Passport to Texas

Air boat at Sea Rim

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Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Ike in 2008 destroyed Sea Rim State Park in Sabine Pass.

06— You can kill the facilities, but what you can’t kill is the park, itself. Because the park, itself, is memories.

Ben Herman is Sea Rim’s superintendent. After years of planning and hard work, Sea Rim had a grand reopening June 20; it’s fully functional now, and ready for visitation.

08— That is something that is a proud moment for us, a true legacy for us as a park staff, because we get to have people come build those memories again.

Staff used lessons learned from the hurricanes – in conjunction with Dade County Florida Building Standards, which is ground zero for many Atlantic-spawned mega-storms – to guide their rebuilding efforts.

15— So, everything we put out here is built on Dade County standards and is able to withstand pretty severe weather. Of course, you know, Mother Nature is always going to have the upper hand on us, but we’re very confident that it will be able to stand up to most everything that’s thrown at us out here.

Sea Rim State Park offers RV and primitive beach camping, fishing, paddling trails, wildlife viewing. Oh, and don’t forget the breathtaking sunrises and sunsets.

13— We have from horizon to horizon sunsets and sunrises. And, man, they are beautiful – they light up the entire sky. And you can see them out here like you can’t see them any other place because there’s nothing to block them.

Make camping reservations online at the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Sea Rim State Park

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Sea Rim State Park in Sabine Pass is unique in the Texas park system.

07— It’s one of the most unique parks in the system, because it is the only park where the marshlands meet the Gulf of Mexico.

Ben Herman is Sea Rim’s superintendent. He says the diversity of ecosystems makes this park a standout – and an interesting place to live.

16— You have such a wide variety of ecosystems – both in the marshlands and on the surfside – that the joining of those two are pretty cool. I always joke on one side of my house I have mosquitoes and alligators and on the other side I have sharks and seaweed.

The natural world is as brutal as it is beautiful. In 2005 Hurricane Rita tore up Sea Rim, but before it could fully recover, Hurricane Ike brought destruction in 2008.

06— Which were pretty devastating blows for the park. We basically lost all of our facilities and all of our utilities.

TPWD closed the site for repairs. As recently as one year ago, when Herman joined the park, things looked bleak.

16— There was very little out here. We had to completely rebuild all of our logistics and all of our infrastructure. So now, being able to roll it back out to the residents, and everybody who wants to come up and enjoy Sea Rim, is a very proud moment for us. It was a long time coming.

The park celebrated its grand reopening June 20. How the park is nearly better than before. That’s tomorrow.

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

Fireworks in State Parks

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[SFX fireworks]

When it comes to celebrating our nation’s birthday at Texas state parks, bring the barbeque, watermelon and the outdoor games…but leave the fireworks at home.

06—It is illegal in Texas state parks…it is a Class C misdemeanor to possess fireworks in a state park.

We’re not trying to put a damper on your Independence Day fun, but Wes Masur, state park law enforcement coordinator at Texas Parks and Wildlife, says parks are no place for personal pyrotechnics. Even sparklers get two thumbs down.

09—Within the state park system we have different types of wildlife and different types of grasses and we don’t want to get any type of forest fire started…people are there to enjoy the state parks.

Devastating wildfires have started for much less. While some state parks offer organized fireworks displays, not everyone appreciates these holiday light shows even when they are sanctioned.

05—Some people don’t like fireworks…the noises that go along with that stuff—we just don’t allow it in the state parks.

Find out which state parks offer public fireworks displays this year, at the Texas Parks and Wildlife website

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

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When Ryan Spencer worked for Texas parks and Wildlife, he connected people with nature via the Texas Outdoor Family Program.

05— I work out of a trailer and we go all over the state. It’s a unique office, but I really love it.

Ryan currently manages the Children in Nature Collaborative of Austin. But when he was with Texas Parks and Wildlife, he would…

04— …go from park to park and show people how to go camping for the first time.

Studies show that when children spend time outside with their families they are healthier, happier and smarter. In addition, the family bond grows stronger.

08— They have better family cohesion. So that means, that children who spend more time with their parents outside, become nicer teenagers when they grow up.

And it all starts with engaging the outdoors as a family.

12— We teach about “Leave No Trace” and how to protect the environment while you’re out there enjoying it. We want to give them some skills that they can repeat on their own when they come back from the state park. So, things like cooking on a camp stove; setting up a tent.

To find a Texas Outdoor Family Workshop, visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

And tune into the Texas parks and Wildlife PBS TV series this week to see Ryan Spencer in action teaching families about the outdoors. Check your local listings.

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

Beauty of artificial reef

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An article by Melissa Gaskill in the June issue of Texas parks and Wildlife magazine, explores the value of artificial reefs. These are retired structures like oil platforms that create much-needed hard substrate in the gulf. She asks whether the reefs increase marine populations, or simply aggregate existing populations.

07— The first thing that happens when you put any kind of structure in the water is that fish species will congregate around it; they’re attracted to that.

Dale Shively is Texas Parks and Wildlife program leader for artificial reefs. He says congregating is just the beginning.

20— There also is production that goes on. Once you get that marine life growing, you’re creating an ecosystem. You’re not only bringing fish species in, but they stay there, live there, they spawn there. You can find the juveniles on there. That doesn’t mean that some of those fish species don’t migrate away at times. But they actually use it for various life stages.

Through a monitoring program, Shively says they’re attempting to quantify various fish species by relative abundance.

21— There is also a debate about how valuable are oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. There are a lot of fishermen who claim that you remove these and you’re destroying the red snapper population. There’s another school of thought that the red snapper were here originally without the oil platforms. But, there’s no doubt that the red snapper population has increased since we have more structure out there.

Read about this debate in the June issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our Series. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.