Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Civil Restitution laws were passed by Texas legislature to make individuals accountable for illegally injuring, killing, or possessing a wildlife resource.

If someone’s convicted of illegally taking one of these resources, we ask them to pay for it. We even offer them a discount if they pay it early.

Kris Bishop, Assistant Chief of Fisheries Enforcement for Law Enforcement.

If they don’t pay it, they passed a law in 1998 that anybody that was in arrears to the state that they would not be able to get a hunting of fishing license, and thereby punishing them. If you don’t pay, then you can’t play anymore. If they don’t pay, then we’ll put a hold on their license and they’re not able to buy a license to go hunting or fishing.

These laws were put in effect conserve animals and create collective consciousness among the citizens of Texas. Of course, there are consequences for those who hunt without a license or have outstanding unpaid fines.

To kinda give that law a little bit of teeth, because a lot of people just say ‘Well then I don’t buy a license- what’s the worse that’s going to happen to me?’ Well, instead of having just your regular Class C misdemeanor, which is a fine of $25-$500, it’s been moved up to a Class A. So it’s a lot more severe penalty for doing that if you’ve had your license suspended already.

Details about Civil Restitution can be found on the Texas Parks & Wildlife website.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

This month the producers of the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series explore Devil’s Sinkhole, and take you down with them. Abe Moore.

64—To get there, you go to Rock Springs, Texas, and once you get to the visitor’s center, you take this cool bat mobile bus. And it takes you all the way out to this sinkhole in the middle on nowhere. You get off the bus and you go out to this platform, and watch the bats emerge as they head out for their evening feeding.

That story will air on Texas parks and Wildlife Television the week of April 17 through the 24th.

Thanks, Abe.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Each day, hundreds of Game Wardens dedicate themselves to protecting our state’s natural resources. Texas Game Wardens face a variety of dangers in their line of work. While most of the people Game Wardens come in contact with are harmless, Game Warden Kris Bishop explains the risks of being in the field.

:46 Think you’ll see a couple of different scenarios- what Game Wardens experience in the field. In general, the people that we come in contact with are good, family people. They’re taking their family, their children out hunting, and fishing, and boating. That’s how they want to spend their free time. The kind of person who goes out and communes with nature is usually a good person and they have good intentions, and so that’s the average person that we meet. But occasionally, you are going to meet the criminal element no matter where you are. It’s going to be anywhere. You’ll always have that certain amount of danger out there because most of the people that we’re dealing with have knives, guns, things like that, on them. That’s part of what they’re doing. They’re either fishing they they’ll have a filet knife, or they’re hunting and have a rifle or a shotgun. There’s always that little bit of an element of you could possibly get into a situation with a bad person.

Details about Law Enforcement can be found on the Texas Parks & Wildlife website.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Being a Texas Game Warden is an important and rewarding profession. Occasionally, though, it takes an outsider to recognize you have the right stuff to wear the badge.

09—When I was going to college, I studied a lot of science and as a Texan I grew up hunting and fishing. One of my professors actually was the one who thought I’d make a good Game Warden.

Kris Bishop, Assistant Chief of Fisheries Enforcement for Law Enforcement, outlines the steps involved in becoming a Game Warden.

15—To be a Game Warden, you have to have a four-year college degree. Once you’ve finished your four-year degree, if you are accepted into the Academy, it’s about a seven month live-in academy, and they teach you everything about the Code of Criminal procedures, Penal code, and then animal identification.

Graduates of Game Warden Academy enforce all state laws because they are Texas Peace Officers.

08—You’re a conservation enforcement officer, and then because you are a state peace office, you are responsible to know and be able to enforce all the laws of the state.

Whether you seek information on becoming a Texas Game Warden, or you need information on various hunting, fishing a conservation regulations and policies for our state—you can find all of it on the Texas Parks & Wildlife website.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

This month the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series follows a self-proclaimed foodie as he learns how to hunt. Producer, Alan Fisher was with him every step of the way.

Coming up the week of April 17th we have a story called Will Hunt for Food, in which we follow a person interested in hunting for the first time through his interest in local foods. People are really more interested in organic and natural food, free range food, and of course wild game has always been all of those things.

I think definitely the story will show that where there are perceived hurdles, there are many resources out there, and a lot of people who would like to help you get started hunting. For more information, folks can visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

Thanks, Alan.

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

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