Passport to Texas

Hueco Tanks pictograph

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This is Passport to Texas

If you’ve been to Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site in El Paso, count yourself among the lucky.

Hueco Tanks isn’t the smallest state park, but it’s definitely the most exclusive. It’s capped at 72 people a day.

Next week the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS explores the park with an enthusiastic El Paso native.

I’m Clara Cobb, and I run a couple social media sites here in El Paso. What you really do [in social media] is tell stories. And that’s my attraction—absolutely—to Hueco Tanks. It’s a place where people have been telling stories for 10,000 years.

The stories are still being told with the rock art left behind by early inhabitants who were drawn to the site because of the rainwater pooled in natural rock basins, or huecos. You can learn more on a pictograph tour…

 [Clara] Which takes you behind the scenes to some of the more exclusive places.

[Interpreter] Welcome to site 17. This is lower 17—also known as newspaper cave. You have above us these cream colored shapes that date back to Apache era, roughly, somewhere around two to 400 years old. A bit more recently than them, this orange-ish horse shape right here. Everyone always thinks that is native American cave art. It’s not.

Acquaint yourself with Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site on next week’s Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS. Check your local listings.

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

You can see the Milky Way at Big Bend Ranch State Park

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This is Passport to Texas

Good news for star gazers: Big Bend Ranch State Park is the latest Texas State Park designated as a Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association—or IDA.

It joins neighboring Big Bend National Park to form one of the largest contiguous areas under dark-skies protection in the United States.

This designation is an important step forward in the conservation of some of the darkest night skies remaining in the lower 48 states.

Now let this sink in: With the inclusion of Big Bend Ranch State Park , we have secured the protection of natural nighttime darkness in Texas over an area larger than the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Mind blown, right?

Big Bend Ranch SP, located in the remote and rugged Trans-Pecos region, is known for giving visitors an untamed, wilderness experience. Preserving the dark sky is key to that experience and something all visitors treasure.

BBRSP joins Copper Breaks State Park, South Llano River State Park and Enchanted Rock State Park in holding the prestigious IDA designation.

Find more information about the Dark Skies program on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

Image by Tyler Priest

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This is Passport to Texas

Tom Harvey had a personal reason for backpacking the rugged Rancherias Loop at Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Well, frankly, I turned 60, and I wanted to do some adventures before I got too old.

Tall, lean and fit, Harvey is deputy communications director at Texas Parks and Wildlife. Joining him on the hike were 10 former state park youth ambassadors, all more than half his age.

It’s really, really beautiful to meet these young people that are just drawn to nature and wilderness. A lot of them are newbies to this—but they’re drawn to it.

Tom shares his experience in the current issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

We settled on this because it seemed like something that was a big adventure, but doable. And the trail had been blazed. There was a clear route. And it was a classic that hadn’t been written about much in the magazine—so I thought: why not? You know, we’ll write about the Rancherias Loop.

No stranger to wilderness backpacking, Tom says the first night they scrambled to set up camp ahead of a storm.

Well, it was scary when it was happening. We barely got those tents up when the rain hit. And it was blowing a gale. It was very tense.

Find out what happened to the backpackers in the January/February of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine; on newsstands now.

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

Photo: Emily Lozano

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This is Passport to Texas

Tom Harvey, deputy communications director at Texas Parks and Wildlife, planned several wilderness adventures to celebrate turning 60 last year.

Well, I did one. So at least I got something.

That one: backpacking the Rancherias Loop in Far West Texas with alumni from the state park youth ambassador program. He wrote about it for the current issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine. Near the end of the first day, Tom said an approaching storm forced the group to stop, set up camp and take cover.

We barely got those tents up when the rain hit. And it was blowin’ a gale. It was very tense; because the wind was so powerful, it would blow the tent entirely flat, like a giant hand was mashing it down. So, I’d be lying there on my back in my sleeping bag and the tent would come flapping down right onto my face. It was scary. I was really concerned that the wind was so strong that it was just going to peel those tents right off the mountain. And so here I was in my tent—not a happy camper—and what do I hear, but laughter. In the next tent over, there are these three young ladies, and I can hear them giggling. When the big wind would come and blow the tent flat, they would howl with laughter. And it shook me out of my black worry. And I thought to myself, they’re choosing to laugh in the face of this storm. It just lifted my spirits.

Read about the entire three day, two night backpacking adventure in the current issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

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

Processing a hog as they would have done in 1850s Texas, at Barrington Living History Farm

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This is Passport to Texas

In 1850s Texas people raised and butchered their own animals. Pigs were a popular choice back then.

They reproduce quickly. They’re useful for eating your garbage, and then you eat them. In that way, it’s kind of a closed cycle of consumption—as a recycling source.

Barb King, is lead domestic interpreter at Barrington Living History Farm at Washington-on-the-Brazos State park and Historic Site. Before refrigeration, Texans butchered animals in cold months. January 13 & 14 farm staff will demonstrate the process. They’ll dispatch an animal before guests arrive, but visitors will see everything else beginning with evisceration…

That’s actually one of my favorite times to teach anatomy lessons, because [the pig’s organs] are very close to human structures. So, we can talk about different organs, what their use is….

Afterwards, Barb says, they divide the meat into cuts.

Then, on Sunday, we grind a lot of the meat; visitors can help with that. Then we end up curing the meat on Sunday, as well. So, we show people the start of the process, and then we have a lot of people who go home and end up trying their own charcuterie at home. Or, they already make sausage, and they just want to see the beginning of the process. You know: how do you start with it on the hoof?

The Whole Hog demonstration is Saturday and Sunday, January 13th & 14th at Barrington Living History Farm. The program is weather dependent, so call to confirm. Find details on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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