Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

While your mother may have many virtues, something she probably doesn’t have is three distinct ecosystems; but our mother does.

As you move from one ecosystem to the other, seeing the different plants and animals that live in each one of those ecosystems, just really shows you how varied the state of Texas is.

Leah Huth is Superintendent of Mother Neff SP. The ecosystems are a river bottom, where you can fish free along the banks of the Leon River, as well as a limestone escarpment and prairie.

We have over three miles of hiking trails that go up through a natural limestone escarpment; and the hiking trails take you through where the golden cheeked warbler likes to make their home. Then, if you take the trail all the way to the top of the park, which is over 250 acres, is a natural prairie. And right now the wildflowers are coming out, so spring is here and it’s just absolutely beautiful.

The park, in north Central Texas, is a one-stop family weekend vacation destination.

We have enough diversity here to where every member of the family could find something that they enjoy. There’s road biking, they could also do hiking, we have birding, we’ve got butterflies. Of course, there’s fishing in the Leon River. And if you desire just to put up a hammock, there’s opportunity to do that as well.

Learn more about this gem of a destination at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Governor Pat Neff may have named the park for his mother, but Isabella Neff got the ball rolling by willing several acres of the family homestead to “the people.”

She put it in her will in 1916 that she wanted part of the homestead to be a park to the pubic for religious, educational, fraternal and political purposes.

Leah Huth is Mother Neff State Park Superintendent. Even before Neff’s passing, Huth says people living near Waco and Temple used the land.

The people in the area were used to going there and meeting up with all of their neighbors. And she wanted that tradition to continue after she passed away. So, she instructed her son Pat to erect a fence around the plot and to construct a substantial building in the nature of a pavilion, and wanted it to be called something like the Neff Park; and of course, they ended up calling it Mother Neff.

The Civilian Conservation Corps, which in the 1930s built several structures at the park still in use today, started a tradition of celebrating Mother’s Day there.

People from all over came. And we have pictures of all of the CCC boys lined up in a star around the flagpole. It was just a very special time. It was often that Mother’s Day was celebrated here at the park.

Take your mother to Mother Neff State Park. Learn more about it at passporttotexas.org.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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May 2009 — Mother Neff SP — Chautauqua Time — Every Saturday. Rich in natural and cultural features, exciting trails and an abundance of wildlife, the park has 259 acres just waiting to be explored. Link up with a Park Ranger each week to join the fun. The activities and topics change every week with the Ranger and the weather; however programs are conducted rain or shine! 10-11 a.m. (254) 853-2389.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

May offers an opportunity to revisit past Texas Parks and Wildlife television shows. Alan Fisher, a writer and producer with the series, offers a preview…or… maybe that should be…re-view.

Maybe for television usually means reruns. But, for Texas Parks and Wildlife TV, we like to think of it as a chance to catch up on some things you might have missed. So, coming up in May, we have a segment on how to safely transport a shotgun…

The safest way to transport our firearms is in a case, unloaded, with our actions opened [clicking].

We have a segment on the newest inductee to the Texas Freshwater Hall of Fame—Charlie Pack of Waco. And, we also have a visit to several state parks. Lockhart, Purtis Creek, and Choke Canyon.

The sunrise here at Choke Canyon is just extravagant. The birds in the background. It’s just all worth getting up early in the morning just to just hear and view that.

So, what is it that you like about this season in TV Time?

You know, I guess I really like to see some things again, and maybe catch some things I missed the first time. I guess it’s also a chance for us to reevaluate, and start working on the next round of Texas Parks and Wildlife television shows. We like to get busy shooting in the springtime.

Thanks, Alan. Find a listing of PBS stations that air the series at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Texas Parks and Wildlife on PBS and Cable
Stations and Air Times
Times and dates are subject to change, especially during PBS membership drives.

• Amarillo, KACV-TV, Channel 2: October–March, Saturday 6 p.m.
• Austin, KLRU-TV, Channel 18: Monday, 12:30 p.m.; Friday 5:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. KLRU2, Cable 20: Tuesday, 11 p.m.
• Bryan-College Station, KAMU-TV, Channel 15: Sunday, 5 p.m.; Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Corpus Christi, KEDT-TV, Channel 16: Sunday, 12 p.m.; Friday, 2 p.m.
• Dallas-Fort Worth, KERA-TV, Channel 13: October–March, Saturday, 6 p.m. Also serving Abilene, Denton, Longview, Marshall, San Angelo, Texarkana, Tyler, Wichita Falls and Sherman.
• El Paso, KCOS-TV, Channel 13: Saturday, 3 p.m.
• Harlingen, KMBH-TV, Channel 60: Sunday, 5 p.m. Also serving McAllen, Mission and Brownsville.
• Houston, KUHT-TV, Channel 8: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.; Friday 1:30 p.m. Also serving Beaumont, Port Arthur, Galveston, Texas City and Victoria.
• Killeen, KNCT-TV, Channel 46: Sunday, 5 p.m. Also serving Temple.
• Lubbock, KTXT-TV, Channel 5: Saturday, 10 a.m.
• Odessa-Midland, KPBT-TV, Channel 36: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
• San Antonio and Laredo, KLRN-TV, Channel 9: Sunday, 1 p.m.
• Waco, KWBU-TV, Channel 34: Saturday, 3 p.m.
• Portales, New Mexico, KENW-TV, Channel 3: Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
• The New York Network, NYN, Thursday 8:30 p.m.; Saturday 2:30 p.m. Serving the Albany area.

Cable

Texas Parks & Wildlife can also be seen on a variety of government, educational and access cable channels in the following communities: Abilene, Allen, Atlanta, Boerne, Collin County Community College, Coppell, Del Mar College, Denton, Flower Mound, Frisco, Garland, Irving, McKinney, North Richland Hills, Plano, Rogers State University, Texarkana College, The Colony, Tyler, Waco and Wichita Falls. Check your local listings for days and times.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

If cats, dogs and grackles are the only wildlife visiting your backyard—you need a wildscape. Creating one is not as tough as you might think.

You know, the hardest part is just getting started.

Kelly Bender is an urban wildlife biologist and co-author of the book Texas Wildscapes. She was instrumental in creating the new Texas Wildscapes interactive DVD, which guides users through planning an urban oasis.

The Wildscape DVD is designed to help people to get started in planning their habitat, understanding what wildlife need to succeed, or to survive, and to give them the tools that they need to start implementing wildlife habitat management principles in their own gardens and landscapes.

Just pop the DVD into your computer, and a wealth of information, including which plants will grow in your area and what wildlife they attract, is at your fingertips.

We made this product that allows us to enter in different variables. So, you can say, well, I want something that is native to Central Texas, that needs a lot of sunshine or a little bit of sunshine, or attracts hummingbirds, or attracts songbirds, or whatever it is that you really want to have in a plant. And it will give you a list of plants that are appropriate for your goals.

Texas Wildscaping DVDs are free and available now. But quantities are limited. Go to passporttotexas.org to find out how to obtain your copy.

That’s our show…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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To obtain your copy of the free Wildscaping DVD, send an email to:nature@tpwd.state.tx.us

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

As more people move from the country to the city, large tracts of farm and ranch land are being divided into smaller parcels to accommodate urban dwellers’ desire for rural retreats.

More and more of our land is being fragmented and broken up. And so, small acreage land holdings are more common, especially in the eastern half of the state. You know, we’re talking fifty acres to two hundred acres.

Linda Campbell directs the private lands program at Texas Parks and Wildlife. Because habitat fragmentation negatively impacts wildlife, neighboring landowners are encouraged to work together to lessen the problem.

We encourage landowners to join with their neighbors in what are called landowner cooperatives, or wildlife management associations. They’re becoming much more common, and landowners working together can get a lot more done for wildlife; they impact more habitat when they work together. And they can accomplish common goals. And, so, we very much encourage and work with groups of landowners to develop these landowner driven cooperatives.

Visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife web site for complete details on how landowner cooperatives can receive free, confidential technical assistance.

Our show’s supported by the Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for the Private Lands and Public Hunting Programs.

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

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