Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
Outreach and Education Committee
May 29, 2002
Commission Hearing RoomTexas Parks & Wildlife Department Headquarters Complex
4200 Smith School Road
Austin, TX 78744
1 7 BE IT REMEMBERED that heretofore on the 8 29TH day of MAY 2002, there came on to be heard 9 matters under the regulatory authority of the 10 Parks and Wildlife Commission of Texas, in the 11 commission hearing room of the Texas Parks and 12 Wildlife Headquarters complex, Austin, Travis 13 County, Texas, beginning at 2:12 p.m., to wit: 14 15 APPEARANCES: 16 THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION: Chair: Katharine Armstrong Idsal, San Antonio, 17 Texas, Chairman Ernest Angelo, Jr., Vice Chairman, 18 Midland, Texas John Avila, Jr., Fort Worth, Texas 19 Joseph B.C. Fitzsimons, San Antonio, Texas 20 Alvin L. Henry, Houston, Texas (Absent) Philip Montgomery, III, Dallas, Texas 21 Donato D. Ramos, Laredo, Texas Kelly W. Rising, M.D., Beaumont, Texas 22 Mark E. Watson, Jr., San Antonio, Texas 23 THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT: 24 Robert L. Cook, Executive Director, and other personnel of the Parks and Wildlife 25 Department. . 2 1 MAY 29, 2002 2 *-*-*-*-* 3 OUTREACH AND EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEETING 4 *-*-*-*-* 5 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: At this time, 6 I'd call the outreach and education committee to 7 order at 2:12 p.m. on May 29th. The first order 8 of business is the approval of the minutes from 9 the last meeting. Do I have a motion? 10 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: So move. 11 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Second. 12 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: Been moved and 13 seconded. Any opposed to the motion? All in 14 favor say "Aye." 15 ("Aye.") 16 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: Any opposed? 17 Motion passes. 18 (Motion passes unanimously). 19 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: Mr. Cook? 20 AGENDA ITEM NO. 1 - CHAIRMAN'S CHARGES. 21 MR. COOK: Chairman's charges, 22 Commissioners, item 2 in your committee agenda is 23 an update on the status of our outreach and 24 education review of that entire program, which 25 will comply with our chairman's charges. . 3 1 AGENDA ITEM NO. 2 - SUNSET RECOMMENDATION ON 2 EDUCATION AND OUTREACH. 3 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: We have two 4 briefing items. The first one is the Sunset 5 recommendation on education and outreach. 6 Mr. Steve Hall? 7 MR. HALL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 8 My name is Steve Hall. I'm the education and 9 outreach director. And with me today is Nancy 10 Herron. She's the education services coordinator, 11 who assists with this project but also with things 12 like ^ Web cast and evaluation. And also Leah 13 Huth, I'm sure, is here. Leah? And you heard 14 from Leah last time regarding the natural leaders 15 teams project that deals with education and 16 outreach that is really the bulk -- and the 17 centerpiece for the plan, the education outreach 18 plan, that will result from this project. 19 The issue 6 from the Sunset Bill 20 deals -- dealing with education and outreach deals 21 with four main activities; one that each of the 22 education outreach programs and events are 23 consistent with our mission. Number two, that 24 they are not duplicative, and that's both internal 25 and external. Three, that they're cost effective. . 4 1 And four, that they are effectively measured. 2 The road map for success 3 essentially, both internally and externally, goes 4 through, of course, this committee, but also the 5 newly appointed education and outreach or outreach 6 and education advisory committee. That's the 7 external group to be appointed prior to September. 8 And then we have an internal team, the educational 9 outreach team that's been meeting since the mid 10 '90s, first and foremost to communicate what the 11 different divisions are doing relative to 12 education outreach. But more importantly, and 13 during this process, to be granted any kind of 14 authorities or project leadership in terms of 15 taking this process forward. 16 And finally, you have major 17 divisions or efforts within the department that 18 deal with this on a daily basis. And four of 19 those mentioned here are education, 20 interpretation, outreach and communications, which 21 has an entire division, including the marketing 22 components. 23 I've sketched it out here in terms 24 of what it visually looks like to combine all of 25 these components together. There's an overlapping . 5 1 component of all of them, which is important, that 2 centers around our mission. But there's also an 3 independent component of all of them where we have 4 various strategies that are solely educational or 5 solely communicative. And those kinds of things 6 need to be accomplished but also need to be 7 highlighted as separate and apart from some of the 8 other activities that go on. 9 We've posted a few definitions just 10 to keep this kind of separate and clear, and that 11 communications being the media flow of 12 information. Again, we have an entire division 13 dedicated to that in marketing. Education, we 14 have an entire branch dedicated to that which are 15 the program-based information and education. And 16 these are statewide and mostly formal efforts by 17 comparison with informal efforts. Interpretation, 18 these are site-based programs, as well. And 19 mostly, of course, these are field base 20 operations. 21 And finally, outreach, we've 22 determined as breaking down the barriers for 23 participation. This agency obviously has decided 24 that, you think, women, youth, minorities, and 25 certainly people with disabilities are four major . 6 1 categories or demographics, if you will, that need 2 to be more involved with the Parks and Wildlife 3 mission, programs, and activities. And we've 4 launched numerous activities that essentially 5 either are targeting these specific groups or 6 certainly want these particular groups to be the 7 ones highlighted, such as wildlife expos, where 8 you talk about families or youth. 9 Management actions are four that 10 we've been charged with from the Sunset Bill. The 11 first one is the program assessment. We're midway 12 through that program assessment. We've identified 13 99 different programs and events that certainly 14 deal with education and outreach. And just going 15 through, asking program managers, you know, when 16 and why they were created is just an interesting 17 question in and of itself. But certainly the need 18 for the program, who are their target audience, is 19 that a prioritized target? You know, is it a 20 specific group that they're after or is it open to 21 all groups certainly? 22 Costs and methodologies, and whether 23 they're formal or informal efforts and the 24 relative costs associated with both of those. 25 Finally, evaluations which also includes outputs . 7 1 and outcomes. Formal lingo used in terms of our 2 LBB measures. But certainly we'd like to think of 3 them as quantitative and qualitative types of data 4 that we can sink our teeth into. 5 Again, these programs are numerous 6 and it's been a daunting task just identifying, 7 number one, the programs, and then certainly 8 meeting with the program managers. This is the 9 brunt of what Nancy will be working with as an 10 ongoing component of this, not just something 11 upfront, as well. 12 Key strategies from 6.1 will be to 13 complete this assessment prior to the end of July, 14 to handle the communication and interpretation 15 components separately. These are so massive, just 16 to give you an idea, of the 33,000 fish and 17 wildlife events from the Department, about 26,000 18 of them deal with the parks or the funds 64 side 19 of things. Also, the communications division, 20 having the magazine, radio, TV, those kinds of 21 efforts will be acted on separately or as 22 independently, if you will, from education and -- 23 or, excuse me, education and outreach types of 24 events. 25 And finally, using Outdoor Kids and . 8 1 programs like that to tie all of our youth 2 outreach programs together under one thematic 3 approach, it does help us deal with the public in 4 that they can identify maybe one theme or logo or 5 slogan or something that connects them with Parks 6 and Wildlife versus the myriad of things they 7 could connect with, whether it's our fisheries 8 division or wildlife division or what have you. 9 Management action number two is the 10 internal oversight. This is just looking 11 internally at ourselves, our organization. 12 Certainly Leah Huth and the natural leaders team 13 did a great job looking at the roles and 14 responsibilities all the way from your level down 15 to the grass roots level where the rubber meets 16 the road, if you will, at the field level. And 17 that's not easy because everyone in the agency 18 deals with education and outreach in some form of 19 fashion. So it was trying to identify and pick 20 out those individual entities that work solely on 21 education outreach and essentially lining or 22 assigning the authorities to those entities. 23 And finally, looking at maybe a 24 performance goal on a project code that we used 25 internally as an agency to identify what time we . 9 1 spent on education outreach. That's an enormous 2 task. Just as an example, federal aid projects 3 versus state projects, in the federal aid codes 4 that we use versus our state codes, just tackling 5 those kind of little intricacies are something 6 that is challenging, but I think we can probably 7 settle in on some project codes that help us 8 identify better with what time we do spend in 9 these areas. 10 The key strategies from 6.2 would be 11 to create outreach coordination at the regional 12 level. We've done that and assigned an outreach 13 coordinator in the State. And, of course, 14 initially we've started in the major urban areas 15 with the urban centers. Give authority to an 16 agency entity to carry on these charges, to 17 provide a model performance goal and to review and 18 consolidate those project codes. So these are the 19 strategies identified or at least some of the key 20 strategies identified from 6.2. And, again, Leah 21 has put together a report dealing with the roles 22 and responsibilities. 6.3 is evaluation. 23 That's probably the crux of this 24 whole effort, to determine our effectiveness as 25 programs. That's always been a key question, . 10 1 always will be a key question. It's probably the 2 hardest to answer at times, especially when you 3 look at item 3, which is the qualitative types of 4 outcomes. These are hard to measure when you're 5 dealing with a youngster ten years of age and 6 whether our program has any impact on him or her 7 when she's 20. And that's always an interesting 8 question because it involves both short-term types 9 of tools but also long-term tools, as well. 10 And that's the one that we're 11 excited about to really kind of help program 12 managers with, is to develop tools to actually 13 track that kind of data over time. 14 Key strategies is to encourage use 15 of these kind of tools, especially at the program 16 management level, such as the balance score card. 17 Certainly to create a database that's consistent 18 across the agency whereby a field staff member 19 could be inputting, through via the Internet, 20 their data from their event, and it gets into the 21 consolidated framework so that somebody here in 22 Austin could punch that up and say, "Oh, I see 23 they're having an event there in Brazos" or, you 24 know, "They're having an event somewhere that 25 interests me." So they could pull out that data, . 11 1 query that data at all levels within the 2 Department, and that, again, is a nice -- that's 3 something that we're looking forward to. 4 Finally, assign and provide a person 5 or a team to consult with these people. And we've 6 assigned Nancy Herron to be a consultant or act as 7 a consultant to the evaluation process. And 8 that's an important role for us to play, I think, 9 in education outreach, is for any program manager, 10 whether they're at a historic site or park, 11 wildlife management area, to come and say, "Jeez, 12 I run this wildlife management camp for a week and 13 I need a tool to determine or help me determine 14 the effectiveness of this camp." And so that's 15 where we can act as a consultant and try to give 16 them tools that they can use to do that. Again, a 17 daunting task but something that kind of excites 18 us a little bit. 19 That database is a -- template has 20 been essentially developed by that natural leaders 21 team, as has an outreach evaluation report that 22 looks into evaluation as a way to get at some of 23 the data that we've needed to get at through these 24 activities. 25 And finally, 6.4 is the . 12 1 partnerships. And we have existing partnerships 2 as Susan and Page have brought to you, both in the 3 nonprofit realm and in the areas of in-kind 4 contribution. Our volunteer partners are probably 5 some of the more successful things that we have 6 going. So the existing partnerships are 7 important. We do want to develop new 8 partnerships, especially at the local level. The 9 co-op partners, the -- Darlene's program in terms 10 of who she's been able to help fund instantly 11 become partners of ours because they're taking our 12 mission forward at the local level. And they're 13 an important group. But so are our regional 14 coordinators, our specialists in the urban areas. 15 For example, Johnny Jones in Houston has already 16 essentially developed and worked with now a 17 minimum of 25 partners just in the Houston area 18 alone, mostly church and boys and girls clubs and 19 boys and girls groups and just developing those 20 kind of partnerships at that level has been a real 21 key success. And he's only been on board a year 22 now. So -- so these are some of those strategies 23 that I've just talked about. 24 The second one is important and 25 that's to continue working with the Texas . 13 1 Education Agency. They're entering a new realm of 2 essential elements called the TAKS. And we're on 3 top of that in trying to determine how our 4 curricula fit in with their standards that they've 5 set; and as they change their standards, how they 6 cross reference our efforts. And we've had a good 7 working relationship with them and I think more so 8 in the future because they're going more toward 9 field work and our Parks and Wildlife management 10 areas become a key place to do their business. 11 And as we obviously identify what 12 parks are closest to what schools and what 13 schools, especially the Sheldon Lake area, that's 14 going to be a key component and it ties nicely 15 together with the new curricula. But we have to 16 keep up with the administrative effort on tying 17 those two things together so a teacher can clearly 18 see, "Oh, this is how Sheldon Lake state parks 19 meets my objectives here in the classroom." And 20 once we do that and make it an easy format for 21 them, then hopefully on the ground those school 22 kids do get out to that area. And finally, to 23 continue our partnerships with major universities 24 such as the cooperative extension service at Texas 25 A&M and others, these have been key relationships . 14 1 that we've formed over the last eight to ten years 2 and we certainly want to keep those going, as 3 well. 4 And finally, for your perusal in 5 August will be the completed plan that, again, is 6 comprised of a lot of what the natural leaders 7 will be presenting here next week, but also what 8 Nancy is doing in terms of program assessment, as 9 well. That plan will be ready for your adoption 10 in August as part of the other Sunset strategies. 11 And the time-line on most of this, 12 as you can see in the blue, the first three 13 measures will be things that we complete this 14 fiscal year but the brunt of the work will start 15 in September and that's implementation of the plan 16 and the tools and the database. And, again, I 17 think I, for one, have been looking forward to 18 tying these efforts together. I know Nancy has 19 done a lot of good work and so has Leah in the 20 natural leaders team. And it's exciting for me 21 because I think that we can tie these things 22 together even though they are as broad as this 23 agency is. So with that, we'd be happy to answer 24 any questions. 25 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: Comments? . 15 1 John? 2 COMMISSIONER AVILA: I've got a very 3 fundamental question. The outreach and education 4 committee's objective, its audience, is it a -- is 5 it our total constituency or is it an age group? 6 MR. HALL: In terms of the 7 Commission committee or the advisory committee? 8 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: The advisory group? 9 COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY: What's the 10 goal of the program? 11 COMMISSIONER AVILA: What's the goal 12 of the program? 13 MR. HALL: Okay. Outreach, it's 14 women, minority, youth, and people with 15 disabilities. In other words, demographics that 16 don't -- aren't dominating the percentages like 17 they should, perhaps, in our business. But for 18 education, it's primarily -- it's across the board 19 but it's traditional groups such as for hunter 20 education it would be hunters. So that would 21 include adults, for example, for boaters. Outdoor 22 Women is a program of outreach, something like 23 boater education is a program for traditional 24 constituents that pay the bills but that have a 25 mandate associated with that. . 16 1 COMMISSIONER AVILA: And I thought 2 that was the case, I just was seeking a course 3 correction, if there was one. Because you do have 4 every program up there. So it's all of our 5 constituency. 6 MR. HALL: Exactly. 7 COMMISSIONER AVILA: Then the 8 emphasis that the Commission gave directly on 9 minorities, women, children as another generation 10 of users of our services. 11 MR. HALL: You bet. 12 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: But the themes and 13 the message we relay to all our constituents, be 14 they women, children, or minorities or handicapped 15 or other constituents is the same message and the 16 same themes. 17 MR. HALL: Correct. That's where 18 those circles overlap in terms of the mission, is 19 that, you know, if I were to pick constituents 20 that hone in on the mission, it's the family unit, 21 you know, which is comprised of all the things 22 we've talked about. 23 COMMISSIONER AVILA: I guess the 24 only other question I have is, is there so much 25 ownership on some of these programs that when you . 17 1 see the -- that we can eliminate some? Are you 2 going to do any of that? Is that beyond the scope 3 of what you're doing? 4 MR. HALL: I don't think at all 5 about -- I think it's a hand-holding come to 6 reality session with a program manager that's 7 certainly vested in a specific program. 8 COMMISSIONER AVILA: I don't know 9 that that will be the case but there might be some 10 that are consolidated and like that. I wouldn't 11 hesitate to tell us about that or Mr. Cook. 12 MS. HUTH: If I may, I think through 13 this evaluation and inventory, I think we're going 14 to identify best practices. We may see some 15 points of consolidation, we may not. We may learn 16 that we need to replicate someone's exemplary 17 program. But I think we're going to learn a lot 18 through this process and work more effectively and 19 expertly. 20 MR. HALL: We actually hope the 21 program managers come to that conclusion rather 22 than an independent, you know, hammer coming in 23 from the side and saying, "We'll cut your 24 program." 25 I mean, if you go through the needs . 18 1 assessment or, say, just cost per participant that 2 you're reaching and you -- and something is out of 3 whack or it's clearly not tied to the mission, 4 that, you know, ought to come from the program 5 manager. If it doesn't, you know, certainly we're 6 going to recommend various things. But I don't 7 want to be in a position, for one, to be the 8 hammer. But if we're designated that authority or 9 if we're assigned that authority, I don't think 10 we'd be afraid of that. I'm going across the 11 board with all these programs and it -- the one 12 thing that's clear is how amazing some of these 13 programs really are and some of these people. So 14 it's going to be hard to play that role if that 15 role ever comes. 16 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Mr. Hall, you said 17 you identified 99 different programs? I think 18 usually that -- 19 MR. HALL: That's something you can 20 get your handle on, there's obviously other 21 activities. Game wardens are involved in so many 22 different activities that even necessarily 23 included in those 90. For example, say, field 24 biologists. But those are activities that respond 25 to requests, versus the 99, where it's a program . 19 1 or activity of the department typically brought to 2 someone that we're prepared to bring to someone. 3 COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY: A couple 4 of things. If we're going to actually approve -- 5 I didn't realize we were headed to approve a whole 6 broad plan for education and outreach. But sure, 7 I'd like to see an advance. Didn't have a time to 8 discuss it among ourselves what we want to 9 accomplish in this area. 10 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: May I make a 11 comment here because I think it's worth noting. 12 Speaking for the Commission and myself, the 13 importance we place on outreach are clear based on 14 what's happened in the last 12 months. We've made 15 the education and outreach committee a full 16 committee of the Commission. I've created an 17 outreach and education advisory group. And, of 18 course, Sunset has charged us with going through 19 this. Mr. Henry, Commissioner Henry has been the 20 chairman of the committee and unfortunately has 21 been ill. He was also a key member of the 22 advisory group. Unfortunately his illness has 23 slowed us down. That does not take away my 24 interest in any way or my energy and focus on this 25 area. I do think we're running into a time . 20 1 constraint that is of concern to me. I am 2 intending on focusing very keenly on these -- on 3 this committee over the next -- and advisory group 4 over the next month. I think some of the issues 5 that you're looking at today and your concern 6 about the importance of all us looking at what 7 you're doing and looking at it carefully is noted, 8 and we will do so. 9 I think it's also important, when we 10 look at all these programs, that we reflect back 11 to the new mission statement, that our message is 12 clear, consistent and reliable, and that it's 13 based on good science and sound reason. And that 14 if that guides us, I think we can come up with a 15 very good plan. 16 COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY: I agree 17 completely with what you're saying, Madam 18 Chairman. The other thing, Steve, that would help 19 me a lot in reading this, when you-all describe 20 the children and say 10,000 children went through 21 the program, can you be specific as possible if 22 that means 10,000 children attended a two-hour 23 fishing class once? That would help me, rather 24 than 10,000 children went through the program. Be 25 real specific because I think in judging these, . 21 1 there's a tendency to throw all the numbers in 2 there. That's natural for everybody who runs them 3 and does them and feels great about it. But for 4 us reading it, it's real hard to see that kind of 5 gross information and be able to sense what kind 6 of impact we really have. And that's one thing 7 that's on the front end, as precise as possible 8 would be very helpful. Second, I would appreciate 9 reading -- I don't know if it's part of the report 10 you mentioned up there. As specific as possible 11 recommendations you can make on how we can measure 12 the long-term impact some of these things are 13 having, to the extent they can be measured or seen 14 or might be implemented. Because I think, the way 15 I see it, the big challenge is creating behavior 16 patterns that cause people to do things in the 17 outdoors that are more of our mission. And a more 18 intense experience with a more limited population 19 may, in fact, be more effective in the long run 20 than a long-range project that comes and goes very 21 quickly. But, again, your thinking on that as you 22 get into it would be deeply appreciated. 23 MR. HALL: I think what we're 24 anticipating, what will be happening at that one a 25 longer project that is more costly but, like you . 22 1 say, potentially more than effective. So what is 2 the balance as an agency. We wouldn't want all 3 eggs in one basket. 4 COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY: The finer 5 grade you can do that, the better we'll be able to 6 make those judgments. Sounds like a great 7 project. 8 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: Any other 9 comments or questions? 10 COMMISSIONER AVILA: I would like to 11 echo the same comments of Chairman Idsal. You-all 12 have a tremendous responsibility and we have to be 13 focused on the youth and minority and outreach 14 education. I kind of lean more toward outreach 15 and there are hundreds of programs. Thank you, 16 Steve. I appreciate it. 17 AGENDA ITEM NO. 3 - WATER COMMUNICATIONS 18 INITIATIVE 19 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: All right. The 20 next briefing will be by Lydia Saldana, water 21 communications initiative. Lydia? I see you got 22 rid of your leg. 23 MS. SALDANA: For the moment. I'll 24 be having surgery tomorrow. That's why we're 25 doing this briefing today. I'm Lydia Saldana, . 23 1 communications director. And Larry McKinney is 2 joining me. It's a tag-team presentation. Larry, 3 why don't you start? 4 DR. McKINNEY: Appreciate it. I've 5 been trying to set up a little bit of what Lydia 6 is going to talk to you about, I think it's 7 important to talk about a couple of points. And 8 although we talk about it a lot, it's worth 9 repeating. And our focus is water. And it is the 10 single mostly source management issue that we 11 face. And we talk about that often. And as we 12 heard today, when we were talking about the 13 briefing from the land and water conservation 14 plan, as Jeff and Emily talked about, made one 15 specific mention of a number that caught my 16 attention that said 80 percent of top parks are 17 associated with water. Everything we do with fish 18 and wildlife regulations relates back to that. 19 And we have to stay focused on that issue because 20 as we move forward in time, if we don't want to 21 make all this good work that we've accomplished 22 over the last 30 and 40, 50 years to secure our 23 fish and wildlife, we want to secure that for the 24 future, we have to make sure place to be, that 25 they're there. And water is that issue. We are . 24 1 in a very important time with water. We always 2 say it's a critical period and it seems like every 3 year it's a critical period for decisions. But it 4 certainly is now. 5 The Legislature, for example, will 6 be taking up this issue next session about how do 7 we roll in environmental needs into our water 8 permitting and management, how does that fit? 9 There are interim hearings going on now about that 10 topic. So they will be making decisions on this 11 issue that are critical. 12 We're in the second phase of our 13 state water planning effort. And in this phase, 14 we have worked closely with the regional groups, 15 16 regional groups, and the water development 16 board to try to make the point that now is the 17 time for us to, as we evaluate the plethora of 18 strategies that we have for meeting our water 19 needs for the next 50 years, that now we need to 20 work our environmental issues into those and try 21 to make a determination of how that works, as 22 well. 23 So a number of issues coming up 24 before us that are critical to us. 25 And having informed decision makers, . 25 1 having our constituents and the public aware and 2 knowing of these issues are going to be important 3 for us. And that's the focus of what Lydia is 4 going to talk with you about. 5 Clearly these issues are important 6 to Texans. When we do polls, when independent 7 polls are done across the state, environmental 8 issues are there. And among those issues is 9 water, be it water pollution or wildlife habitat. 10 It's certainly a nonpartisan issue. It's 11 important to all of us. We've talked to our 12 constituents and asked them in our own poll work 13 we've done, they say what are the most important 14 issues to them, water-related issues are their 15 biggest concern, of 48 percent of Texans. Now, 16 the second category is -- I don't know. 24 17 percent of the people don't know what those issues 18 are, which I think really frames what we're 19 talking about here in this communication process. 20 We not only have to work with our constituents so 21 that they understand, they know the water 22 importance but they need to understand what it 23 does, why it's important. And those who don't 24 understand that, they need to understand the 25 connection between fish and wildlife. That point . 26 1 was brought home to me just a little while ago. I 2 spent most of the lunch hour with David Sikes who 3 is an outdoor writer in Corpus Christi who has 4 recently written some on water, who is writing 5 another series on the Gulf of Mexico. And he 6 said, "You know, Larry, I've begun calling all 7 over the states in the Gulf of Mexico and every 8 place I turn it's water." And I said, "Yeah, 9 that's right. Water is the issue." And David is 10 facing a tough issue down there in Corpus where he 11 has a group of landowners who have houses adjacent 12 to a lake there that are basically saying, "Wow, 13 the fresh water going into the Nueces Bay is 14 poisoning that bay and the water. I'm losing on 15 my lake is killing my property values and we need 16 to do something about it." He said, "Larry, every 17 time I say how important freshwater is, I get 18 bombarded with hate mail from that side of it." 19 So he said, "My problem is, how do I get this 20 message across? How do I tell people and get -- 21 this is a difficult issue. How do I do it?" I 22 said, "Well, we're going to give it a try and 23 we've got our best troops working on it. And it 24 is an issue for them." So our focus -- turn it 25 over to Lydia now -- is to how can we set the . 27 1 stage to provide that information. And that's 2 where we're going. 3 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: Thank you. 4 MS. SALDANA: How do we get this 5 message across? Well, the strategy to address 6 these issues is why we call Texas the state of 7 water. Our positioning statement is helping 8 Texans understand the value of water. It is a 9 very complex issue. It's not easily reduced to 10 sound bytes. It's not something you can do in one 11 news release. It's going to require an 12 interactive and sustained effort on all of our 13 parts to get this message across. What it is is 14 an integrated active initiative that will utilize 15 every single one of the communication tools at our 16 disposal. Our goal, as Larry mentioned, is to 17 raise Texans' awareness and understanding of these 18 very complex water issues that we face. And what 19 we came up with and what we've brainstormed -- and 20 we did this as a team both within the division, 21 communications division and certainly involving 22 Larry and his staff. The original idea for this 23 was very, very big and bigger than the budget 24 dollars that we had at our disposal. So one of 25 the things we've been very aggressive about is . 28 1 seeking sponsorship dollars. And before the ink 2 dries on our first proposal working with the parks 3 foundation, we got a hundred thousand dollar 4 sponsorship from Brazos Mutual Fund. We're very 5 excited about it. It's going to allow us to 6 execute some of these strategies that we would not 7 have otherwise been able to do. A little bit of 8 background on Brazos. Brazos Mutual Fund was 9 created and managed by a Texas state active, John 10 McStay of John McStay Investments. Now, 11 Mr. Mackay is an avid Texan. He is an avid 12 outdoorsman. I hope he will become a very good 13 friend of parks. Certainly he's made a very, very 14 generous offer to assist us. Just a little 15 background on the fund, the Brazos Mutual Fund 16 derives its name from his ranch. They were 17 looking for an immediate opportunity, a branding 18 opportunity to raise the proceeds of the mutual 19 fund. This partnership is very much a win win for 20 both of us, so we're very much excited about it. 21 As you develop a communications 22 plan, you think of who the audience is that you 23 want to reach. And certainly our constituents are 24 first on the list, anglers, boaters, hunters, park 25 users. But he wants to go beyond that. In some . 29 1 instances, we already do a pretty good job in 2 communicating with these folks. We also need to 3 reach the Texas general public, those folks that 4 don't -- you know, think that water is the top 5 issue but don't really know a whole lot about it. 6 And we're going to reach the general public 7 through some of these avenues that I'm going to 8 explain in just a moment. 9 Key messages is also -- you have to 10 define what your key messages are before you 11 embark on a strategy or communications plan. So 12 these are a few of the key messages we've come up 13 with. Clean abundant water for wildlife. Is 14 water for people? These are not mutually 15 exclusive or an either/or proposition. This is 16 going to be something we communicate through 17 everything we do. Fish and wildlife management is 18 key to the equation. I don't think a lot of folks 19 have a clear understanding of how important that 20 is to water quality and water quantity, and 21 particularly land stewards are also water 22 stewards. We need to communicate what role 23 private landowners have in this process. 24 Ecosystems protect our quality of life. And 25 certainly the folks around Lake Fork understand . 30 1 that concept in terms of ensuring a healthy 2 economy, ensuring a good quality life. And that's 3 the kind of thing we'll be going through 4 everything we do. 5 Larry has mentioned planning. 6 Planning is going to make the difference. And if 7 we do this right, we'll do it in a way that will 8 ensure that fish and wildlife aren't left high and 9 dry when the planning process is over. 10 And finally, this is one of the most 11 important messages. And that's that we all have a 12 responsibility, all Texans have a responsibility 13 to learn more about it, to become more 14 knowledgeable about the issues and then to become 15 involved. So those are basically the key messages 16 that we'll be delivering in everything that we do. 17 It is -- as I mentioned, it's going 18 to utilize every communications tool at our 19 disposal, from print to our broadcast programs to 20 the World Wide Web and we're also going to be 21 depending on our media colleagues, the 22 environmentalists of the state, the writers of the 23 state to help deliver this message. It is 24 critical, it is complex and Larry just revamped 25 his conversation with David Sikes. This is the . 31 1 kind of thing that needs to be covered and covered 2 on a continuing basis. We're going to do 3 everything we can to make sure that happens. We 4 will launch the initiative with the July issue of 5 the magazine. The July issue will be published 6 as -- it will be on the newsstand for more than 7 one month. It is the most ambitious that Parks 8 and Wildlife magazine has ever published. It is 9 the longest issue. It's 116 pages. And it is the 10 most ambitious issue in terms of content, in terms 11 of the writing and photography talent, in terms of 12 the effort of the staff. And it's going to be 13 pretty awesome. We've attempted to take a 14 National Geographic approach to the subject. And 15 our goal is to get at the heart and soul of our 16 rivers, our springs, our bays. And to help us do 17 this, we've enlisted the top talent working in 18 Texas today. In a series of six essays, legendary 19 author Larry Hodge will write about the aquifer, 20 Jon Reid will write of his personal relationship 21 with Comal Springs, Joe Nick Patowski - Devil's 22 River, Carol Flake Chapman - Caddo Lake, Michael 23 Furtman will explore the wetlands, and Jim 24 Anderson will delve into Matagorda Bay. We'll sum 25 up the issue with a special report from Rod Davis, . 32 1 a top writer who has written for national 2 magazines on the Rio Grande. Our own Earl 3 Nottingham, our chief photographer, did the 4 photography. And I had the pleasure looking at 5 the layouts. It truly is the best work Earl 6 Nottingham has done. I think it's the best work 7 of Susan Ebert and her staff, the folks at Parks 8 and Wildlife magazine. You know, I don't think 9 I'm going to say anything more. We'll let the 10 issue speak for itself. 11 DR. McKINNEY: It's already working. 12 MS. SALDANA: Susan took a couple of 13 hours off this afternoon to be here instead of 14 reviewing layouts and proofing layouts but we're 15 in the production of our July magazine and it's a 16 beauty. But I'll let it speak for itself. So 17 we're excited about that. On the heels of the 18 July issue will be the publication of the Texas 19 rivers book. Author John Graves and Wyman Meinzer 20 collaborated. You will recall that essays from 21 this book were published in the magazine last 22 year. I think everybody knows who John Graves is. 23 This kind of complements a lifetime of working on 24 rivers and river issues. His 1957 "Goodbye to a 25 River" established him as one of the top . 33 1 naturalist writers in Texas. We are thrilled to 2 have him involved in this book. It is just going 3 to be wonderful. Brazos Mutual is going to be 4 involved in this project, as well. They will be 5 funding a reception on July 31st in Dallas that 6 you-all will all be invited to that I hope you can 7 attend. And Brazos mutual is also sponsoring a 8 traveling exhibit that will feature images and 9 process from this book. This exhibit would not 10 have been possible without this funding. It will 11 debut at the Capitol. There will be another 12 reception for that exhibit at the Bob Bullock 13 Museum. It's going to be traveling all over high 14 profile places including the Texas Book Festival 15 in November. So it's going to be an excellent 16 opportunity to get these issues front and center 17 with Texas and also to promote our book on the 18 side. So UT Press is behind us 100 percent. 19 They're distributing it. And I can bet this is 20 going to be -- the answer to your Christmas gift 21 list is here. 22 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Lydia, what's the 23 date on the Bob Bullock reception? 24 MS. SALDANA: We're still working on 25 that. We're working with the Foundation. But . 34 1 it's going to be in September. We're looking at 2 three different dates. We'll be coordinating with 3 your calendar and with Bob's calendar on that to 4 make sure it's going to work with y'all. But 5 we're excited about that, about having that 6 presence at the Bullock Museum and being able to 7 travel around. Another very ambitious project is 8 a one-hour television documentary. This also 9 would not be possible without the support of 10 Brazos mutual. We'll also be partnering with KERA 11 in Dallas. KERA will be allowing us to use their 12 high definition television equipment and editing 13 facilities, which means we won't have to pay for 14 that which means we will be able to get a little 15 bit more out of this documentary than we otherwise 16 would have done. Richard Roberts heads our 17 award-winning productions branch. We will be 18 overseeing production with this. We've also hired 19 two outside producers, we have hired Curtis 20 Craven, who used to be our staff and Mark 21 Southern. We have an outstanding team to do this 22 documentary. 23 I've been at Parks and Wildlife for 24 12 years. And one of the reasons why I came to 25 Parks and Wildlife was the quality of their . 35 1 television production. That was one of the 2 reasons Richard came here, as well. And I'm 3 thrilled and I think Richard is, too, to be 4 involved and really getting into an issue in this 5 hour-long documentary. We're going to produce it 6 in a way that there's segments. It will air in 7 February, hour long prime time, we hope, prime 8 time documentary, but we're producing in a way so 9 that the segments can be pulled out and run also 10 in our PBS series so we'll be getting double duty 11 out of them as a one time documentary and then 12 several recognized in our PBS shows. We're real 13 excited about that. We're looking at an air date 14 of February about that. We've got other ways to 15 get this message out. Our "Passport to Texas" 16 radio series over the next six months will be 17 featuring various stories about the water issues. 18 As you know, "Passport to Texas" reaches an 19 audience of 350,000 a week. This is a really good 20 avenue to get this information out. We will be 21 looking at a Web design. We will be looking at 22 Larry and his folks and depending on if we get 23 sponsorship dollars will depend on how robust we 24 get the web sight. But we'll be looking. 25 And finally, media relations efforts . 36 1 are going to be key to this. Press kits will be 2 going out in a couple of weeks announcing the 3 initiative with the July issue of the magazine and 4 then we'll be doing strategic releases over the 5 next six to nine -- year on this issue. So we're 6 really excited about it. 7 Existing dollars within our division 8 is funding this. I mean, certainly communicating 9 about water is a core function. It's something 10 that we could do anyway. But, again, what we 11 would envision has gone far above and beyond 12 what's funded beyond our branch, I mean within our 13 division. Larry has come up with some assistance 14 in terms of dollars that really made the July 15 issue of the magazine possible because that was 16 probably the double the -- well, not quite double, 17 but it was certainly more expensive than the 18 magazine, so support from Larry, the Brazos Mutual 19 Fund and the Brazos River Authority has made that 20 possible. We've also worked very closely with the 21 Foundation. We have about 60 professionals out 22 now, funding proposals, so we certainly have an 23 opportunity for additional dollars to go toward 24 some other projects and we're very excited about 25 it. . 37 1 And I guess the last thing I would 2 say is what I opened with, which is this really 3 has been a team effort. I think we do our best 4 work when we work together and when we brainstorm 5 together and come up with good ideas. And, again, 6 Susan and Richard are very excited about this as 7 it rolls forward. Any questions? 8 DR. McKINNEY: Before you have any 9 questions, one last thing, before we do get into 10 this deal and I would note, we hoped to have the 11 preliminary ready now but thanks to a lot of 12 special work by the Chairman, which we appreciate, 13 Governor Perry has named June "Texas Rivers 14 Month." And that's going to roll into this thing, 15 as well. And so we're very happy -- kind of 16 happened at the last minute. That's another 17 element here. 18 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: Lydia, you've 19 convinced me and I continue to be amazed at the 20 first class magazine. Y'all do a great job. I 21 congratulate you. Any comments or questions from 22 the Commissioners? 23 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: Very exciting. 24 COMMISSIONER RAMOS: Thank you both, 25 Lydia, Larry. I guess there's no other business . 38 1 to come before this committee, so at this time I 2 call this committee adjourned. 3 CHAIRMAN IDSAL: I don't believe 4 there's any other business for this Commission. 5 So this meeting is adjourned. 6 *-*-*-*-* 7 (MEETING ADJOURNED.) 8 *-*-*-*-* 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 . 39 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 2 STATE OF TEXAS ) 3 COUNTY OF TRAVIS ) 4 I, MELODY RENEE DeYOUNG, a Certified 5 Court Reporter in and for the State of Texas, do 6 hereby certify that the above and foregoing 39 7 pages constitute a full, true and correct 8 transcript of the minutes of the Texas Parks & 9 Wildlife Commission on MAY 29, 2002, in the 10 commission hearing room of the Texas Parks & 11 Wildlife Headquarters Complex, Austin, Travis 12 County, Texas. 13 I FURTHER CERTIFY that a stenographic 14 record was made by me a the time of the public 15 meeting and said stenographic notes were 16 thereafter reduced to computerized transcription 17 under my supervision and control. 18 WITNESS MY HAND this the 29th day of 19 July, 2002. 20 21 MELODY RENEE DeYOUNG, RPR, CSR NO. 3226 22 Expiration Date: 12-31-02 3101 Bee Caves Road 23 Centre II, Suite 220 Austin, Texas 78746 24 (512) 328-5557 25
Top of Page