Passport to Texas

The woman behind the gun, by Gordon Ross, 1873-1946, artist. Library of Congress.

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At the turn of the 20th century fashionable women wore hats decorated with feathers, wings and even entire taxidermied birds.

08- What began to happen was, a huge amount of hunting of specific migratory birds for their plumes–and their plumes only.

Urban Wildlife biologist, Kelly Simon, says unregulated market hunting to meet the demand led to destruction of whole bird breeding colonies.

13- And people began to realize that the effect of this unregulated taking of wildlife was putting a lot of pressure on the natural populations of these animals. So, they were declining at an alarming rate.

In 1896, after reading an article describing the plume trade, Boston socialite Harriet Hemenway, convinced women of social standing to stop wearing feathered hats, and to join the society for the protection of birds. Their efforts led to The Migratory Bird Act of 1918, which outlawed market hunting and interstate transport of birds.

09- We decided it was important for us to have wildlife as a resource that was available to everyone: to feed their families, to enjoy, to watch.

Other conservation laws joined the Migratory Bird Act, including the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937, whereby hunters asked Congress to impose an excise tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition products to help fund wildlife conservation in the US.

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

Photo courtesy NPR: David J. Phillip (right)/LM Otero (left)/AP

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We use the word conservation, but what does it mean?

09—Really, what we’re talking about, is managing our habitat, and our wildlife—our natural resources—to fit the goals that we have for our ecosystems.

That’s urban wildlife biologist, Kelly Simon.

13— Environment is never static. It’s never still; it’s always in motion. In conservation what we try to do is guide that motion of the habitat in the best possibly way—based on what we know.

We know that “changing times” inform where we choose live and how we interact with the natural world.

18— Things have changed an awful lot since may the 1800s to now. Used to we were a very rural society; most people lived out in the country on the land, and a few people lived in the cities. And now, it’s completely flip-flopped, and we’ve got almost all the people living in cities, and very few people living right there on the land.

As rural residents we intuitively knew the value of resources like game animals, and how to take what we needed while maintaining the natural balance. In the late 19TH and early 20th Century, as farm clothes gave way to fashion trends, wildlife landed in the cross hairs, thus threatening some species.

06— Back in the early 1900s it was very fashionable for women to have these grandiose plumes in their hats.

How procurement of those plumes from migratory birds led to collaborative conservation efforts.

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

Black-capped Vireo

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Who would pay an entry fee to compete in a tournament in which the winners must agree to give away their prize money? Birders: that’s who. More specifically, teams of birders that take part in the Great Texas Birding Classic.

15-This year we raised $25,000 for conservation grants. And those will be given as a 10-thousand dollar grant, and three 5-thousand
dollar grants. So we’ll give four grants total throughout the state of Texas. And this is what teams are participating for: winning teams are who get to select what projects get funded.

Shelly Plante coordinates the event, and says it’s a win-win for birds and birders. Birding classic winners fund habitat projects that, in turn, create better birding opportunities for everyone.

04- That’s their privilege, that they’re vying for the chance to pick the project.

In the 19 years of the tournament, winning teams have donated more than eight hundred and forty-four thousand dollars to habitat projects throughout the state.

18- These grants have definitely gone to some well-known projects for birders. And if you go to birding hot spots throughout the state, you’ll see that birding classic money has been spent at many of these areas. From High Island Sanctuaries to Pakery Channel near Corpus Christi in the Coastal Bend, at Estero Llano Grande State Park.

Find out what birds the Great Texas Birding Classic teams saw this year, who won, and which projects the winners designated to receive grant money when you go to birdingclassic.org.

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

Great Texas Birding Classic

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The Great Texas Birding Classic, which wrapped up on May 15 following a month of non-stop, statewide birding action, was a huge success, says Texas Parks and Wildlife nature tourism coordinator, Shelly Plante.

16-This year’s Great Texas Birding Classic was absolutely the best yet. We had a hundred teams for the first time ever, and with that we were able to raise more money than we’ve raised in a long time. So, we will donate $25,000 dollars in conservation grants this ear–which is a 40% increase over last year’s donation.

Grant money goes to projects that enhance or preserve native bird habitat statewide, and winning teams designate which projects receive the funds. Plante says while birders find it rewarding, she rewards birders that make her smile, with the Make My Day award.

13-While all of these teams are out in the field and having a really great time, a lot of my job is behind the desk, taking care of data entry. And so, if a team name crosses my desk that just made me laugh out loud, or giggle a little bit–I felt that I should reward that because they brightened my day.

Teams like the Double-Stuffed Orioles, Hot Wings, and the Bird Dogs–a team that actually brought their dogs with them–among others got this recognition from Shelly Plante.

Find a list of conservation projects that received grants at passporttotexas.org.

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

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

Cedar Hill State Park, photo © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

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Memorial Day floods swept through communities in Texas taking lives and homes, and they also struck more than 50 state parks.

05– And so, we’re going to have a lot of rebuilding and restoring in the weeks and months, and really, years ahead.

Carter Smith is Texas Parks and Wildlife Executive Director. As the rivers and creeks along many state parks recede, park employees are assessing the damage and are grateful that no one was injured. Yet, Texas Parks and Wildlife will feel the loss of revenue from visitor fees, which pay about half the cost to run the state park system.

08– Because of the diminished visitation–because the parks simply aren’t accessible now or will be in the near future–that’s going to have a significant impact on the agency.

However, there is hope for recovery.

16– Looks like the Legislature is going to provide some significant capital funding this session, but we are going to obviously have to look at re-prioritizing it. Address the tyranny of the urgent. And right now the tyranny of the urgent is all of the flooding that resulted from this horrific Memorial Day Flood event.

Keep up with park recovery progress when you visit texasstateparks.org.

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