TPWD TV - RECOVERING FROM RITA: Recovering after a 
hurricane is a long process - but perseverance pays off ... 
Details on Passport to Texas 		(Week of Dec 25)
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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Hurricane Rita hit the Texas coast in October 2005, and 
continued its path of destruction through east Texas. 
This week, Texas Parks and Wildlife television series 
highlights ongoing recovery efforts. Don cash supervises 
the show's production.

And, I think the parts of east Texas, and the people of east 
Texas that have been damaged by hurricane Rita, were largely 
overlooked. And even more overlooked than that was the state 
parks, historic sites and wildlife management areas that were 
damaged. One of the places was Martin Dies, Junior, State Park 
near Jasper. And it's a huge park with just beautiful tall pine 
trees and oaks. And, it's an absolute mess. This is the walnut 
ridge camping loop. It's one of the hardest hit areas in the park, 
We probably lost maybe forty to fifty percent of the trees in the 
area; it was hit pretty tough. If you drove through there, you 
wouldn't believe just how much damage has occurred. Trees 
were knocked down. The campgrounds - a lot of them 
demolished. The story focuses on what Texas Parks and Wildlife 
department - the staff - has done to bring these parks back. A 
lot of people would probably just give up. Parks and Wildlife is 
not going to give up. We know how vital this area is to the 
public. All the work that's gone into it. And, it's a long, slow 
recovery. We don't want people to dwell on the fact that we had 
a storm and that it tore the park up. We want them to know 
what we've done to bring it back, and what it looks like now. 
It'll all be back one day.:65

The series airs on PBS stations statewide. Check your 
local listings.

That's our show ... for Texas Parks and Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia 
Nasti

Total sound bite time:		0:65.0
 Maximum Script time:		0:21.0 Suggested show time: 86.0 = 1:26