Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration program

You get to learn a lot about Texas when you watch the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series. Series producer Don Cash.

One of the places we feature is San Felipe Springs in Del Rio , Texas. And people have put their algae eating catfish from their aquariums in the water. And this is an exotic species, and they do have a detrimental affect.

The sucker mouth catfish has really taken over; this population basically went exponential. Literally hundreds of thousands of fish here. More than any other fish in this creek. Maybe more than all the other fish put together.

We always hit a state park in every show. In march, one of the places we go is Purtis Creek State Park, which is near Athens, Texas. And one of the things that they’ve got going now is a canoe tour.

We had an excellent response to canoe tours. You know, you can go to the zoo and you can see snakes and different wildlife. But out here, you’re seeing nature as it really is.

One of the other parks we go to is Ray Roberts Lake State Park, which is north of Denton. And Ray Roberts Lake is a 30-thousand acre lake. And the SP is actually, two major parks and six smaller parks and a greenbelt and an equestrian trail…

I’ve been riding here for about ten years. And the trails are beyond belief in their natural beauty.

So you don’t really just go to one park. It’s like you’ve got four or five or six parks to go to.

That’s our show with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

From virtual sinkholes to setting fires with a purpose: The Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series offers a wide range of fascinating fare in February. Writer Producer Ron Kabele:

Don Cash worked on a really cool story. Devil’s Sinkhole is this sinkhole that’s out in Central Texas. The problem is, it’s relatively dangerous. So a bunch of people got together and they decided what they wanted to do is create this 3-D, virtual tour of the sinkhole—and they did it through this really new age-y thing called Lydar.

So, the objective of what we’re doing is we’re shooting a laser model to recreate this space digitally where we can show people what it’s like to be at the bottom of this hole without having drop down 150 foot on a piece of rope (laughs).

And finally, Prescription to Burn is all about prescribed burns.

Most of the ecosystems did evolve with fire. The plants are adapted to fire. In the absence of fire, the ecosystem gets out of balance.

I heard a biologist here say one time, that one of the worst things that ever happened to forests was the program started by Smokey the Bear.

Thanks, Ron.

That’s our show… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…providing funding for the Private Lands and Habitat Enhancement Program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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To find a PBS station near you that air the Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series, click here.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

One of the segments this month on the Parks and Wildlife Television series is about big bass in Texas…and series producer, Don Cash, is here to tell us about it.

Everything is bigger in Texas, and boy howdy, the bass are bigger, too. One of the best places to go fishing is Lake Fork, which is east of Dallas. And it is well known as the big bass lake in the country.

Reel…reel…every time. Set the hook! Hard! Hard! I’ve got him! Oh my God he’s huge! (laughter) Hang on! (cheers)

A lot of people don’t know that there’s some really nice places in Texas state parks to go bass fishing. Purtis Creek State Park, which is near Athens, they look at themselves as sort of a smaller Lake Fork.

Well, I’ll tell ya—one thing I love about Purtis Creek—you can always be pretty much guaranteed you’re going to catch a fish.

Well, one of the things I’ve found is that bass populations—all the fish populations—are really dependent on management. Texas Parks and Wildlife biologists do a lot of fisheries management.

Our goal is always to at least maintain bass angling as it is or keep improving it.

And that helps keep the bass populations high where they are, and keeps the fishing good for everybody in Texas. People that are out fishing for bass (cheers) are having a good time, and that’s really the main thing.

Watch the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS stations.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…working to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Stations & Air Times for Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

The perfection that’s in the balance nature is miracle evidence of the creative genius of God. He set it up. Whether he used the process of evolution, or whatever process he used, I don’t know and I don’t care.

Geraldine Watson devoted her life to preserving the natural world, and was instrumental in saving a unique east Texas woodlands from development pressures.

Well, frankly, I never dreamed that we’d save any of the Big Thicket.

But they did save the Big Thicket, and Watson, now in her eighties, lead the charge. Meet this fascinating woman this month on the Texas Parks and Wildlife television series. Producer, Ron Kabele.

She spent lots of time in the 1960s and 1970s promoting Big Thicket—it’s diversity and the importance of its ecological preservation.

The loss of each plant, or each animal, takes me personally closer to extinction. Because we’re all part of the chain of life.

And the great thing is, people everywhere know who she is. She’s like a botany Guru.

I never planned to be an botonist. I never planned to be an ecologist. I simply seem to drift into things. (laughs)

We’re glad you drifted our way. Find out when and where this show airs at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Information about the Big Thicket, area State Parks and birds:

Call the Visitor Center at The Big Thicket National Preserve: (409) 839-2689.
Call Village Creek State Park at (409) 755-7322.
Texas Ornithological Bird Society and the Sabine Woods Sanctuary.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Water is among our most precious recourses, and in January, the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series highlights segments on the state of springs. Series Producer, Don Cash.

We’re going to take a look at the springs…how people are affecting them…and how we can protect them. One of the things we’re going to focus on is how people and groups are getting together to help restore springs. And, one of the people that’s working to help restore springs in Texas is J. David Bamberger who claims to have bought the worst ranch in Blanco County.

When we came here thirty-seven years ago, there wasn’t a drop of water on this ranch; we drilled seven water wells, five hundred foot deep—each of them—and we never got a drop of water.

And what he and his wife have been doing for several decades is clearing cedar, managing the land, and amazingly enough, a land that was really dry now has a lot of water on it. Also, in the month of January, we’re going to go north to the Panhandle where private water marketers—like Mesa water—are using the rule of capture to sell water to cities.

Mesa water has a great deal of surplus water in the Panhandle that they have gained access to, and want to make that water available to help solve Texas’ immediate and long-term water needs…

Learn more about this complex issue, watch the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS stations.

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

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