Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

April 22, 1970 marked the first celebration of Earth Day, the goal of which was to highlight the needs of the planet, and to instill a sense of planetary stewardship among citizens. The message continues. This month, you can participate in Earth Day events at state parks throughout Texas.

On Saturday, April 14th, from 9 to 5, Brazos Bend State Park offers a full day of family fun. Participate in nature hikes and attend historical interpretations. You can experience hands-on activities and demonstrations from local and national conservation groups.

Colorado Bend State Park hosts an Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 21st from 9 to 5. Bring a friend and a picnic lunch and enjoy the beauty of this unique area of the Texas Hill Country. Take a guided tour along one of the many trails, and visit Gorman Falls and Gorman cave.

Finally, spend Tuesday, April 24th learning in the outdoors at Lake Texana. Study the wide array of native trees, and make leaf prints. Afterwards, plant a native tree you’ve brought or plant one provided by the park. Relax with a cool night hike in the woodlands of the Navidad River.

Information about Earth Day events can be found on the Texas Parks & Wildlife website.

That’s our show for today…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

You only have until Saturday, April seventh to register if you intend to participate in the Great Texas Birding Classic.

This year is the 11th annual Great Texas Birding Classic. We are consolidating the tournament to a single weekend to try to make one big weekend of birding on the Texas coast.

Shelley Plante is Nature Tourism Coordinator. Although the classic takes place April 15 – 22, the three main bird watching events at the- the upper, central and lower coasts – occur April 21 & 22.

People get together in teams of 3 to 5 people and they go out for 24 hours of birding to see as many species as they can in that period. Teams record all the species that they see in a single day and we have judges that look at these results and award prizes to the top 3 teams for each tournament. For the week long and sectional adult tournaments, we actually have conservation cash grand prizes. This is $50,000 of habitat conservation money that goes to projects of the
winning team’s choice.

Everybody is invited to the annual classic, regardless of age or experience.

You do not have to be a strong birder to be involved. The tournament will fit any level of birding expertise and all of these tournaments are raising money for habitat conservation on the Texas coast.

Register online. Find out how on passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

If you’re wondering what people do in the great outdoors, consider spending a little time indoors watching the Texas Parks and Wildlife Television series and find out. Series producer Abe Moore…

The first week of April, one of the main stories we’re working on is Pedernales Volunteers. It’s a story on how important our volunteers are to the state park system.

The work they do is a tremendous benefit to the staff, because it saves them a lot of time. It allows us to actually provide a higher level of customer service.

The second week of April, we’re doing a story on the Guadalupe bass – our state fish – and folks at the Texas Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center are working to save our state fish from going extinct.

We began work to raise thousands and thousands of pure Guadalupe Bass, and put them back into the system, and simply overwhelm the hybrids.

The third week of April, we’re heading out with the game wardens of the Texas parks and Wildlife department. They’re heading out to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

Lots of chaos. But when we were given a mission, we brought order to that chaos. We had a command staff. We had game wardens that were organized, knew how to work the boats, and knew how to fit into a team effort.

And, finally, on the fourth week of April on our TV program, we’re doing a program called “Student Parking” – and it deals with all of our state parks and how great they are as outdoor classrooms.

Check local listings to see when the show airs in your town.

That’s our show…thank you for joining us…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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

Lake Fork is the site of the first annual Toyota Texas Bass Classic, scheduled April 13 through 15. The organizers of this one million dollar tournament had to figure out how to work with the agency’s restrictive management policy.

We manage that lake with a 16 to 24 inch slot limit. Which means fish between 16 and 24 inches must be released immediately. They can’t be held in a live well or carried to a weigh-in.

Phil Durocher is Director if Inland Fisheries at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

We’ve been working with them and they’ve developed a format where they’re going to actually weigh the fish on the boats as they catch them and release them on the spot. So, it will be the first time anywhere in the country that we’ve had a top-notch professional bass tournament on a lake with really restrictive length limits.

In addition, the professional anglers will work as four-man teams.

Two of the anglers by draw are going to go out and fish the morning session. And then, they’re going t get together with the other two anglers on that team, where they have a strategy session about what they need to do in the afternoon. And in the afternoon the other two anglers are going to go out, and fish based on the information and the patterns they discussed with the anglers that fished in the morning. You know, these anglers are not used to fishing in teams. So it’s going to be interesting to see what happens. They’re going to have to work together to win this event. It’s reality fishing.

Get tournament details on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show… supported by the Sort Fish Restoration program. ..funded by your purchase of fishing equipment and motor boat fuels.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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

I met with Phil Durocher, Director of Inland Fisheries, on a day when a noisy construction crew was working outside his window. But the racket didn’t distract him from the topic of our interview – fishing in Texas.

Fishing is big business in Texas. And on the freshwater side alone, it’s estimated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of about a four billion dollar a year industry.

One fish that draws anglers to Texas from across the country is the large-mouthed bass.

The bass are the number one fish in fresh water. It’s estimated that over half of all the fishermen in Texas fish solely for bass. It’s a big part of our business, and it’s the most popular fish in the united states.

And Durocher isn’t shy when it comes to sharing what he’d like to see for bass angling in Texas.

It is big business, and we’d like to get all of it in Texas if we could.

He may get his wish after the first annual Toyota Texas Bass Classic takes place at Lake Fork next month.

It’s going to be a one million dollar tournament. I don’t know what they purse is going to be for individuals, but the total package is one million dollars.

We’ll learn about the tournament on tomorrow’s show.

We’ve been working with them and have developed a format where they’re going to actually weigh the fish on the boats as they catch them, and release them on the spot.

That’s our show…sponsored by the Sport Fish Restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing equipment and motor boat fuels.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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