Passport to Texas

Asleep at the Wheel

State Parks: Bison Days Celebrations Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Eighty Bison roam freely at Caprock Canyons State Park.

04—We are home to the official bison herd of the state of Texas.

Park Superintendent Donald Beard says the animals are direct descendents of the southern plains bison. Through ongoing restoration efforts the herd is healthy and expanding. To acknowledge this success, and to raise awareness and funds for continued restoration efforts, the park hosts Bison Celebration Days this month.

25—September 14th, 15th and 16th is going to be our bison celebration days. Friday, the 14th will be for school kids. Saturday morning we’re going to have some events going on: car shows, food vendors and craft vendors. And the living history as well. Sunday morning the vendors will be back out, and then Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. the concert with Asleep at the Wheel starts.

It’s fitting to showcase Western Swing band Asleep at the Wheel during the celebration, as the King of Western Swing, Bob Wills, grew up nearby.

Tickets for the concert are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate.

09—You can call here, and we’ll actually take your credit card information and run it through. And we’ll actually take your credit card information and run it through. And then we’ll either mail the tickets to you or set ‘em up on “will call” so they’ll be ready and waiting when you get here.

There’s more information about the Bison Days Celebration, September 14th through 16th at Caprock Canyons State Park at texasstateparks.org/bison.

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

Bison at Caprock Canyons

Wildlife: The Texas State Bison Herd Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Located on the edge of the Caprock Escarpment, near the bottom of the Texas Panhandle, Caprock Canyons State Park delights visitors with breathtaking views.

02—About a thousand foot in elevation drop.

More people may be familiar, though, with its big brother.

08—I’m sure everyone’s heard of Palo Duro Canyon. That’s one of the canyons in the Caprock. We’re further down the escarpment from there, and we’re a series of smaller canyons.

Smaller, yes, but Park Superintendent Donald Beard says the nearly 15-thousand acre park has something Palo Duro doesn’t have: the state bison herd.

15—We are home to the official bison herd of the state of Texas. The Charles Goodnight herd – the Texas state bison herd is what it’s called now – was started in 1878 by Charles Goodnight and Mary Ann Goodnight, right here in these canyons.

These animals are direct descendents of the Southern Plains bison, and successful restoration of the herd is ongoing at the park…and that is worth celebrating.

16—These animals were started here in the canyons – kept here in the canyons. Never had any outside influence. So they are original Texans. And we do celebrate that. We have the Bison Celebration Days every September. This is our second year. It’s going to be a fun event that we have for a weekend.

Bison Celebration Days is September 14-16th At Caprock Canyons SP…with a Sunday Concert by Asleep at the Wheel; details at texasstateparks.org/bison, and on tomorrow’s show.

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

Feral Swine

Conservation: First Friday at the Kerr WMA Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Friday September 7th marks the second of a three month series called First Fridays at the Kerr WMA. It’s an education and outreach program for resource managers, land owners, and other interested persons in the Edward’s Plateau Ecoregion. This session addresses critical issues facing the area.

07—We have many issues critical here in the Edward’s Plateau. Number one primarily, probably on everyone’s mind right now is water.

Water for humans and wildlife; Ryan Reitz is a wildlife biologist at the Kerr.

16—We’re here to address this issue on a rangeland scale. We’ll have Steve Nalle, a natural resource manager, discussing how to manage your land to capture water, retain water and to get that water into the aquifer. As well as provide that water more effectively in terms for wildlife.

Feral swine research and management and censusing white-tailed deer in small acreages will also get attention during this First Friday event at the Kerr WMA. Registered attendees will tour the facility.

15—We want to give the public a good and specific look not only into what we are doing here on the Kerr area, in terms of research, but give them a perspective of what role you can play as a land manager, a resource manager, or an interested party in wildlife management.

First Friday – part two – at the Kerr is September 7. It’s free to attend, but you must register. Find out how on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Palo Pinto Loop

State Parks: Palo Pinto Mountains State Park Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Folks living in the Fort Worth area have something to look forward to: Palo Pinto Mountains State Park. Our state park guide, Bryan Frazier, has details.

51—We’re so excited to be able to talk about Palo Pinto Mountains State Park. It’s just outside the little town of Strawn, and it’s about an hour’s drive from the Fort Worth Metroplex. It’s that beautiful north Texas Hill Country, which is actually part of an ancient mountain range – the Palo Pinto Mountains. So, this is 33-hundred acres that’s going to be developed, and we’ve already hired one park employee there. The master planning has begun. We’re going to take a real hard look at how we can develop this efficiently to utilize what’s there. There’s a 90 acre lake there, there’s pecan bottoms, and just this beautiful ecosystem that’s primed and ready for park development. And the future of this park will depend on what funds are available that are able to be put toward park development. But the planning is underway; so, stay tuned for future updates for that park.

Learn about all Texas State parks at www.texasstateparks.org.

Thanks Bryan

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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

Teal Migration

Hunting: Early Teal Season, Triggers Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

They pass through Texas heading south early, and then return north late. That’s the nature of teal — a migratory waterfowl that’s a favorite of Texas hunters. If not for early teal season, many hunters wouldn’t have a chance to harvest these birds.

04—They’re not as available during the regular duck season. A lot of times they’re already through here and gone.

Dave Morrison is waterfowl program leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife. Early teal season can last nine or sixteen days. This year’s season is 16 days, and runs from September 15th through the 30th.

07—One of the things you have to look at for September teal season is population estimates. We have triggers. The trigger for the sixteen day season is four point seven.

And while that means the season should be productive because a good population of birds, Nature may still play the wild card.

23—If we get the right weather conditions, and we get the right weather patters, we should have a good teal season. But, Mother nature is the one part of this puzzle that we never will understand. If we get an early cold front, or we get something that happens between now and then, the birds blow through early, say, it stays warm north of us, and they have more of a staggered migration, then people will say ‘well, it’s not very good,’ despite the fact that, I think, that with numbers being up, with conditions like they were, we should have pretty good production.

The Wildlife and sport fish restoration program supports our series and celebrates 75 years of funding diverse conservation projects throughout Texas…

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