Passport to Texas

Also Leopold's Five Tools for Land Management Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Aldo Leopold, widely accepted as the father of wildlife and habitat management in America, outlined five types of habitat management practices used to restore and maintain habitat.

05—And those involve the ax, cow, plow, fire and gun.

Wildlife Management Area (WMA) facilities coordinator, Dennis Gissell, says these tools have served Texas well, on WMA sites…and explains what they are and how they work together to support healthy ecosystems.

37—The axe actually conveys to the use of mechanized equipment as well as chain saws and loppers that we use to remove invasive species of vegetation, which are not beneficial to wildlife. Cows are used for grazing, and grazing helps to stimulate production of forbs and browse. The plow is used to plant food plots when it’s necessary to help wildlife to survive winters and long summers. Fire is used to restore habitat and to stimulate the growth, once again, of forbs and browse. And, of course hunting is good to control and manage wildlife populations so they don’t become out of synch or too large for the carrying capacity for the habitat.

A $48 dollar annual public hunting permit or a $12 dollar Limited Public Use Permit can provide access to WMAs all year. Learn the difference between the permits at the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

The WSFR program supports our series and is celebrating 75 years of funding diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Findings from research conducted at Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) provide biologists with information to guide them when developing habitat management strategies.

11—And we are continually doing research and learning more and more and adjusting our habitat management strategies so that we can accomplish the best possible strategies for managing wildlife in Texas.

Well managed, healthy habitat and wildlife is good for Texas’ environment and economy. WMA facilities coordinator, Dennis Gissell, says the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR) program has been integral in the acquisition and management of many of these sites.

14—[The] Wildlife and sport fisheries act is absolutely essential to our ability to manage and conserve wildlife habitats and wildlife populations in Texas. Not only on the wildlife management areas, but in support of our biologists who work with private landowners statewide.

A set of management tools described by Aldo Leopold in 1933, are still used today on WMAs.

16—Aldo Leopold, who was widely accepted as the father of conservation in America, outlined five different general types of habitat management practices that can be used to restore and maintain habitat. And those involve the axe, cow, plow, fire and gun.

We tell you more about those tomorrow.

The WSFR program supports our series and is celebrating 75 years of funding diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

What are Wildlife Management Areas? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It’s safe to say most Texans can name at least three state parks. But ask those same Texans to name three Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), and they’ll be stumped. So I asked WMA facilities coordinator, Dennis Gissell to tell us.

19—Wildlife management areas were established in Texas as far back at 1946 for the purpose of conducting research in to wildlife and habitat management, demonstrations to private landowners, education for students and other wildlife professionals, and then public recreation when that’s compatible with the other three.

The Sierra Diablo WMA in far west Texas was the first in the state, established by the state legislature to manage and preserve Bighorn Sheep. We’ve added dozens more WMAs since then.

06—We have 49 Wildlife Management Areas that cover about seven hundred and seventy thousand acres in Texas now.

The WMAs are acquired to represent the habitat in each of the 10 major ecological regions of the state.

16—And so far we have all of those regions covered except one. And that would be the cross timbers and prairies in north central Texas. We’ve been working for years to find an appropriate piece of property and a willing seller in north central Texas…we’ve come close several times. Hopefully it won’t be far off.

On tomorrow’s show…learn about a program responsible in large part for making Wildlife Management areas in Texas possible.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and is celebrating 75 years of funding diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Conservation: Interacting with Wildlife Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Most of us get pretty excited over wildlife—even the critters we find in our own backyards. Richard HILE-brun, with Wildlife Diversity says contact with these creatures enriches our lives.

62—The best thing to take with you when you go into wildlife habitat is something to enjoy wildlife with—whether it’s a digital camera, or a pair of binoculars, or a field guide. That way you can observe the wildlife, learn a little bit about it, and maybe even have some fun in terms of a challenge, or a game, or a scavenger hunt. I’m intrigued by this scavenger hunt idea. Tell us how we might do something like that. Well, one of my favorite things to do with young kids is to give them a set of objectives. I want you to find a bug. For older kids, I want you to find a butterfly, I want you to find a moth, I want you to find this kind of caterpillar…I want you to observe ten different types of songbirds, and I tell me what they eat by what kind of bill they have. When you give them a challenge it becomes a game, and they get into it and they get excited. Before you know it, they spent their whole day interacting with nature; searching, discovering, developing a sense of wonder with wildlife. And that sense of discovery is what endears them to nature and wildlife and conservation as adults.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and is celebrating 75 years of funding diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…

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

Misplaced Wildlife, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you live in an area where urban life and wildlife intersect, you may find baby animals—like birds or fawns—in the open, and believe they need your help. But as biologist Wendy Connally says: not everything is as it seems.

15—Maybe the baby bird is learning to fly, or maybe it’s about to be fed by a parent. Or, maybe fawns are placed there by the parents, and left for some time while the parents go forage and feed so that they can keep up their strength to raise that baby to full size.

Wendy recommends giving these babies a wide berth so their parents feel safe returning to them. But there’s another reason to keep your distance.

17— It’s especially important for animals that might be preyed upon by predators with teeth and a good sense of smell, that we don’t put our scent next to something that we’re trying to protect. Because those predators can smell that scent and it makes them very curious.

Predator curiosity may spell danger for baby animals. If you do come across a baby or adult animal that is clearly injured, contact a wildlife rehabilitator.

15— We have a list on our website of wildlife rehabilitators that have been permitted by Texas parks and Wildlife department. Typically those rehabilitators are focused around urban areas where we do see that interaction between wildlife and people more often.

That’s our show for today…The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and funds conservation projects in Texas.

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