Passport to Texas

 Stewardship: Understanding Your Land: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The best time to get to know your land is when you first buy it.

16—Walk it; look at it carefully. Study it over the seasons. Really find out what makes it tick. And, that’s the first step – to really understand the land – and then understand the management that it takes to achieve the kind of goals you want for your recreation.

Linda Campbell directs the private lands program at Parks and Wildlife. The program helps landowners with management goals. Campbell recommends getting started by visiting the workshop calendar in the private lands section on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

07—These are workshops and field days and things of that nature that occur all over the state. And so I would suggest landowners take a look at that.

Attending these events allows landowners to get to know other like-minded people in their region. The agency also offers free on-site technical assistance in wildlife management planning.

10—And so, we look at the entire picture – all the habitats that are there, what can be done, what are the landowners goals, and then we help them develop a plan that will help them achieve that.

Tomorrow, joining with adjacent landowners to form a wildlife management association.

That’s our show. We receive support from the Wildlife Restoration program.

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

 Stewardship: Recreational Landowners: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Our state’s population may be mostly urban, but Texans continue to buy rural property as weekend retreats.

05—Recreational buying is the greatest motivation for exchanges in land in Texas.

Linda Campbell directs the private lands program at Parks and Wildlife. Various reasons drive the purchase of recreational land.

29—Game species are still a big driver – very important economically for landowners in Texas, and for the communities that are supported by this. But, we have a greater diversity of landowners, and so with a diversity of people , you have a diversity of interests. So, there are a lot of landowners, particularly those with smaller tracts, that are primarily interested in managing for birds and other non-game wildlife. Or, they just want to get away from the city to have a retreat. And that’s an absolutely valid goal as well. And, so, we work with all landowners in whatever their goal is.

Parks and Wildlife’s private lands program offers landowners free technical assistance managing their property.

12—Texas is over ninety percent privately owned, and so we recognized that if we’re going to have any impact at all on conservation of wildlife and habitats, we have to do it through the cooperation of private landowners.

Understanding your land…that’s tomorrow.

That’s out show…we receive support from the Wildlife restoration program.

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

 Resolve to Have Outdoor Adventures!: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Don’t you love the start of a New Year? It‘s totally fresh and filled with possibilities. So, take a few minutes to consider how you’re going to make this year better for you and your family.

One way would be to get outside more, because—as we like to say: life’s better outside.

Spending time in the natural world has a way of resetting the brain and giving you a fresh perspective. Researchers have discovered that children who spend time in nature do better on exams, and are less disruptive in the classroom.

Bring a pair of walking shoes to the office, and during your lunch hour, stroll outdoors in the fresh air. Even if you’re in a city, you can still observe the varied wildlife and plant life you see along the way. It’s amazing how much nature you can actually find in a concrete jungle.

Spend time with friends or family at one of your state parks. Most folks are within 90 minutes of a state park; many are much closer. Take a nature hike, ride a bike. Pitch a tent and sleep under the stars, or find a park with cabins and rough it indoors.

Commit to learning something new about Texas history by visiting one of the state’s incredible historic sites.

There’s a world of wonder out there, and once you spend more time outdoors, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

That’s our show… from all of us at Passport to Texas, we wish you a New Year filled with outdoor adventure…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

 Prescription Fire: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Given the devastation produced by wildfires this year, it may be difficult to grasp the vital role fire plays in land management. Nature’s been using it for eons with great success.

David Riskind, director of natural resources for state parks, says there’s a difference between a fire burning out of control, and the prescription burns biologists recommend to landowners.

Controlled burning is a term that people use that you start at part A, and you burn until you get to part B. Professional land managers use the term prescribed fire because you have specific objectives, you have specific outcomes, you burn under very specific conditions. And so a prescription is a planning document… you lay everything out ahead of time and you then implement it with very specific objectives in mind.

Riskind says the objectives set forth in prescribed burns vary from property to property.

There can be a whole series of objectives. From very simple things like fuel load reduction. You can have specific habitat objectives…to change the vegetation structure and composition to support waterfowl, or to support antelope, or lesser prairie chickens…or Houston toads for that matter.

Houston toad habitat took a big hit from wildfires last month. Learn more on tomorrow’s show.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series and works to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

This is Passport to Texas

Over the next quarter century or less, Texas will have to find water for twice the population it has currently, and still meet the needs of the environment.

Andrew Sansom, Executive Director of the River Systems Institute at Texas State University in San Marcos, says it’s no surprise people find this fact daunting.

And they say, ‘What in the world can I do?’ And I answer them by saying two things. One: everyone can save more water in their home. Everyone can do something in terms of their behavior that 0uts more emphasis on water conservation.

But more even important, everyone during the course of a year can take a child fishing, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, to the beach—to expose a child to water in the natural systems. So that they can understand what incredible joys are to be found there, but also that they must take responsibility for it.

Go to texasthestateofwater.org for more information.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife restoration supports our program….and funds conservation projects in Texas.

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

 Water Wise Words: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download