Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
Work Session

Tuesday, November 6, 2018
09:00 a.m.

Mission Event Center
200 N. Shary Road Mission
Mission, Texas  78572
Ruby Red

Ralph H. Duggins, Commission Chair
Carter Smith, Executive Director

Approval of the Previous Minutes from the Commission Work Session held August 22, 2018
Approval of the Previous Minutes from the Commission Annual Public Hearing held August 22, 2018

    Land and Water Plan

  1. Update on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's (TPWD) Progress in Implementing the TPWD Land and Water Resources Conservation and Recreation Plan – Carter Smith
    • Internal Affairs Update
    • TPWD Fiscal Year 2018 Stocking Report
    • TPWD Receives Fire Bird Conservation Award
    • Pecos River Watershed NFWF Grant Collaboration
    • "Protect the Lakes You Love"
    • Campbell Global Sells Out to CatchMark

    Financial

  2. Fiscal Year 2018 Internal Audit Update and Proposed Fiscal Year 2019 Internal Audit Plan – Cindy Hancock (Action Item No. 1)
  3. Natural Resources

  4. Raptor Proclamation Rules – Recommended Adoption of Proposed Changes – Matt Reidy (Action Item No. 2) (Comment on this item)
  5. Shad Rules – Recommended Adoption of Proposed Changes – Ken Kurzawski (Action Item No. 3) (Comment on this item)
  6. 2019-2020 Statewide Recreational and Commercial Fishing Proclamation Preview – Ken Kurzawski, Lance Robinson
  7. 2019-2020 Statewide Hunting Proclamation Preview – Shaun Oldenburger, Alan Cain
  8. BRIEFING – North American Non-Lead Partnership – Clayton Wolf, Chris Parish
  9. Human Resources

  10. Employee Training Rules – Recommended Adoption of Proposed Changes – Dr. Pamela Wheeler (Action Item No. 4) (Comment on this item)
  11. Land Conservation

  12. Pipeline Easement – Orange County – Approximately 1.3 Acres at the Lower Neches Wildlife Management Area – Permission to Begin the Public Notice and Input Process – Stan David
  13. Executive Session

  14. Sunset Advisory Commission Recommended Transfer of Eight State Historic Sites from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to the Texas Historical Commission – Bob Sweeney, Brent Leisure (Executive Session Only)
  15. Litigation Update – Bob Sweeney (Executive Session Only)
    • Oysters
    • Chronic Wasting Disease

Work Session Item No. 1
Presenter: Carter Smith

Work Session
Update on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Progress in Implementing the
TPWD Land and Water Resources Conservation and Recreation Plan
November 6, 2018

I.      Executive Summary: Executive Director Carter Smith will briefly update the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission on the status of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) efforts to implement the Land and Water Resources Conservation and Recreation Plan (Plan). 

II.     Discussion: In 2001, the 77th Texas Legislature directed that TPWD develop a Land and Water Resources Conservation and Recreation Plan (Texas Parks and Wildlife Code section 11.104). In 2002, the Commission adopted the first Plan. A revised Plan was adopted by the Commission in January 2005. In November 2009, the Commission approved a new Plan, effective January 1, 2010, that included broad input from stakeholders and the general public.  Minor revisions continue to be made to the Plan. The 2015 version of the Plan is available on the TPWD website. Executive Director Carter Smith will update the Commission on TPWD’s recent progress in achieving the Plan’s goals, objectives, and deliverables.

The Plan consists of the following four goals:

  1. Practice, Encourage, and Enable Science-Based Stewardship of Natural and Cultural Resources 
  2. Increase Access to and Participation in the Outdoors 
  3. Educate, Inform, and Engage Texas Citizens in Support of Conservation and Recreation
  4. Employ Efficient, Sustainable, and Sound Business Practices


Work Session Item No. 2
Presenter: Cindy Hancock

Work Session
Fiscal Year 2018 Internal Audit Update and
Proposed Fiscal Year 2019 Internal Audit Plan
November 6, 2018

I.      Executive Summary:  The staff will present an update on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Internal Audit Plan and ongoing or completed external audits, provide the methodology used to develop the proposed FY 2019 Internal Audit Plan, and recommend adoption of the motion to approve the proposed FY 2019 Internal Audit Plan.

II.     Discussion:

  1. Staff will provide an update on the TPWD FY 2018 Internal Audit Plan as well as a briefing of any external audits that have been recently completed and/or are ongoing.
  2. Staff will discuss the methodology used in the development of the proposed FY 2019 Internal Audit Plan.
  3. Staff will recommend adoption of the motion to approve the proposed FY 2019 Internal Audit Plan. 

III.    Recommendation:  The staff recommends the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopt the following motion:

“The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approves the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department FY 2019 Internal Audit Plan as listed in Exhibit A.”

Attachments – 1

  1. Exhibit A – Proposed Texas Parks and Wildlife Department FY 2019 Internal Audit Plan

Work Session Item No. 2
Exhibit A

Proposed Texas Parks and Wildlife Department FY 2019 Internal Audit Plan

FY 2019 New Projects Budgeted Hours
Audit of Selected IT Systems and Processes 1266
Audit of Selected Grants 500
Audit of Selected Contracts 400
Fiscal Controls of Selected Law Enforcement Offices (12) 1400
Fiscal Controls of Selected Wildlife Management Areas (6) 800
Advisory Projects  
• FEMA Coordination 400
• ADA Coordination 400
• Land Conservation Program 800
• Toll Tags 300
• License Fraud 200
• Encumbrance Monitoring 40
Follow-up of Internal and External Audit Recommendations 500
Special Projects and Investigations 252
Total 7258

List of Alternative Projects
Fiscal Controls of Selected State Parks


Work Session Item No. 5
Presenter: Ken Kurzawski
Lance Robinson

Work Session
2019-2020 Statewide Recreational and Commercial Fishing Proclamation Preview
November 6, 2018

I.      Executive Summary:  With this item, the staff seeks to apprise the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission of potential changes to recreational and commercial fishing regulations for the 2019-2020 season.

II.     Discussion:  Responsibility for establishing seasons, bag limits, and means and methods for taking freshwater and saltwater fisheries resources is delegated to the Commission under Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, chapters 61 (Uniform Wildlife Regulatory Act), 66 (Fish), 67 (Nongame Species), 76 (Oysters), 77 (Shrimp), and 78 (Mussels, Clams, and Crabs).  The potential changes are based upon statutory requirements and Commission policy, including scientific investigation and required findings of fact, where applicable. The potential changes are intended to increase recreational opportunity, decrease regulatory complexity where possible, promote enforcement, and provide for the sound biological management of the fisheries resources of the state.

Attachments – 1

  1. Exhibit A – Potential Changes

Work Session Item No. 5
Exhibit A

Potential Changes to Fisheries Regulations 2019-2020

Inland Fisheries

  • Modify existing harvest regulations for largemouth bass including:
    • Lake Conroe (Montgomery County) - change the current sixteen-inch minimum length limit to the statewide limit (fourteen inches);
    • Mill Creek Reservoir (Van Zandt County) - change the current fourteen- through twenty-one-inch slot length limit with a five-fish daily bag limit to a sixteen-inch maximum length limit, adding an exemption for possession of thirteen-pound and larger bass for submission to the ShareLunker program, and retaining the five-fish daily bag limit; and
    • Expand the area covered by the twelve-inch minimum length limit in Southeast Texas to include bass populations with similar life histories and allow for easier angler understanding and enforcement. Areas to be added include Hardin County, Newton County (excluding Toledo Bend Reservoir), and Liberty County south of U.S. Highway 90.
  • Modify the harvest regulations for largemouth and Alabama spotted bass on Alan Henry Reservoir (Garza County) by removing Alabama spotted bass from the current regulation (five-fish daily bag of which only two bass less than eighteen inches may be harvested). Alabama spotted bass would revert to the statewide limits (no length limit and five-fish daily bag in combination with largemouth bass).
  • Enact an eighteen-inch minimum length limit and five-fish daily bag limit for largemouth bass on Lake Lakewood (Williamson County), which is now is being operated as a Leander city park.
  • Enact a five-foot maximum length limit for alligator gar in the Trinity River and connected waters extending from Dallas downstream to the I-10 bridge in Chambers County and require mandatory reporting for all alligator gar harvested statewide except for Falcon Reservoir (Zapata and Starr Counties).

Coastal Fisheries

  • Extend the five-fish daily bag limit for spotted seatrout to include the area from FM 457 to the Texas-Louisiana border. This will create a coast-wide five-fish daily bag limit for spotted seatrout.
  • Require the use of non-offset, non-stainless steel circle hooks when fishing for sharks in state waters, except when fishing with artificial lures. Proposal initiated to match recent federal regulation changes.
  • Possible closure of oyster restoration areas in Galveston Bay, Matagorda Bay, and Copano Bay for two harvest seasons which will allow for scheduled oyster cultch plantings to repopulate these areas with oysters and for those oysters to reach market size. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission may close an area to the taking of oysters when the Commission finds that the area is being overworked or damaged or the area is to be reseeded or restocked.

Work Session Item No. 6
Presenter: Shaun Oldenburger
Alan Cain

Work Session
2019-2020 Statewide Hunting Proclamation Preview
November 6, 2018

I.      Executive Summary:  With this item, the staff seeks to apprise the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission of potential changes to hunting regulations for the 2019-2020 season.

II.     Discussion:  Responsibility for establishing seasons, bag limits, and means and methods for taking game animals and game birds is delegated to the Commission under Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, chapter 61 (Uniform Wildlife Regulatory Act).   The potential changes are based upon statutory requirements and Commission policy, including scientific investigation and required findings of fact where applicable.  The potential changes are intended to increase recreational opportunity, decrease regulatory complexity where possible, promote enforcement, and provide for the sound biological management of the wildlife resources of the state.

Attachments – 1

  1. Exhibit A – Potential Changes

Work Session Item No. 6
Exhibit A

Potential Changes to Hunting Regulations 2019-2020

White-Tailed Deer

  • Implementation of four-day doe days in twenty-one counties.
  • Expand to sixteen-day doe days in twenty counties.

Mule Deer

  • Implementation of the experimental antler-restriction regulation in Lynn County.

Javelina

  • Open new seasons in Hardeman and Gaines counties.

Migratory Game Bird Regulations

  • Overview of new migratory game bird regulations process and potential changes as the result of federal action.
  • Decrease in pintail daily bag limit from two to one.

Wild Turkeys

  • Clarification of proof of sex language.
  • Clarification of season bag limits for one bird in Rio Grande counties.

Work Session Item No. 7
Presenter: Clayton Wolf
Chris Parish

Briefing
North American Non-Lead Partnership
November 6, 2018

I.      Executive Summary: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) staff and the Director of Conservation for The Peregrine Fund will give a briefing on a partnership formed in 2017 that seeks to expand the coalition of hunters, anglers, and other conservationists dedicated to improving ecosystem and wildlife health by choosing non-lead options for hunting ammunition.

II.     Discussion: An ever-increasing body of science has refined our understanding of how incidental ingestion of lead ammunition residues by scavenging wildlife poses a risk.  Recent studies have been conducted to investigate the impacts of ingested lead on individual animals as well as populations. When birds ingest lead shotgun pellets or when scavenging birds and mammals eat the remains of carcasses shot with lead ammunition, lead can be absorbed into the bloodstream, sometimes causing long-term side effects and, in some cases, death. Non-lead ammunition options such as non-lead shot shells or high performance non-lead rifle ammunition like copper solids can help prevent lead poisoning in wildlife.  Presenters will brief the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission on the efforts of the North American Non-Lead Partnership to engage hunters and other wildlife enthusiasts to promote the voluntary use of non-lead ammunition while using scientific evaluation to assess and improve programs.


Work Session Item No. 9
Presenter: Stan David

Work Session
Pipeline Easement - Orange County
Approximately 1.3 Acres at the Lower Neches Wildlife Management Area
Permission to Begin the Public Notice and Input Process
November 6, 2018

I.      Executive Summary: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) staff has been working with ExxonMobil Pipeline Company on a request for a 1.3-acre pipeline easement at the Lower Neches Wildlife Management Area (LNWMA).

II.     Discussion: The 8,047-acre LNWMA consists primarily of briny coastal marshland donated to TPWD in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  ExxonMobil Pipeline Company has requested an easement to cross 1.3 acres of the Nelda Stark Unit of the LNWMA with a 10 inch-diameter pipeline to transfer ethylene products between its facilities.  The preferred route of the pipeline easement will cross the northeast corner of the LNWMA adjacent to an existing power line right-of-way. Residential development adjacent to the LNWMA appears to make a pipeline route around the LNWMA infeasible.  The proposed easement is 2,806 feet long by 20 feet wide.  This easement will be for a horizontal directional bore under the LNWMA.  There will be no surface impacts or surface expression other than marker signs. ExxonMobil Pipeline Company will be responsible for any and all damages it or its contractors cause to the LNWMA.

The staff requests permission to begin the public notice and input process.

Attachments – 3

  1. Exhibit A – Location Map
  2. Exhibit B – Vicinity Map
  3. Exhibit C – Site Map

Work Session Item No. 9
Exhibit A

Location Map for the Lower Neches Wildlife Management Area in Orange County

Location Map for the Lower Neches Wildlife Management Area


Work Session Item No. 9
Exhibit B

Vicinity Map for the Lower Neches Wildlife Management Area between Port Arthur and Orange

Vicinity Map for the Lower Neches Wildlife Management Area


Work Session Item No. 9
Exhibit C

Site Map for Proposed Route of Requested Easement

Site Map for Proposed Route of Requested Easement


Work Session Item No. 10
Presenter: Bob Sweeney
Brent Leisure

(Executive Session Only)
Sunset Advisory Commission Recommended Transfer of Eight State Historic Sites from
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to the Texas Historical Commission
November 6, 2018

I.      Executive Summary:  The Texas Historical Commission (THC) is undergoing its sunset review by the Sunset Advisory Commission (Sunset Commission).  The Sunset Commission’s June 2018 report regarding THC recommended, among other things, that Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) transfer to THC “eight remaining historic sites…that are not attached to a state park.”

II.     Discussion:  The eight sites recommended in the report for transfer to THC are:

  • Battleship Texas
  • Fanthorp Inn
  • Fort Leaton
  • Lipantitlan
  • Monument Hill/Kreische Brewery
  • Port Isabel Lighthouse
  • San Jacinto Monument and Battleground
  • Washington-on-the-Brazos 

The locations of these sites within Texas are shown on Exhibit A.  With the exception of Battleship Texas, these sites include real estate ownership by TPWD.

The Texas Legislature transferred TPWD historic sites to THC in 2005 (the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg by HB 2025, 79th Legislative Session) and in 2007 (eighteen sites by HB 12, 80th Legislative Session).  In addition, Texas Government Code section 442.075 (enacted as part of HB 2025 in 2005) governs transfer of historic sites from TPWD to THC by interagency agreement.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Code and agency policy address land transfers.  Texas Parks and Wildlife Code section 13.008 authorizes TPWD to transfer land to another state department or institution “if ownership of the site is no longer in the best interest” of TPWD.  A two-thirds vote of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission is necessary for action taken under section 13.008.  Under agency policy, real estate dispositions are usually considered in two separate Commission meetings.  When, however, the proposed transfer of land is mandated by legislation that does not require further Commission action, the transfer may proceed without additional Commission approval.

Attachments – 1

  1. Exhibit A – Location Map

Work Session Item No. 10
Exhibit A

Location Map for Sunset Commission Proposed Site Transfers

Location Map for Sunset Commission Proposed Site Transfers


Work Session Item No. 11
Presenter: Bob Sweeney

(Executive Session Only)
Litigation Update
November 6, 2018

I.      Executive Summary:  Attorneys for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will update and advise the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission regarding pending or anticipated litigation, including but not limited to the following pending lawsuits:

  • Potential or pending litigation related to oysters, including but not limited to State of Texas v. Chambers-Liberty Counties Navigation District, Each in his Official Capacity: Terry Haltom as CLCND Commissioner, Allen Herrington as CLCND Commissioner, Kenn Coleman as CLCND Commissioner, Ken Mitchell as CLCND Commissioner, and Dave Wilcox as CLCND Commissioner, and Sustainable Texas Oyster Resources Management, LLC., Cause No. D-1-GN-15-003093, in Travis County District Court. 
  • Potential or pending litigation regarding disease in white-tailed deer, including but not limited to Ken Bailey and Bradly Peterson v. Carter Smith, Executive Director, Clayton Wolf, Wildlife Division Director, Mitch Lockwood, Big Game Program Director and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Cause No. D-1-GN-15-004391, in Travis County District Court; and Labelleco Whitetail Ranch, Inc., and Ryan Merendino v. Carter Smith, Executive Director, Mitch Lockwood, Big Game Program Director and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Cause No. D-1-GN-18-001480, in Travis County District Court.