Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Saving water and lush landscapes aren’t mutually exclusive. Gretchen Mahan tells us more…

At the San Antonio Botanical Gardens, six miniature houses on WaterSavers Lane showcase diverse landscapes and their water saving potential. Sir Oliver Smith, a master gardener, describes the typical landscape, complete with a water thirsty lawn.

This is what most people have. They have the traditional hedges at the door and all that manicuring you have to do every week. So this is probably what we don’t want if you want to save on money and save on grass and save on water.

For comparison, he points out an attractive landscape that replaces turf with groundcover.

People like this look; it’s a little less maintenance. And you’re replacing some of the lawn with Asiatic jasmine, which takes no water.

While the jasmine isn’t native, most of the other plants are. This helps save water because native plants generally require less of it survive.

Everyone thinks native plants are just a sticky agarita and the yuccas and the sotals. But all the other things in this garden are native. Vitex and desert willow and redbud and there are a lot of other things that do very well with almost no water.

And they’re beautiful. Contact your local Extension Service to find out which native plants thrive in your area.

Thanks, Gretchen. That’s our show…Find pictures and more information at passporttotexas.org. 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.

 Fishing 101, 2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Don’t let the fact you’ve never gone fishing—or that your skills are a bit rusty—keep you from casting a line soon.

We do offer classes, but we can’t offer classes to everyone. So, we thought a little video series would help.

Ann Miller coordinates aquatic education for TPW. She said the agency received many inquiries from adults interested in learning to fish for the first time, or who wanted to know how to get their children involved. Miller helped to develop—and hosts—the agency’s new Fishing 101 video series, which demonstrates basic fishing skills.

So, we have really started with the very basic knowledge and skills, just to get people started. Then, of course, we have also included a lot of links to resources, so that people will figure out the next steps to be able to increase their fishing knowledge.

The videos, available on YouTube and the TPW website, are for adults who want to hone their skills.

We do gear this for adults; both to teach them how to go fishing again if they’ve forgotten, or to help them teach their children.

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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Fishing 101 Videos on YouTube

 Fishing 101, 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The summer drought inspires one family to conserve water. Gretchen Mahan tells us more.

My family agreed to try and reduce their personal water use by implementing simple conservation techniques. The day before our experiment began, I printed out the San Antonio Water System conservation tips and posted them in bathrooms and the kitchen. My dad, Jim, reads one of the tips.

When brushing teeth, turn the water off until it is time to rinse. When shaving fill the lavatory basin with hot water instead of letting the water run continuously. I think that’s a good, conservative use of water.

We also changed the shower head in my brothers’ bathroom to a more water efficient one from San Antonio Water System. My brother Peter tells us about it.

There are two kinds of sprays…the normal spray, the massage.

But my older brother, Trey, says taking shorter showers, wasn’t the most enjoyable experience.

My shower today was approximately seven and a half minutes compared to what it used to be was over fifteen minutes. It was a very painful process, but it was well worth it to save the environment.

Okay, so there may have been a little sarcasm in that last line. My brothers aren’t exactly the environmentalists of the family. But with a little prodding, we managed to do fairly well, saving 3,000 gallons or 13 percent of our total water use.

Thanks Gretchen. That’s our show…Find more information at passporttotexas.org. For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 Water Conservation Family Style, 2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Estuaries act as nurseries for juvenile species of saltwater fish. And freshwater inflows keep estuaries in top form.

Freshwater brings sediments which builds nursery areas. Freshwater also brings nutrients which feed the plants and animals that grow and form the basis for the food web in the estuary.

Former TPW Coastal Studies Team Leader, Dave Buzan, says since the 1950’s we’ve restricted water flow to the gulf by building reservoirs and flood control structures.

Historically we have controlled water because we know we need water for people to drink, for industries, and for agriculture.

Human need has effectively changed Texas from a land of rivers and streams into a land of impounded water, meaning less fresh water reaches our estuaries.

In hindsight, we’re able to see that the more of these reservoirs and flood control structures we’ve built have really reduced our ability to get water to the estuary on a consistent basis.

And when fresh water doesn’t flow consistently into estuaries, the health of these ecosystems as well as the health of a significant segment of our economy suffers the consequences.

We’ll look at that tomorrow.

That’s our show … made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

 Freshwater Inflows, 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download