Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Some non-game animal species are rare, and require monitoring—which Parks and Wildlife accomplishes via the Texas Nature Trackers program.

08—Texas Nature Trackers is a citizen science monitoring program getting Texans involved in monitoring rare species throughout the state.

Biologist, Marsha May, oversees the program. She says for some species, volunteers just download forms and information from the Texas Parks and Wildlife website and get started.

22—But the others….we hold workshops. And so, with amphibian watch, we’ll hold a workshop and teach citizens how to identify frogs and toads by their calls. It’s a lot of fun. And then we also hold workshops for mussel watch, to get out there and learn about all the various mussel species that we have throughout the state, and how to monitor them and identify them.

Without the data collected by Nature Trackers volunteers, parks and Wildlife would know only a fraction of what it does about some of these creatures.

17—These are species that aren’t normally monitored by our biologists throughout the state. So, we don’t have a lot of information on these species. And so, citizens can help us so we’ll know whether or not their populations are decreasing or declining, or what’s going on with them.

Find information on Nature Trackers, and upcoming workshops on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series and helps to fund the operations and management of more than 50 wildlife management areas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

Texas Parks and Wildlife is lucky to have a large group of active, enthusiastic volunteers.

15—Our volunteers tell us that they volunteer because they support Texas Parks and Wildlife’s mission, which is to manage and conserve our natural and cultural resources. There are lots of things to do all over the state, because we are a state agency…and being outdoors is fun!

Former Education and Outreach director for Texas Parks and Wildlife, Ernie Gammage says if you ever thought about volunteering for the agency, now is the time.

10—Volunteers have always been an integral part of the programming of Texas parks and Wildlife. And, with what’s going on right now with the state, they’re becoming even more important.

To find volunteer opportunities, go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, and at the top, you’ll see a link that says “get involved.” Click that, and you’re on your way.

And if you need a little encouragement to get you started, take it from Ernie Gammage:

06—You know, the outdoors is just about the greatest place in the world to be, and it’s the cure for what ails you.

Again, you can find volunteer opportunities on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. Just click on the get involved link.

That’s our show for today… we produce our series at Block House studios in Austin, Texas, and Joel Block engineers our program….for Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

April was National Volunteer Month; it was an occasion to recognize those who donate their time for the betterment of, well, everything—including Texas Parks and Wildlife.

12—Some of the programs at Texas Parks and Wildlife wouldn’t exist without volunteers. In fact, in 2010, the benefit of volunteers to Texas Parks and Wildlife was estimated at a value of almost $17 million dollars.

At the time we spoke, Ernie Gammage was Education and Outreach director for Texas Parks and Wildlife. He has since retired.

33—Because the opportunities are so varied, people can find something that is rewarding regardless of what it is, whether it’s a one day event helping to teach a kid how to fish, or the angler education program where you sign on as a volunteer for as long as you’re willing to do it, and may teach hundreds of people how to fish. Or, maybe it’s a program that last something months like a Nature Tracker program—counting horny toads or something. Or, perhaps it’s a commitment to be a hunter education volunteer, or a Master Naturalist that is a lifelong commitment—can be. So there’s something for everybody.

To find volunteer opportunities, go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, and at the top, you’ll see a link that says “get involved.” Click that, and you’re on your way.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Texas Amphibian Watch wants to make sure Texas always has healthy populations of frogs and toads.

Texas Amphibian Watch is one of our citizen science programs. That means that we are involving everyday Texas citizens in gathering data. And in this case we’re looking at amphibians, a group of species that are in a lot of trouble worldwide.

Lee Ann Linam coordinates the Texas Amphibian Watch program. It’s easy to get involved.

People can pick up a packet of monitoring materials that we offer for free, and they can purchase a CD of frog and toad calls. It has nearly all the frogs and toads in Texas, to learn your frog and toad calls. And then you can actually choose your own place that you want to monitor, and go out and begin recording data.

With a state as big as Texas, the program only has eighty volunteers, and needs more.

East Texas is an area that’s very rich in frog and toad species, yet, we don’t have too many volunteers from that area. South Texas is a place where Texas has some very interesting species that we share with Mexico, and we’d like to keep better track of what’s going on with them. And then, you have to be in the right place at the right time, but we certainly need more volunteers from West Texas.

We have links where you can download monitoring forms at passporttotexas.org.

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

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

Most of us only know mussels—bivalve mollusks—from the grocery store seafood counter. What you may not know is Texas hosts more than fifty species of native freshwater mussels.

They can vary in shapes and sizes. Some of them are very small to, say, an inch or two. And some of them can be very large—nine or ten inches. And they can live anywhere from ten years to a hundred years, depending on the species.

Marsha May oversees the Texas Mussel Watch Program, a citizen science project that enlists people to monitor freshwater mussels, one of the most imperiled groups of organisms in the US.

They are very sensitive to changes in their environment, and many species of freshwater mussels can’t handle that change. We’re finding shells in those situations where the animals have died off.

Mussel Watch participants play a vital role in helping researchers understand these organisms. If you want to become a citizen scientist, you must attend a workshop.

We have a few workshops scheduled for the spring. One will be in Tyler, we’ll have another one in San Antonio, and we’ll have another one in Bastrop. And if folks are interested, they can go to our website to find out when these workshops occur.

Find links to Mussel Watch Workshops at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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April 12, 2008 — Old Sabine Bottom WMA — Texas Mussel Watch Train the Trainer Workshop — This workshop is sponsored by the East Texas Master Naturalist Chapter. SBEC and TEEAC credit available for teachers. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; fee $10, includes materials; preregistration required. To register and for more information, contact Irene Hamel at Irene.hamel@tpwd.state.tx.us or (903) 566-9394. (903) 566-1626.

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