OUTDOOR STORIES - DOUG BAUM: How being admonished 
for littering lead to a lifetime of stewardship ... learn more 
on Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories ... 
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Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories from TPWD

Doug Baum is passionate about the outdoors ... so much 
so he operates a business where he leads people on 
hiking tours through Big Bend State Park and Monahans 
Sandhills State Park ... teaching them about the flora and 
fauna of the region, while stressing the importance of 
protecting the natural world. 

It was on a hiking expedition as a boy when Doug first 
learned about being a responsible steward of the land.

I was on a hike, with a church youth group as a teenager, and I 
think that I threw down a soda can. I think I did this. And our 
youth group leader came unglued. And our family wasn't 
particularly careless about the environment or nature. I'm sure 
my mom or dad would have been just as appalled. But I 
remember that our youth group leader came unglued. And that 
has stuck with me for twenty plus years. The trips that I run, are 
kind of an ode to the hikes that my father would take me on as 
a kid. We'd just go out, and just stop the car and start hiking. 
And it's definitely worth saving. :43

Thanks Doug. Do you have a favorite memory about the 
Texas outdoors ... or an "aha" moment when you realized 
your role in protecting our natural resources? Then we 
want to hear about it -- visit passporttotexas.org for 
contact information.

That's our show for today ... brought to you by Texas 
Parks and Wildlife ... where Life's Better Outside ... I'm 
Cecilia Nasti.