Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Fire’s always played a vital role in the creation of healthy ecosystem. Yet, as Europeans settled Texas, fire suppression was the name of the game.

That’s correct. As Europeans settled Texas, the occurrence of fire went down, because nobody obviously wants to have their house burned up.

David Veale is biologist for the M. O. Neasloney (nez-low-NEE) WMA in Gonzales County. On January 16 he leads a prescribed fire workshop at the WMA.

We start off with the historical perspective of fire, you know, what some of the fire intervals were. The native Americans did use fire to manage some of their grassland communities. And, so why it’s important to reintroduce that fire into the landscape; we also talk about what fire can do, and what is the role of fire in vegetation management.

And that’s just the beginning of what participants can expect…although Veale says the workshop is simply an overview.

You know, you can give somebody the information, and you can talk about it on paper, but until they’re actually put fire on their actual place where they’re responsible for that fire, that’s a big hurdle to get over.

Veale recommends after the workshop, landowners and managers consider joining prescribed burn associations.

We have a lot of them popping up throughout the state. And it’s a pooling of resources, it’s a pooling of expertise—it’s really a good thing.

That’s our show… supported by the Wildlife Restoration program. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

We’re taught from a young age to prevent fires. What we’ve forgotten is that nature relies on fire to flourish.

When you look at the historical occurrence of fire throughout the state, it’s something that pretty much every ecosystem in the state evolved with. All of our plant communities were evolved with fire at some certain interval—that’s going to differ throughout the state. But it’s been a pretty formative force in Texas ecology.

David Veale is a biologist for the M. O. Neasloney (nez-low-NEE) WMA in Gonzales County. He says we need reeducation about fire’s benefits.

And so we want to show landowners that it’s a responsible land management practice when applied correctly, when applied safely. And it’s something that’s really going to benefit not only your wildlife habitat, but generally your livestock program as well.

On January 16, Veale will lead a prescribed burning workshop at the M.O. Neasloney WMA.

The workshop is primarily targeted at landowners and land managers—the folks that are actually going to have the management decision to put fire on the ground and the responsibility for that. But it’s really kind of an introduction to burning. Because we’re not going to tell you everything you’d ever need to know about running a complete fire program in one day. So, this is just kind of a good overview; some of the things that need to be considered before a fire management program is started. And once that decision is made, it shows you some of the avenues for receiving some more training.

We have information about the workshop at passporttotexas.org. That’s our show… supported by the Wildlife Restoration program

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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January 16, 2010 — M.O. Neasloney WMA — Prescribed Fire Workshop — This workshop is designed to give landowners and managers a basic understanding of the use and application of prescribed fire in a wildlife and/or grazing management program. Topics will include historical perspectives on fire, the role of fire in vegetation management, fire weather and safety, planning the burn, fire line preparation, suppression equipment and smoke management. Participants will conduct a burn if conditions permit. Bring your lunch, drinks, leather gloves and boots and wear cotton outerwear. Accessible for the mobility impaired. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (830) 424-3407

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This is Passport to Texas

Trees are habitat for wildlife. And if you’re adding new trees to your landscape, you need to know the rules.

People frequently ask how close they can put a tree to the house, because shade on the house obviously is a huge energy savings. The general rule of thumb is you go no closer to the house than the eaves are high. So, if you measure up to the eaves of your house, and it’s ten feet high, then you need to get ten feet back from the house.

Scott Harris, a certified arborist in Austin, recommends planting only native specimens.

You always want to plant your trees at the exact level they were in the pot. Don’t dig a big deep hole, dig a big wide hole. Always use the same soil you took out to backfill. But, you can put your compost underneath the mulch, and then all of that organic goodness will dribble down in the way that nature intended.

By watering infrequently and deeply, we can help new trees develop extensive root systems.

If you just have a little bit of water in one area, that’s where the roots are going to go. But if you water very deeply, it’ll spread into the surrounding soil, and the roots will follow that moisture out.

Strong root systems help trees remain strong and withstand drought.

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

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This is passport to Texas

Now is an ideal time to plant trees throughout most of Texas…and you might wonder why.

Two reasons: the two most important constituents in tree planting—the people planting the trees and the trees. It’s just much easier on them.

Scott Harris is a certified arborist in Austin. Tree planting season in Texas started in October and continues through March.

Getting the trees in the ground in the fall [and winter], they have the entire cool season, dormant season, to spread roots out before the big demands on roots and water start in the spring.

Just because a tree will grow in Texas, doesn’t mean it should grow here. Harris advises that we all exercise caution about what we plant in our yards.

The biggest thing to avoid is non-natives. Our natives have all of the features you would want, but they’ve spent thousands and thousands of years getting used to being here, and with all of the wildlife used to having them, too. It’s all a web, and you can’t tell which string you can pull out without upsetting things.

Tomorrow we’ll have a few tree planting tips to help you and your newly planted tree enjoy a long and happy life together.

That’s our show…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

Ann Miller developed and hosts a new series of videos from Texas Parks and Wildlife called Take Me Fishing 101.

Well, the primary thing I want to convey is that fishing is great fun. It’s a great way to enjoy the outdoors with your family, with friends; it’s inexpensive, and it’s really pretty easy.

Miller says the eleven videos in the series cover basic skills that will help anyone get started fishing in a very short time.

I think that that’s the beauty of these. They were created to be about three minute segments. So, you can choose which segments you want to view. You can view two or three at a time, or one at a time, and practice a little bit, and then come back for more.

There are three ways to view the videos: on YouTube and the Texas Parks and Wildlife website…

Then, the third day you can do this is purchase the DVD set through the Parks and Wildlife website. Who do you expect with buy the DVDs? I really feel like there are a lot of folks out there that really just have this desire to get in the out of doors and that they’re going to look at these videos as a stepping stone to help them get out, and enjoy the outdoors, and enjoy fishing in particular.

Find links to the videos at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…we produce our show with a grant form the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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