Passport to Texas

Sharon Cundiff, Owner and Lead Instructor with Straight-N-Arrow Archery, pictured with her first deer by rifle. An Axis doe taken in Del Rio.

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This is Passport to Texas

Although I am not a hunter, I attended an all-woman hunting trip to the Texas Hill Country to learn about it.

I met women on the trip who were long-time hunters as well as others who were on their first hunts. Tami Crawford was the hunt coordinator, and explained the purpose of the event.

We’re trying to get women involved in the outdoors, and to take some of the mystery out of the sport of hunting. Before it’s just been something that the guys go do.

Ten women in all went on the trip. Each brought a guide with them. First time hunter, Millissa Salinas of Austin, brought her father Ralph.

I’ve always wanted to experience the outdoors, and I thought the perfect opportunity to bond with my father would be this event so he could show me the rope and experience some special memories together.

Millissa, like all of the women on the trip, was enthusiastic about the experience.

It was extremely exciting. We’d been preparing for it for about a month. He had taken me target shooting, I had borrowed a rifle. So I’d been anticipating the whole excitement for some time now. So when the actual moment came to pull the trigger, it was extremely exciting.

Millissa harvested two deer on that trip. Hunting with other women and her father made for an experience that Millissa intends to recreate with other family members.

We definitely want to get involved more in the outdoors. And I have a younger sister that we’re going to try to encourage to join us.

The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Cowbird.

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This is Passport to Texas

The brown-headed cowbird migrated with bison across the Great Plains, and because it’s hard to raise a family on the road, cowbirds laid their eggs in other birds’ nests; host birds unwittingly raised cowbird young.

The problem with the cowbird eggs is that normally they’re big eggs; they hatch earlier than the host eggs do; and they’re very vocal and hungry and beg for food.

Biologist, Marsha May, says the cowbird hatchlings out compete the host’s offspring for food, starving them out, and reducing populations of that species. Back when bison roamed, cowbirds didn’t have quite the same impact.

Black-capped vireos, which are an endangered species now, evolved where if they were parasitized by a brown-headed cowbird, they would leave that nest and re-nest – start a new nest. Well, if the cowbirds had already moved through, that would have worked.

Without bison, cowbirds hang with cows. Because cows are fenced in and don’t migrate, neither do cowbirds.

They’re parasitizing all the birds in that area – their nests – and they’re having a major impact on some species like the black capped vireo, because the black-capped vireo keeps re-nesting and that’s wasting a lot of energy, and if it’s constantly being parasitized, then no young will be reproduced at all that year.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram.

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

A Flood of Volunteer Spirit Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Texans are not afraid to roll up their sleeves and pitch in when their state parks need them: such as after the 2015 Memorial Day Floods.

A lot of our friends groups were leading a lot of those efforts.

Audrey Muntz is the volunteer coordinator for Texas state parks. She says she expects opportunities to help flood damaged parks will continue for some time.

Especially for areas where there has been major trail damage, or major damage to work areas or campgrounds.

The floods may have happened eight months ago, but volunteer opportunities to get them sorted are ongoing. And Audrey Muntz says volunteers participate in various projects throughout the year for personal reasons.

There’s this really deep desire to make sure we’re providing this for future generations. So, I really see that through these volunteer efforts.

Interested in becoming a volunteer at your Texas State Parks? Log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website and register to become a volunteer, receive updates, and search a wide variety of available projects.

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

Volunteering with Texas State Parks takes on many forms.

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This is Passport to Texas

Volunteers donate more than a half-million hours of service worth over $17-million dollars annually to all Texas Parks and Wildlife programs.

They get to work with really friendly and knowledgeable staff, and they have a great time just being outside and enjoying nature, themselves, as part of their giving back.

Audrey Muntz is the new volunteer coordinator for Texas state parks, and says anyone with an interest can find a volunteer opportunity in parks that suits them.

We have hundreds of opportunities throughout the state at state parks. Some of them are one time; some of them are short term. And, the majority of them are ongoing.

One of the most coveted long-term volunteer jobs is state park host. In exchange for their services, they receive a campground site.

Those individuals serve up to 24-30 hours a week in exchange for being able to keep their RV in the campground. And so they can help with a huge variety of things, from keeping the grounds clean, to fee collection. And they are the face of the park in many ways, and help campers get to know and learn the park and keep it as beautiful and clean as they can for all of our visitors.

Park host commitments range from two to six months; and, established volunteers often move from one park to another.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

Independence Hall Exhibit at Washington-on-the-Brazos, Photo credit: Rob McCorkle, © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Celebrating Texas Independence Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Texas Independence Day is March 2. And Washington on the Brazos is where it all started.

This town was chosen as the site of the general convention, which met on March 1, 1836, and adjourned on March 17.

Janice Campbell, former interpreter at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, said those seventeen days in 1836, paved the way for Texas future.

In those seventeen days, the elected delegates that came here, they declared their independence from Mexico; they wrote a constitution; and they elected some officers for a government. So, I guess you could say the groundwork of the government of the Republic of Texas was created right here in Washington.

Campbell said one cannot help but feel a deep connection to the past when visiting Washington-on-the-Brazos.

It’s pretty awesome to be able to walk out there, and walk along the main thoroughfare of the town and know that we are walking in the footsteps of history…right here in Washington.

Check out the Texas Parks and Wildlife Calendar of events to see when Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site plans to celebrate Texas’ Independence.

We record our series at the Block House in Austin and Joel Block engineers our program.

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