Passport to Texas

Zebra mussels

Beating Down Zebra Mussels in Lake Waco Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

In September 2014, when City of Waco employees found zebra mussels near a boat ramp in Lake Waco, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the City of Waco, and Texas Army Corps of Engineers moved quickly to stop this non-native aquatic invasive in its tracks.

06-The City of Waco ordered up tarps, they hired commercial divers, set the plan, and last fall we put ’em all in place.

Brian Van Zee, Inland Fisheries Regional Director, says there wasn’t time to obtain permits for chemical treatments, so divers and staff positioned the eight thick, rubber tarps on the lake bottom over the infested area to block sunlight and oxygen below.

15- We just recently pulled those tarps from lake Waco, and it was really looking very good; we could tell by the condition of the tarps– underneath them–that we had reached anoxic conditions. You could smell the hydrogen sulfide smell and these black conditions you typically see when you have anoxic conditions.

Although divers found two live zebra mussels on rocks they brought up, Van Zee is optimistic.

14-Maybe we knocked back the number of zebra mussels that were in that area, far enough to where they cannot create a viable, reproducing population. We don’t know if that’s the case or not. We really won’t know probably until this spring or summer, actually; maybe even next fall.

Until then, all partners will continue to monitor the lake and enforce the clean, drain and dry law for all boaters. Learn more on the TPW website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series. Learn about combating zebra mussels and other aquatic invasives at texasinvasives.org.

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

Zebra Mussels

Zebra Mussels Come to Lake Waco Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Non-native zebra mussels pose potential ecological and economic damage wherever there’s an infestation. In September 2014, they showed up in Lake Waco.

06-Unfortunately there was a vessel that was launched on Lake Waco last summer; it had come from Lake Belton.

Brian Van Zee, Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries Regional Director, says Lake Belton has an established population of zebra mussels; they hitched a ride to Lake Waco on the vessel in question.

15- It was heavily infested with those individuals when they left Lake Belton. They did not inspect it; they did not clean it. So, they launched on Lake Waco and introduced these mussels to the lake.

The zebra mussel larvae are microscopic, which is why it is imperative boaters clean, drain and dry their vessels when going from one water body to the next.

24-Texas Parks and Wildlife department enacted the law last year requiring boaters–anytime they leave or approach a freshwater lake or river system in the state–their boats have to be dry. And that’s all aimed at preventing the spread of these microscopic organisms. So, take those three simple steps of clean, drain, dry; it doesn’t take long. It’s very simple to do. It’s better for your boat in terms of maintenance, anyway; so go ahead and do it.

What Texas Parks and Wildlife, the City of Waco and Army Corps of Engineers is doing to combat zebra mussels in Lake Waco–that’s tomorrow. Learn more about zebra mussels at www.texasinvasives.org.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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

White-tailed buck

Texas Big Game Awards Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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2015, marks the 24th year of Texas Big Game Awards.

17-Texas Big Game Awards started in 1991 as a partnership between Texas Wildlife Association and Texas Parks and Wildlife, as a means to document the great, big game resources that we have in the state. And also, to celebrate our hunting heritage and recognize young and new hunters.

Justin Dreibelbis is the new Private Lands and Public Hunting Program Director at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. When we spoke, he was the Hunting Heritage Director at the Texas Wildlife Association. Texas hunters sent in their entries, which trained scorers evaluated using criteria specific to each region.

22- And then, we also have unscored categories, which are our youth division and our first harvest division. A youth division entry is any youth hunter who takes a native big game animal in the state. A first harvest division is for a person who take their first native big game animal in the state of Texas-whether they-re eight years old or 80 years old.

The Texas Big Game Awards recognizes large antlers with the understanding that they are a direct result of well-managed habitat, said Dreibelbis. Winners receive their awards at regional banquets. The first is May 16 for regions 5, 6 & 7 in Lufkin. Find additional information at texasbiggameawards.org

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

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

Mexican free-tailed bats emerging from Devil’s Sinkhole.

Wildlife: Return of the Bats Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Millions of Mexican Free-tailed bats are returning to Texas where they will bear their young and eat tons of pesky insects. And that makes farmers happy.

05—The Mexican free-tailed bat in particular is really valuable for agricultural purposes.

Meg Goodman is a bat biologist.

13—Current research has shown that these bats can save farmers up to two sprays of pesticides per year because of all the insect pests that they’re eating. They’re eating things like the corn earworm moth and the cotton boll worm moth, among other crop pest species.

In addition to eating their weight in insects pests each evening, their nightly flights from inside caves and under bridges has become tourist attractions statewide.

14—Just their numbers and nightly emergences bring in a lot of tourist dollars to a lot of small communities and big communities like Austin. It’s one of our top tourist destinations right here in Austin. But they do provide a lot of dollars through nature tourism through a lot of our smaller communities throughout the state.

Bridges, like the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, boasts more than 1.5 million visiting Mexican free-tailed. And tomorrow we meet a man who builds bridges with bats in mind.

07—I would say that they type of bridges we build that would accommodate bats, we probably build about 30 of those statewide every year.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and funds diverse conservation projects in Texas.

Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

TPW Mag: Nature Without Borders Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Men create borders which nature ignores.

07—Down in the Big Bend area there’s a heck of a lot of nature and there’s a border running right through it and the animals and plants just don’t care.

Nature Without Borders is an article by writer Melissa Gaskill for the April issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine. She explores how the US and Mexico coordinate their efforts to preserve our shared flora and fauna.

20—They’ve actually been collaborating for a really long time in trying to work together. This is really one big ecosystem – the Chihuahuan desert. The way to protect it and effectively manage it, you really have to do that by cooperating on both sides. One side can’t be doing half the job and the other side doing a completely different half the job. It just wouldn’t work that well.

One of the biggest challenges both sides face is the shear vastness of the area in question, but that’s not all.

20—We’re talking about three million acres all told, and that’s a lot of ground to cover for anybody. The fact that there’s an international border in the middle of it—even when you can cross—it just complicates things. You have two governments; two very different approaches to conservation between the two countries; you have a language issue. And then there are the specific challenges in terms of the types of animals out there.

We’ll hear about those tomorrow. The April issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is available on newsstands and for download on the new Magazine APP. Find download information at tpwmagazine.com.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

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