Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Some ideas seem good when you first have them. Then after some time passes—not so much. Take smallmouth bass, for example, and their effect on the Guadalupe bass population.

Small mouth bass, of course, are not native to Texas, but were brought in as an additional sport fish. The problem is they can’t tell each other apart. Even though they look very different, but evidently, they act similar enough behaviorally that they’ll reproduce—and they have hybrids.

That’s Gary Garrett, Director of the Watershed Conservation Program. So, what’s wrong with hybrids, anyway?

Hybrids, by definition, are halfway between the parents. So, they’re not as well adapted for their environment; they may do well in the short run, but in the long haul, they’re really not going to be as good a species.

Besides, they’re the state fish of Texas, occurring only in the Hill Country. And, well, you just don’t mess with Texas.

The other thing we’re now seeing a little bit is that these hybrids are now also crossing with our largemouth bass…which is yet another problem we want to avoid.

And you definitely don’t mess with largemouth bass. But, we’ve started to turn the tide on these hybrids with saturation stocking.

And we’re confident that in the next four or five years we’re going to be able to solve this problem.

That’s our show… we receive support from the SF Restoration program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

This month on the TPW TV series you’ll get to the bottom of Palo Duro Canyon. Producer, Ron Kabele.

It’s the second largest canyon in the country. And, it has a big advantage over the Grand Canyon, and that is you can drive down to it.

The Grand Canyon is nice to stand on the edge and go. ‘That’s a great canyon.’ Here, you can get into the canyon and you can become part of it.

I heard about this 24-hour bike race that they were doing, and it was to raise money for cancer research. And so, what better way to show off the park than to show people actually uses it.

When you’ve got a huge park like this, these are the only places where you can do these kinds of events. That’s what the parks are for.

And one of the kids, his name was Joe. I got some video of him during the race, and then afterwards I interviewed him, and that’s when I realized that he only had one arm.

They’re like you can’t bike a hundred miles. You know, I was able to do the fifty with ease; I’m sure I can bike a hundred. Yeah, they did kind of think I was crazy.

You don’t have to be crazy to visit Palo Duro State Park—just adventurous. Learn what awaits you at Texas’ Grand Canyon, when you log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

When 19th century Texans wanted bacon or sausage, they had to make it–starting with raising the pig. See how it’s done when you visit the Sauer Beckman Living History Farm February 6 for their German Smokehouse Secrets demonstration.

This event, we actually go into not only the curing of bacon and sausage, but they also do some other German food that may not be familiar to everyone.

Iris Neffendorf is manager of the LBJ SP and Historic Site and the Sauer Beckmann Living History Farm in Johnson City in the Hill Country.

We decided this year that because of the interest in the past, that we would go ahead and offer this one-day activity, focused heavily on outdoor processing and nineteen hundred food preparations that relate to German traditions on a German farm.

People concerned about where food comes from and how animals are raised will appreciate this demonstration, says Neffendorf.

People are turning a lot more to organic gardening and organic animals and farmyard eggs. So this is what you have here at the living history farm is homegrown, or what we call now, organic types of food.

It’s free to attend the February 6 German Smokehouse Secrets demonstration at the Sauer Beckman Living History farm. Find details on the TPW website.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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February 6, 2010 — Lyndon B. Johnson SP&HS — Old Time German Smokehouse Secrets — Experience some of the 1900s meat processing methods used on an old German farm. Watch the curing of bacon and the art of stuffing of sausage. Visit with interpreters at the farm on methods and ways of handling foods and compare them to today’s techniques. Then tour the buildings and houses where you’ll find a wood stove used daily by park interpreters. Accessible for the mobility, visually and hearing impaired. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (830) 644-2252.

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This is Passport to Texas

Since 2002, twenty-six thousand derelict crab traps have been hauled from Texas bays.

Through our program we have documented over forty species of organisms that are caught in these traps that include game fish, and commercially important fish, and even Diamond back terrapins which are a species of special concern.

That’s Art Morris is a biologist with Coastal Fisheries. He says Parks and Wildlife is gearing up for the annual Crab Trap clean up, February 19-28. Volunteers are needed.

Anybody can volunteer, however, we primarily need people with boats, and particularly air boats. But there are jobs for people that don’t have a boat. We need people to unload boats; we need people to maybe sometimes to go out with people that will have crew members to go out with them. We’ll provide gloves; we’ll have tarps for boats. You don’t need to sign up for anything. We would like you to call ahead of time so we can get an estimate of how many people are going to come to that site. Most of our work’s going to be done in San Antonio bay, north, because that’s where most of the crabbing effort goes on. But anybody can volunteer, and they can do it on their own—anytime from February 19 through 28th.

The main cleanup event is February 20 from 8:00 to noon; check the TPW website for details. Morris warns to remove traps only during Feb. 19-28 as it is illegal all other times as traps are private property.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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This is Passport to Texas

There are ghosts in the gulf that silently trap and kill thousands of marine species annually.

They are a perpetual trapping machine. When something gets caught in there, it has nothing to eat and it dies, and it becomes bait and it attracts other fish and other organisms.

That’s Art Morris…ghost buster. Actually, he’s a biologist with Coastal Fisheries. The entities he’s after are abandoned crab traps…adrift in the gulf…ghost fishing.

And one of the key things about this, because they’re targeting for crabs, that’s the number one species that we see—the targeted organisms is what we’re losing to these derelict traps.

Weather and vandalism are the primary reasons why traps end up adrift, indiscriminately ensnaring crustaceans and other sea life. Morris says since 2002, twenty-six thousand of these A.W.O.L. traps have been hauled from Texas bays.

A single trap can kill 26 blue crabs per trap per year. And we can extrapolate those numbers out and we estimate somewhere in the area of half million blue crabs are saved through this program alone—or have to date.

Morris hasn’t removed these traps alone—he’s had a lot of help from volunteers during annual crab trap clean ups. Your chance to help rid the gulf of ghost fishing happens later this month…and we’ll tell you about it tomorrow.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Abandoned Crab Traps Play Now | Play in Popup | Download