that are under the bridge; we think some do migrate, but there are some that stay.

In El Paso, I was out with a biologist there, who got a call about a mountain lion sighting and had to go investigate.

(door slams shut, truck engine starts) We definitely have mountain lions. So, that’s why I go to investigate.

If you live in an urban area of Texas, while we encourage you to get outside the city limits, you don’t necessarily have to, to see wildlife. It’s true. There are a lot of viewing opportunities right in your own backyard.

The Texas parks and Wildlife TV series airs on PBS stations statewide. Check your local listings.

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

TP&W TV--Urban Biologists Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Not all wildlife is in the wilderness, and this month Texas Parks and Wildlife television series viewers meet urban biologists. Writer / producer, Alan Fisher gives us the scoop.

You know, when you think about Texas wildlife, you probably don’t really think about the urban—the big cities: Dallas, Houston, El Paso. But, in fact, there are half a dozen biologists who are assigned to these areas in the state. And, it’s very different depending on what city you’re talking about.

In Houston, I met a biologist who was responsible for helping the city develop an urban bat colony as a tourist attraction. There is a large number of bats that live under a downtown bridge, and people are now getting to go watch them fly out in the evenings and learn more about bats.

There are 250-thousand to 300-thousand bats that are under the bridge; we think some do migrate, but there are some that stay.

In El Paso, I was out with a biologist there, who got a call about a mountain lion sighting and had to go investigate.

(door slams shut, truck engine starts) We definitely have mountain lions. So, that’s why I go to investigate.

If you live in an urban area of Texas, while we encourage you to get outside the city limits, you don’t necessarily have to, to see wildlife. It’s true. There are a lot of viewing opportunities right in your own backyard.

The Texas parks and Wildlife TV series airs on PBS stations statewide. Check your local listings.

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

TP&W TV--Urban Biologists Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The mystery of the tarpon is a story you’ll see this month on the Texas Parks and Wildlife television series– writer/producer Ron Kabele.

The funny thing about a lot of young anglers is, there’s so few tarpon left in the gulf of Mexico that a lot of them don’t even know what a tarpon looks like. But, it’s a big silver fish; when I say big, I mean ninety to two hundred and fifty pounds.

The producer who did the story went out a number of times—they never saw a tarpon. They’re really hard to catch now because there aren’t that many left. One of the biologists said, in the course of the story, that they didn’t want to happen to the tarpon to what happened to say the Attwater’s prairie chicken, where the population gets just so low that bringing the species back would be virtually impossible. And that’s what they’re trying to circumvent with this research.

The series airs on PBS stations statewide.

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

TP&W TV May Feature: Mystery of the Tarpon Play Now | Play in Popup | Download