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.
AUSTIN, Texas—Texas boating fatalities for the first five months of 2007 are up over the previous three years, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department reports show. State game wardens say the increase underscores the need for boater education and shows why TPWD and its partners are this summer launching the Nobody’s Waterproof™ public awareness effort statewide.
AUSTIN, Texas — All across Texas this summer, 147 student interns are getting their hands dirty and feet wet in the real world of wildlife conservation, environmental law enforcement, state parks and other aspects of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
AUSTIN, Texas — New research shows bats suppress agricultural insect pests, saving farmers millions of dollars in avoided pesticide costs and better crop yields. Although the study area focuses on eight counties in Texas, scientists say insect suppression by bats benefits farmers up into the Midwest and Canada, and that this underscores the need to protect large bat colonies and promote public education and bat ecotourism.
ATHENS, Texas—Joe Axton spent nine years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and he’s heard stories of Vietnam veterans being treated poorly on their return home. Now the owner of Axton’s Bass City on Lake Fork, Axton is doing what he can to see the same thing does not happen to military service men and women returning from duty in Iraq.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Executive Director Robert L. Cook today announced his intention to retire Aug. 31. Cook has been executive director since February 2002 and has spent the majority of his professional career at the agency.
AUSTIN, Texas — Funeral and visitation services for Game Warden Teyran “Ty” Patterson will take place in Seguin Sunday and Monday, with more than 1,000 people expected to attend. A benefit fund has also been set up at a Seguin bank for donations to support the Patterson family.
AUSTIN, Texas — The 80th Texas legislature has approved HB 1 and HB 12, which provide significant new funding for state parks. HB 1, the appropriations bill, and several related provisions in HB 12 will provide approximately $182 million in additional funding for state and local parks in the 2008-2009 biennium.
ROCKPORT, Texas — A year after the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission made it illegal to uproot seagrasses with a submerged propeller within the boundaries of the Redfish Bay State Scientific Area, local game wardens are calling compliance with the regulation “good.”
INGRAM, Texas — Ongoing efforts by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to restore the State Fish of Texas to its status as reigning native fish of Texas Hill Country waters took a major step with the recent stocking of tens of thousands of Guadalupe bass fingerlings.
GLEN ROSE, Texas — Texas Game Warden Teyran "Ty" Patterson, 28, died in the line of duty Wednesday, May 30 during a search-and-rescue operation on the Paluxy River near here. Patterson drowned after his boat capsized in floodwaters. He was transported to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth and pronounced dead there Wednesday morning.