Passport to Texas

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

08—(AMB: prairie dogs calling”)

The lonesome, high-pitched staccato vocalization of the black-tailed prairie dog resonates throughout the Panhandle Plains.

09—Prairie dogs are a keystone species. A keystone species is a species that needs to be there for other species to survive.

Marsha May coordinates Texas Nature Tracker programs for Texas Parks and Wildlife. Once numbering in the millions, prairie dog colonies in Texas currently occupy less than 1-percent of their historic range. And their decline does not bode well for the other species that depend on them.

19—Prairie dog’s colonies are used by up to 170 other animals. They are directly or indirectly dependent upon the colony. And they aerate the soil; they actually keep the prairie a prairie. They will chew down any shrubs that are within the colony. So, they’re very important for that ecosystem.

Texas Black-tailed Prairie Dog Watch is a program designed to involve citizens to collect data about prairie dog colonies. Researchers use the information to understand the species’ dramatic decline. To help you help them, there’s a monitoring packet available.

08—We created this because we need to find out what’s going on with prairie dog colonies throughout the state of Texas; mainly the Panhandle and West Texas where they’re found.

And we’ll tell you how you can get involved tomorrow.

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

Buescher State Park Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Bastrop State Park took a beating from wildfires, but with nature as our witness, the pines and wildlife will return. Until then, nearby Buescher State park was spared the fires’ wrath, and offers visitors a lost pines experience. Bryan Frazier explains.

58— Buescher State Park is part of the Lost Pines Complex. It’s actually down the road in Smithville, but it’s connected to Bastrop State Park on the backside by a 12-mile park road that people bike through all of the time.

There’s good news out there regarding this. Obviously there’s no way we want to look at this wildfire as anything other than the tragedy that it was. But there are things not as bad as it could have been, and there are good news stories to be found.

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.

TPW Magazine December Preview Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The December 2011 issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine holds a variety of delights for every reader, much like a Christmas stocking filled with treats. Editor Louie Bond.

62— I think that’s what we definitely have this December. First we look at something serious, which is a retrospective photo essay on the year’s historical droughts and wildfires.

And then we’ll also take a little adventure way down deep into Good Enough Springs, which is the largest underground cave systems in the united States, and one of the most dangerous dives anywhere. And it took our photographer and writer more than a year to get access and amass this information, and get the photographs in this really difficult, dangerous place. So, I think there’s going to be something for everyone this December.

Thanks, Louie.

Find the December issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine on newsstands now.

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

Leonid Meteor Shower Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

On November 17th, the sky will start to fall over Texas.

04—The Leonid Meteor Shower is a shower that occurs every November.

Anita Cochran, assistant director of the McDonald Observatory, explains this phenomenon.
20—It is a result of the debris left over from the passage of the Comet Temple Tuttle which comes passed the sun and passed the earth every thirty-three years. The earth’s orbit will intercept the orbit of the dust trail that was left when the comet passed the sun.

Those dust particles burning up in the earth’s atmosphere will create this year’s shower.

In 1833, the Leonid Meteor shower rained down thousands of meteors an hour. This caused some people to believe that these meteors signified the end of the world. This year, the shower won’t be as drastic.

21—There are times when we go through, and it’s approximately every thirty three years, when we see a huge storm because we go through the peak of it. We might see hundreds of meteors per hour. In this particular year, the peak of it will occur when it’s daytime in the United States and when people should go out and see it, which is the end of the night – they’ll only be seeing about ten meteors an hour.

Information on where to see the Leonid Shower at passporttotexas.org

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

Endangered Texas Snowbell Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When the wind blows, its leaves shimmer, and in the spring, its beautiful white flowers bloom.

It was this beauty that inspired J. David Bamberger to save the endangered Texas Snowbell.

Bamberger owns 55 hundred acres in Blanco County and is an avid conservationist. But one of his greatest success stories is the Texas snowbell.

In 1987, state officials estimated there were a mere 87 snowbells in Texas. Since then, Bamberger’s team has planted and maintained nearly 700 more.

12—I spent five years going door to door, well ranch to ranch out in Edwards County, Real County, Val Verde County. And it took me five years to gain access to a ranch to look for the plant.

Once he did, Bamberger began collecting the seeds from the plants he found, replanting them on the ranches. But even with all his success, Bamberger says the Texas snowbell will likely always be endangered.

17—Now the scientists are saying that they won’t be delisted until we have 10,000 plants. That’s never going to happen, never ever going to happen. I think they need to reassess that number because before we came along the reintroductions were basically zero.

J. David Bamberger continues to monitor Texas snowbells and conduct research at his ranch, keeping the Texas snowbell alive and a part of .

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