Flood Impact Alert
As floodwaters recede across the state, conditions remain dynamic. Learn about the impact of flooding on state parks, wildlife and lost vessels.
DAINGERFIELD — The now famous Civilian Conservation Corps came to this beautiful northeast Texas forest land in the 1930s to construct Daingerfield State Park. The hard-working New Deal crews built cabins, park buildings, roads and infrastructure. They also created 80-acre Lake Daingerfield at the heart of the park.
HUNTSVILLE — For years it was a hard-luck entry in the Texas State Park system, but once it opened for good, Huntsville State Park quickly attained major attraction status. Originally constructed in the 1930s by African-American Company 1823 of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the park was still being developed in 1940 when a heavy flood collapsed a dam and flooded the park, causing extensive and costly damage. The park did not open until 1956.
HOUSTON — Once an endangered species, the American alligator is now common in rivers, creeks, and backwater sloughs of East and South Texas. An ever-expanding human population continues to encroach upon the alligator’s domain, driving a trend of increased encounters between alligators and people.
AUSTIN — Gary E. Saul, PhD, has been named director of the Inland Fisheries Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Saul assumes his new position May 10.
AUSTIN — When Mother Nature shines as she’s done this spring, it makes anyone with a plot of dirt look good. But, it’s those times when the rains don’t come and the heat turns most of Texas brown and crunchy that a landowner’s mettle is put to the test. Those who can keep habitat conditions going in tough times as well as good are true conservation heroes.
AUSTIN, Texas — With spring come young, wild animals venturing from their nests and hiding places under the watchful eyes of their parents. Young animals often stray and appear to be abandoned; that’s when humans need to resist the urge to help, wildlife experts say.
CEDAR HILL — In 1854, when John Penn moved into the Cedar Mountains 20 miles southwest of a tiny new community called Dallas, using electricity to run a home was not even an idea, much less an option.
SMITHVILLE — For more than seven decades the massive-looking Recreation Hall at Buescher State Park has stood firmly on a hill overlooking the park’s lake. Imperceptibly, the historic Civilian Conservation Corps structure has moved — the result of creep — three inches downhill.
ROCKPORT — One of Texas’ earliest state parks has stood up to the wind, surf and sun for almost 75 years, but now and then the elements start gaining on it. This fall Texas Parks and Wildlife will acknowledge Mother Nature’s constant challenge at Goose Island State Park by removing 45 concrete shade shelters worn down from more than 35 years of harsh weather.
AUSTIN — The Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season for both state and federal waters will close 30 minutes after sunset on Saturday, May 15, and not reopen until some point in July still to be determined.