AUSTIN – Thirty-nine organizations across the state have been awarded nearly $1.5 million in grants through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Community Outdoor Outreach Program (CO-OP). This support helps connect Texas communities with their natural environment, provide hands-on environmental education and introduce underserved communities to outdoor recreation skills.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is joining the statewide campaign, No Land No Water™, the theme of this year’s Soil & Water Stewardship Week, which runs through May 7. To support the campaign, which highlights the importance of voluntary land stewardship in Texas, the department has partnered with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, Association of Texas Soil & Water Conservation Districts, Texas Agricultural Land Trust, Texas Wildlife Association, and Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
The Texas Deer Study Group will convene May 11-12 at the Kuykendall Events Center, 2200 RR 152 in Llano. This year’s event will focus on “Land Stewardship: The Basis for Good Deer Management.” Everyone with an interest in deer and deer management is encouraged to attend.
AUSTIN – They restore vital woods and waters, help bring back diverse wildlife ranging from rare species to popular game animals, share their knowledge with neighbors, and open their gates to youth groups and researchers. They are recipients of the 2017 Lone Star Land Steward Awards, bestowed each year by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the nonprofit Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.
WICHITA FALLS – Biologists from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries office in Wichita Falls recently completed fall electrofishing and spring gillnet surveys on Possum Kingdom Reservoir, finding striped bass populations to be at their highest in 14 years.
AUSTIN— The findings from an unprecedented national study of Americans’ relationship to nature reveal an alarming disconnection, but also widespread opportunities for reconnecting. The results are prompting nature conservation, environmental education, and outdoor recreation leaders to rethink how they work to connect people with nature.
GRAPELAND— Experience how early Texas settlers lived at the 12th annual Mission Tejas Folk Festival 10 a.m. — 3 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Mission Tejas State Park.
The following items are compiled from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement reports.
AUSTIN – Efforts to stop aquatic invasive species from taking over Texas waterways are ramping up this spring, made possible through record funding from state lawmakers. Invaders like giant salvinia, zebra mussels and many others blanket waterways and block boating, fishing and swimming, crowd out native species, spoil rivers and lakes, and clog power plant and municipal water pipes. Experts say it’s a huge challenge, but progress is being made, and the public still has a key role to play.
COLLEGE STATION – Dr. Kevin Conway is ecstatic.