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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Legislators, alone, cannot ensure a future that provides an abundant supply of water for humans, fish and wildlife.

This month, as we observe the 10th anniversary of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine’s water issue, Executive Director, Carter Smith, reminds us that all Texans have a role to play when it comes to conserving this vital resource.

We all miss water when it’s not around. And ultimately we have to plan for those kinds of scenarios, and remember that the future of our water is a generational one.

And so, these are important things that every one of us as a citizen and steward can take to help ensure the vitality of this water for the future.

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.

An artificial reef is marine habitat created by man and placed on the ocean bottom for the benefit of marine life.

12—Nature has a way of providing its own habitat, but in the case of the Gulf of Mexico – offshore Texas – most of the substrate is soft, murky, muddy, and there’s very little hard substrate out there.

Dale Shively coordinates the artificial reef program for Texas Parks and Wildlife. He says that hard substrate is necessary for the development of reefs. What’s fascinating is that once they deploy the substrate material, within days marine life begins attaching to it.

10—In a very short period of time, the substrate is covered with barnacles and sponges and some types of coral. And that begins the basis of the food web as we know it.

Without artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico, the waters wouldn’t be nearly as productive and vital as they are.

All kinds of items end up on the bottom of the gulf as artificial reefs: from oil rigs to concrete rubble to decommissioned battleships.

But what does any of this mean to the average Texan? Why should we care about this effort to create artificial reefs?

13—The importance of the reef program is, number one: preserve and enhance the marine environment. And by doing that, we also create fishing and diving opportunities for not only Texans, but also citizens throughout the US.

That’s our show for today…we receive support from 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.

11—Anyone who recalls the aerial photographs of the Rio Grande not reaching the gulf of Mexico several years ago, should take that as a wake-up call.

Andrew Sansom, Director of the River Systems Institute at Texas State University in San Marcos, contributes the article Keeping Rivers Flowing, in Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine’s tenth anniversary water issue, on newsstands now.

17—People tend to believe everything’s okay as long as the water comes out when they turn on the tap. So, by bringing people’s attention to the issues presented to us from the aquifers to the estuaries, we do a great service.

Sansom suggests that unless we change how we think about and use water, we could—in our lifetimes —unintentionally “dewater” some of the state’s most iconic and biologically diverse rivers.

16—Everything is connected. People don’t often grasp the reality that when we approve hundreds of new wells in the hill country we potentially adversely affect the estuaries on the rim of the Gulf of Mexico.

It is with the utmost urgency that we begin to think beyond our own faucets, says Sansom, and understand that up steam and downstream—the headwaters and the tidewaters—are all part of the same cycle…or flow…of life.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program funds our series…and supports conservation of Texas’ natural resources.

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

A lot can change in 10 years, but one constant is Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine’s annual water issue. Dr. Larry McKinney, Director of the Harte Research Institute, and former Director of Aquatic Resources at Parks and Wildlife, has been involved from the beginning.

14—When we wrote the first article in that series, we were in the middle of just trying to get the Texas Legislature to come up with a method for including environmental issues—and all the other concerns—for evaluating water needs in the state of Texas.

Dr. McKinney says although we’ve made progress since that first issue, we’ve further to go to solve the problem.

17—I think now, more and more people understand that we have to have water for the environment; I hear that from our political leaders. I see a commitment in our legislature to move in the right direction. So, it’s all positive. The question is: can we move quickly enough to make sure that we hit that balance before we get into a situation where the options are very, very limited.

How much time does Texas have to achieve a balance between human and environmental water needs?

14—We have to solve this within the next ten years, because by then the population will have reached such a level that our options to balance the environmental water needs with industry and agriculture and municipalities will be frankly gone. We will not have another chance.

Go to texasthestateofwater.org for more information.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program funds our series…and supports conservation of Texas’ natural resources.

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

Texas Parks and Wildlife recognizes private landowners who demonstrate outstanding stewardship with the Lone Star Land Steward Awards. Meet these dedicated men and women in June on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series. Producer, Don Cash.

57—One of the award winners that we’re going to look at is the Duval County Ranch in the South Texas Plains. And this ranch has had over a hundred years of being heavily overgrazed.

These are just a couple of examples of landowners doing the right thing by their land. And we’ve got a Lone Star Land Steward winner every week this month on the television show.

Thanks, Don

Check your local listings.

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