March 12, 2013

April Events at Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center Feature Food, Fun, Fishing

ATHENS—There’s no better example of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department motto “Life’s Better Outside” than April events at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

Major Repairs to Battleship Texas Hull to Begin in April

AUSTIN — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has contracted with Taylor Marine Construction, Inc. to make the first significant structural repairs to the Battleship TEXAS in more than 20 years. Today marks the 99th anniversary of the battleship’s commissioning in 1912.

March 9, 2013

Running Wild

CEDAR HILL, TX—Hundreds of visitors from all over Texas and surrounding states crowded the Dallas Off-Road Biking Association trailhead inside Cedar Hill State Park for the Eco Lone Star Adventure Race series sport and extreme outdoor triathlon early Saturday morning.

March 7, 2013

Latest Zebra Mussel Test Results Reinforce Need to Clean, Drain, Dry Boats

ATHENS—The latest tests and monitoring looking for zebra mussels in North Texas lakes yielded mixed results.

CCC Vets, Families Sought to Attend 80th Anniversary Celebration in April

CANYON – At his March 1933 inauguration amid the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for the creation of a “forest army” to staff a massive conservation and public recreation program that included the development of state and local parks. By July, 274,000 men between the ages of 17 to 25 had joined the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Turns 50 This Year

AUSTIN – In the late summer of 1963, the most popular show on television was “The Beverly Hillbillies,” a gallon of gas cost 29 cents, the University of Texas Longhorns were headed toward their first national football championship, “My Boyfriend’s Back” was the top hit on AM radio and Texas had a new state agency called the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

March 6, 2013

Cedar Hill State Park to Host Adventure Race, 5k-15k Run

CEDAR HILL—Ordinarily, the miles of scenic hike and bike trails of the 1,500-acre Cedar Hill State Park are a welcome retreat for nature lovers seeking respite from surrounding urban sprawl. But this weekend, those same wooded paths along the shores of Joe Pool Reservoir in the southern DFW Metro area will play host to a series of running events, including a unique triathlon format of the Eco Lone Star Adventure Race series and the XTERRA Trail Run 5k and 15k.

Texas Birding Classic Spreading Its Wings This Spring

AUSTIN – Grab your binoculars and birding guides and get ready for fun at the 17th annual Great Texas Birding Classic.  The registration deadline for year’s event, which will feature a number of firsts, is April 1.

March 4, 2013

Lake Palestine Joins Ranks of ShareLunker Lakes

ATHENS—Lake Palestine produced its first Toyota ShareLunker March 2, becoming the sixty-fourth public reservoir in Texas to allow an angler to land a 13-pound or larger largemouth bass.

March 1, 2013

Operation Shark Fin targets illegal gill netting and long lines along lower coast

AUSTIN — Operation Shark Fin, a four-day, around-the-clock Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement effort along the lower coast aimed at disrupting trans-national criminal organizations engaged in illegal commercial fishing and other activities in the Gulf of Mexico, the Rio Grande, and Lake Falcon has resulted in the seizure of 17,500 feet of long lines, two vessels and 15 citations or arrests.