Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Tom Vandivier and his family have worked tirelessly to restore the natural balance to their 51-hundred acre Llano Springs Ranch in Edwards County. They did this in part by removing acres upon acres of cedar trees.

(birds) My family and I have cleared approximately 27-hundred acres out of the 51-hundred acres we have here.

The ranch contains the headwaters of the South Llano River, which flows into the Colorado. Years of work to remove water-sucking cedar and restore water-friendly native grasses have paid off.

(water) We’ve got one spring that wasn’t existent at all when we got here that’s running now. Things are working.

With less cedar and more water and native grasses, wildlife is abundant on the ranch, and that brings visitors.

It’s lots of fun to see people come out and discover pretty sights, or find a big deer, of fish in the river and catch a fish. All sorts of people have come out and enjoyed this. That’s one of our true pleasures is seeing folks enjoy this ranch. (birds)

The Vandivier family’s efforts have earned Llano Springs Ranch this year’s Leopold Conservation Award from the Sand County Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife, as part of the department’s Lone Star Land Steward Awards program.

The Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation by private landowners. Learn more at passporttotexas.org.

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

Lone Star Land Stewards: Llano Springs, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Vandivier family, owners of Llano Spring Ranch in Edwards County, is this year’s winner of the Leopold Conservation Award for Texas.

The ranch is over 51-hundred acres, and when they first purchased it, probably 80 or 90 percent of it, was covered with massive stands of re-growth cedar.

That’s wildlife consultant Fielding Harwell. The award, from the Sand County Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife, is part of the department’s Lone Star Land Steward Awards program.

(chainsaw) Tom has spent a horrendous amount of time clearing cedar. His entire family takes part in the ranching operation and just take all of these challenges with great zeal. (hawk call)

Tom Vandivier, an attorney who works near Austin, spends weekends with his family working on the ranch.

My family and I have cleared approximately 27-hundred acres out of the 51-hundred acres we have here in order to provide more food for the wildlife, enhance the water resources, and overall just bring this ranch into good productivity.

The Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation by private landowners.

Tomorrow—the impact of the improvements.

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

Lone Star Land Stewards: Llano Springs, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The August issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine takes readers way out west to Big Bend Country. Managing Editor Louie Bond.

Maybe it’s a little hot to visit there is August, but it’s a great time to plan your next trip out there for maybe October when the nights are cool. We’ve got three big stories on Big Bend. The first is a great photo essay by our photographers on the Big Bend Ranch cattle round up that they have every year. This is an actual longhorn cattle roundup. It’s the real deal. Twenty-five ordinary citizens come out, they get on horses, and they actually do round up these cattle. I think it’s a taste of the old west that you can’t find anywhere else.

And we’re going to go rafting down the Sana Elena Canyon. Some of them combine music and food, as well as just incredible sights. And then we’re also going to take a tour of Big Bend Ranch State Park, which is newly funded, newly organized. They’re just making great strides out there.

And there are so many recreational opportunities; there are so many things for people to explore that they’ve never seen before out at Big Bend. And then, if we need to cool off after all of that Big bend in the hot sun, we’re going to take a look at the Resaca de la Palma state park which is going to be opening up, and the best state park swimming spots—which we will definitely need in August.

Thanks, Louie. The August issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.

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

TP&W August Magazine Preview Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The August issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine takes readers way out west to Big Bend Country. Managing Editor Louie Bond.

Maybe it’s a little hot to visit there is August, but it’s a great time to plan your next trip out there for maybe October when the nights are cool. We’ve got three big stories on Big Bend. The first is a great photo essay by our photographers on the Big Bend Ranch cattle round up that they have every year. This is an actual longhorn cattle roundup. It’s the real deal. Twenty-five ordinary citizens come out, they get on horses, and they actually do round up these cattle. I think it’s a taste of the old west that you can’t find anywhere else.

And we’re going to go rafting down the Sana Elena Canyon. Some of them combine music and food, as well as just incredible sights. And then we’re also going to take a tour of Big Bend Ranch State Park, which is newly funded, newly organized. They’re just making great strides out there.

And there are so many recreational opportunities; there are so many things for people to explore that they’ve never seen before out at Big Bend. And then, if we need to cool off after all of that Big bend in the hot sun, we’re going to take a look at the Resaca de la Palma state park which is going to be opening up, and the best state park swimming spots—which we will definitely need in August.

Thanks, Louie. The August issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.

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

TP&W August Magazine Preview Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

In May, after 21 years, Dave Sager concluded his tenure at Parks and Wildlife as branch chief of ecosystem and habitat assessment for Inland Fisheries. Before he left, I asked him of what he was most proud and he said the people he hired that will continue the agency’s mission.

Other than that, it is working on environmental issues to try to keep our resources from deteriorating in the state. We’ve been very blessed in the resources we have, and efforts taken to keep them.

Sager said he’s worked for four Executive Directors and numerous Commissions, but one thing has remained constant.

The job doesn’t really change that much, because the resources are the same, a lot of the issues are the same. We always have new things come up like toxic golden algae becoming an issue further east in the state, or other things like that. But, overall, the jobs stay pretty much the same.

In the end, Sager says he will miss the people of Parks and Wildlife.

It’s hard for a lot of folks to understand when they talk about the parks and wildlife family. Other places I’ve worked it has not been that way. But here, it truly is, and it goes throughout the whole division. And people always support each other and are there when you have a need. And to me, that’s the key.

Learn about employment opportunities at Parks and Wildlife at passporttotexas.org.

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

Parting Shot: Dr. Dave Sager Play Now | Play in Popup | Download