Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

For a family friendly, memory-making, spring break getaway—you can’t beat Colorado Bend State Park, and the white bass run. Our State Park guide, Bryan Frazier has more.

55—And at Colorado Bend, when the white bass run is on, it could be one of the best in the state of Texas. You can catch lots of fish, get kids involved and other people, and really share a memory that you might not be able to find anywhere else, or any other time of year. Well, before I turned on this machine, you shared a memory, and you said that you took your mom and son. Tell me about that. Well, I took my mother and my young son who hadn’t fished much either last year; it was one of the best white bass runs at Colorado bend that we had in a long, long time. The water levels were up, and we took our little boat, and we had a ball. We put the boat in the water and moved upstream just a few hundred yards, and started catching white bass, and we caught them for a couple hours. We kept, you know, enough for us to eat, and white bass are great to eat, so I recommend doing that when you know what the bag limits and the length limits are. We had a time that I know I’ll remember for the rest of my life, and probably my mom and little boy will as well. So, get outdoors and enjoy that—it’s spring break—white bass run…Colorado bend. That’s a great recipe right there for a lot of fun.

Thanks, Bryan.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet…building dependable, reliable trucks for more than 90 years.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Texas Parks and Wildlife recently completed the ninth and final map in its Great Texas Wildlife Trails map series.

05—And that is the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail map, which just launched in December of 2010.

Shelly Plante oversees nature tourism for Parks and Wildlife. The latest map, divided into 10 loops, features 57 sites.

21—It stretches from Midland-Odessa down to Sanderson, Big Bend, and up all the way to El Paso. So, we go over two different time zones in this trail. In other trails, we’ve tried to keep sites within a half hour of other sites; in West Texas we’ve had to make that within a couple hours within the closest sites, but in West Texas standards—that’s close.

You’ll find the GPS coordinates for each site on the map, as well as relevant information. Some of the wildlife viewing sites included on this map may surprise you.

18—A golf course is involved… RV parks…and things that you wouldn’t necessarily think of as wildlife viewing sites—but they are. They’re protected habitat, and they’re these green oases, in the middle of Far West Texas, so they really do make good wildlife viewing site. But they aren’t necessarily what you would think of as a visitor. So, they’re perfect sites for a map like this.

Download any of the nine maps of the Great Texas Wildlife Trails from the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, and experience the wild(life) side of nature.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

We know how spring breakers like to get wild on their week away from classes. This spring break, you can either follow the crowd, or blaze a trail when you follow our maps to the best wildlife in Texas.

07—Through this series of maps, we now have over 950 sites, statewide, that show you the best places to see all kinds of wildlife.

I’m sure you’ve figured out we’re talking about actual wildlife—not questionable behavior.

07—From bighorn sheep to monarch butterflies to migratory song birds, to nesting shorebirds on the Texas coast.

Shelly Plante oversees nature tourism for Parks and Wildlife.

30—Fifteen years ago we started with the Great Texas Coastal Birding trail, which was a series of three trails on the Texas coast: the upper, central and lower Texas coast. With the success of those, we moved on and did the Heart of Texas, and Panhandle Plains, and those were so successful we then moved on to the Prairies and Pineywoods. About two years ago, I started partnering with the Texas Mountain Trail and Texas Pecos Trail regions of the Heritage Trails of the Historical Commission to create the final map of the series. And that is the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail map.

Download any of the nine maps of the Great Texas Wildlife Trails from the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, and have a wild spring break—the kind you can tell your folks about.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

The April issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is sure to intrigue and delight with stories that take you from one side of the state to the other. Editor, Louie Bond.

55—One thing in particular we’re going to look at is the bighorn sheep relocation out in West Texas, that happened in December, which was a glorious project, and very exciting for everyone who participated as they literally air lifted sheep from one location to another. But, it’s a great restoration project that the agency’s been working on for a long time, and we’re very proud. And I know that people are going to be so excited to drive down the road and be able to see a bighorn sheep again. In fact, I already had a friend tell me, ‘I saw a bighorn sheep out there the other day.’ So, it’s a great success story for all of us. Another great success story are the paddling trails that are opening up all around the state, due in large part to our partnerships with lots of great people across the state who want these paddling trails in their areas, and we help them make these a reality. So, people are getting out on the water and seeing the sights in this quiet, peaceful way of travel. So, I hope whether you like land or water, you’ll get outside and enjoy the great things our agency’s done this month.

Thanks, Louie.

Find more information at www.tpwmagazine.com.

We receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…providing funding for wildlife restoration and water access.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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This is Passport to Texas

Long before humans made their mark on the land, the Rio Grande River was shaping Resaca de la Palma State Park in Brownsville.

07—Brownsville is growing so rapidly—it’s going to be so urbanized—this is going to be one of the few places they’re going to be able to enjoy the outdoors

Jaun Arias is a Park Ranger. He says ancient coils of river bed, known as resacas ebb and flow attracting wildlife when they fill with water. Today this area etched by the river is part of the World Birding Center.

05—The idea of the World Birding Center Complex is to create this wildlife corridor throughout the valley.

The center encompasses a series of nine unique areas in the Rio Grande Valley. Brownsville’s Resaca de la Palma boasts the largest tract of native habitat in network; and while birds are a big attraction.…

10—We have a healthy population of different animals. Each has established its own range, in the food, water, shelter. They’re happy, you know. And if they’re happy we’re happy. That’s the bottom line.

Resaca Park Ranger Claudia Tamez says you can start your visit to the site online.

12— We have a really cool way of keeping our visitors informed. So what we do is use Facebook. The visitors love it because they get to look at our photo album and see how much fun we have, what they can expect when they come here.

That’s our show… we record the series at Block House Studios in Austin…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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