2019 First Day Hike at Davis Mountains State Park This is Passport to Texas If one of your resolutions is to sit less and move more in the New Year, may I suggest a First Day Hike to start things right. First Day Hikes is a nationwide initiative that Texas State Parks has been participating in for the last several years. Thomas Wilhelm is with state parks. He says many Texas state parks host First Day Hike Events. First day hikes have become a positive way for Texans to begin the New Year on...

Javelina Happy Hour This is Passport to Texas Javelina, also called Collared Peccary, is a Texas native and lives in scrubby and arid regions of the state. Similar to hogs in appearance, they are not related. But mistaken identity doesn’t change their value in the ecosystem. Javelina play a great role in nature, because they are an additional prey species for some of the predators out there. Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist Froylan Hernandez explains why it’s important to keep track of the...

A moment of meditation at Lockhart State Park This is Passport to Texas An inspired Park Ranger at Lockhart State Park is introducing visitors to a Japanese practice called Shinrin yoku, or forest bathing. Forest bathing is bathing in the forest atmosphere. Lauren Hartwick first offered the program this past February. So, we’re going to be soaking in the leaves and the trees and the sunshine and doing activities centered on your five senses. We’ll explore the sights of the forest the touches...

Nature’s Playscape This is Passport to Texas Thoughtful design plays a key role in meeting the conservation goals of Texas Parks and Wildlife. We are an agency that says: “Life’s better outside.” So, how does that translate into how we make buildings and sites. Christy Seals is an Architect with Texas Parks and wildlife Building less, building simpler, this idea of a building as “shelter” instead of a hermetically sealed envelope … I had a professor at school that talked about climate...

Blue Metalmark: This beautiful blue butterfly is often spotted in the butterfly garden at Resaca de la Palma State Park, and is one of the butterflies that makes the site unique. This is Passport to Texas Butterflies…. They flit. They flutter. And, Resaca de la Palma State Park is one of the best places to witness their flight. The Rio Grande valley is one of the most ecologically diverse places in the world. Kelly Ann Cummins is a Park Ranger Interpreter at Resaca de la Palma State...

Golden-cheeked warbler This is Passport to Texas Hear that? That’s the Golden-cheeked warbler. The Golden-cheeked Warbler is only in about 33 counties of Texas. It breeds nowhere else on the planet. Texas Parks and Wildlife state ornithologist Cliff Shackelford says we can be very proud that this bird is endemic to Texas. But the Golden-cheeked Warbler remains on the federal endangered species list. It’s been on the list for quite some time. There’s been talk about revisiting that. The data...

Roseate spoonbills & Woodstorks This is Passport to Texas Colonial Waterbirds gather on tiny islands dotted along the Texas Coast. Their beauty and diversity is attractive, but their populations have struggled over the years. Colonial Waterbirds in the past experienced some pretty significant population declines. Trey Barron is a Wildlife Diversity Biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. A lot of the populations were down to almost nothing. Mainly due to overhunting. You know their...

Running the board for a station that runs on sun. [Image Courtesy of Sun Radio] This is Passport to Texas We all know that plants, wildlife and humans depend on energy from the sun to survive. TPWD even installed 25 solar photovoltaic systems at 17 of its own facilities. But have you ever known a radio station run by the sun? From the time the voice leaves the microphone until it gets to your listening device, it’s solar powered. Sure, sure…this is off topic for our show, but—c’mon—to partner...

It’s getting easier to be green… This is Passport to Texas Texas Parks and Wildlife has been investigating renewable energy purchase options. Through the State Energy Conservation Office there’s a group pulling together government entities to do a bulk purchase of renewable energy. Andee Chamberlain is the Sustainability Program Manager at Texas Parks and Wildlife. It’s really amazing our energy market in Texas, with all of the wind that is being produced, has really brought the renewable...

Turning on renewable energy with Green Mountain. This is Passport to Texas Since 2010 Texas Parks and Wildlife has been exploring renewable energy options such as solar and wind technologies The state Energy Conservation office offered grants to state agencies who applied to install solar. They would pay for 80% of the project and we would pay for 20%. Andee Chamberlain is the Sustainability Program Manager at Texas Parks and Wildlife. It was just the right timing that we were able to apply...

Walt Dabney takes a stroll on his mountain bike. This is passport to Texas From 1999 until his retirement in 2010, Walt Dabney served as Texas State Park Director, leaving behind an improved state park system that observers say ranks among the nation’s best and most innovative. Walt lives in Moab Utah now, but visited Texas Parks and Wildlife Department recently. He told me that he will forever have a soft spot for the parks and people he left behind. As to why we need parks, Walt says...

Give a gift of the outdoors. [Big Bend Ranch State Park] This is Passport to Texas Holiday gift giving season is upon us, and if you have nature lovers on your list—the giving is easy—and twice as nice. A seventy-dollar Texas State Parks Pass is a thoughtful gift for your outdoor enthusiast. Pass holders enjoy twelve months of unlimited visits to more than ninety state parks and historic sites. They also get discounts on camping and recreational equipment rentals. Money spent on the pass...

Barrington Farm Christmas This is Passport to Texas The holiday season is a special time to visit your state parks. Parks throughout Texas offer festive activities that could cause even old Scrooge, himself, to crack a smile. During the entire month of December enjoy History in Lights with a beautiful evening stroll through the grounds of Mission Espiritu Santo at Goliad State Park and Historic Site. Festivities begin at 6 p.m. each night. On December 7th Celebrate Christmas at Mr. Buck’s...

Chef Jacques-Pepin, photo KQED This is Passport to Texas If you watch PBS television cooking shows, you’ve probably seen this man: My name is Jacques Pepin. 83-year-old Jacques Pepin is a classically trained French chef, author, and PBS cooking show host. He says in his youth, most of the meat he ate came from wild game. We follow the season, and the season in the fall in France we have the rabbit and the pheasant and the stuff. You go to market and see the game hanging. His cooking shows...

Wild turkey cooked and ready to enjoy. This is Passport to Texas Don’t give up on eating wild game and fish because you think it tastes funny. Most wild game and fish, if it’s off-tasting, is ruined between the kill and the kitchen, and not in the kitchen, itself. Susan Ebert is a hunter, angler, forager and cook; she wrote the book Field to Table, a guide to growing, procuring, and preparing seasonal foods—including wild proteins. As good as the recipe might be, unless people know how to...

Christopher Kimball, host Milk Street on PBS This is Passport to Texas Christopher Kimball hosted America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Country and now Milk Street on PBS. He is a hunter in his home state of Vermont. Yet, wild game cookery isn’t something you’ve seen on his shows. Years ago, I had a photograph of me holding up two or three rabbits that I had shot – because I do a lot of rabbit hunting in the winter. America Public Television distributes our show [Cook’s Country], and I think they...

Least Bittern This is Passport to Texas Did you know there’s a secret gang of aviators hiding out on the Texas Coast? They’re not often seen. They’re more often heard. Trey Barron is a Wildlife Diversity Biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. He’s talking about the secret life of Marsh Birds. Marsh birds are typically thought of as species like Rails. A lot of other species that inhabit the marsh that are secretive as well, like some of the Bitterns, and they’re one that are very hard to...

By Tim Lenz from Ithaca – Buff-breasted Sandpiper Uploaded by Snowmanradio, CC BY 2.0 This is Passport to Texas The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is a small tan colored shorebird that stops to refuel in Texas during its long journey North. It’s a bird that is what we call a long-distance runner. Cliff Shackelford is a state ornithologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. It’s a migrant that winters in Argentina and breeds up in Alaska and Canada. And does that every year for maybe 10 to 15 years of...

Christmas Bird Count participants. Photo: Camilla Cerea/Audubon This is Passport to Texas For Texas birders it is sheer delight now that the annual Christmas Bird Count is nearly in sight. The Christmas Bird Count is a fantastic way for people to get involved in what we call citizen science. You can be a participant and help count birds during the Christmas season. Cliff Shackelford is a state ornithologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. There’s a three week window that straddles Christmas...

Sea Center Texas This is Passport to Texas Located in Lake Jackson, Sea Center Texas is a marine aquarium, fish hatchery and education center providing creative learning opportunities throughout the year. Right now, the main educational opportunity that we have are Summer Camps. This year were doing “Wonderful Wetlands,” where they’ll go to dip-net and learn all about the species that live out there. And then, we have “Aquaria-mania, where they will learn what it’s like to work at an...

Amy and Caleb Maxwell This is Passport to Texas Your backyard is a wild place filled with wild things. To see them, slow down, look and listen. My colleague Randall Maxwell’s children, 17-year-old Amy and 14-year-old Caleb shared their thoughts on backyard nature during a stroll with their dad on the family’s property in Dripping Springs. Here’s Amy. [Amy] What I like most about being outdoors is the fact that there are just so many creatures out here that are just being themselves—being...

Surfing at South Padre This is Passport to Texas As a kid, Tony Smith loved knowing how things worked and creating with his hands; he also had a passion for water. We grew up in Houston and so we would go down and go fishing—my brothers, my parents. All the time. We just loved being around the water. Later in life, in college, I started surfing and really fell in love with that. Hence, wanting to build paddleboards and surfboards in the first place. Today Tony handcrafts paddleboards and...

The Lady Bird Lake Paddling Trail is approximately 11 miles long and features multiple public access sites and recreational opportunities. The Lady Bird Lake Paddling Trail provides an excellent venue for the novice and experienced paddler alike. This is Passport to Texas Nature tourism fostered the development of many trails statewide. On land and water. Parks and Wildlife has the Texas paddling trails program we kicked off in 2006 with our first inland trail. Shelly Plante is the Nature...

Preparing for a star party, image Chris Oswalt, TPWD This is Passport to Texas The term “nature tourism” has evolved to include a diverse range of outdoor activities. Advancements in new tools and technologies enhance the outdoor experience. Nature tourism is any kind of tourism that allows people to connect with nature and provide economic impact to the local economies of rural communities especially but it can be big cities as well and this would include things as varied as camping,...