AUSTIN – Over the holiday weekend, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is urging boaters to do their part to fight back against aquatic invasive species, such as zebra mussels and giant salvinia, which are threating Texas lakes.
AUSTIN – The Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine’s Great Outdoor Scavenger Hunt (GOSH) returns for another year of summer fun across Texas. Travel to various locations regionally or statewide, take a selfie and post it with the hashtag #GOSH2021. Discover history, wildlife, parks, waterways and quirky attractions — plus iconic Texas food stops as a “bonus” to enjoy along the way. The GOSH 2021 challenge ends at midnight on Labor Day, Sept. 6.
AUSTIN – Audubon Texas and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), partners in the Bird City Texas program (BCT), are excited to announce the launch of the 2021 BCT application process. BCT was launched in 2019 as a way to recognize the work communities are doing in the name of conservation. Now in its third year, the program has seven certified communities, overseeing care and action on more than 75,000 acres of city-owned parklands. BCT certified communities are taking tremendous steps forward for birds, wildlife and future generations.
AUSTIN – Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has issued an “emergency order” to impose additional movement and testing restrictions on deer breeding facilities that are affiliated with six deer breeding facilities where Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been positively detected. Existing rules already restrict the movement of deer from 264 sites in 95 counties that are directly linked to these CWD-positive facilities, but further measures are necessary given the gravity of this situation.
AUSTIN — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will be launching the long-awaited Monarch Butterfly conservation license plate on June 21 that will raise money to help conserve monarch butterflies and other native Texas, non-game, at-risk species.
AUSTIN – The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has designated Lake Brownwood, Inks Lake, and Medina Lake in the Colorado and San Antonio River basins as ‘infested’ with invasive zebra mussels. Infested status signifies that there is an established, reproducing population of zebra mussels in the lake. The designation is a result of recent sampling efforts that revealed evidence that zebra mussels in Lake Brownwood and Medina Lake are now fully established and reproducing and detection of a new infestation in Inks Lake.
AUSTIN – The new Habitat and Angler Access Program (HAAP) will award grants to develop and increase shoreline and bank fishing access as well as restore and enhance fish habitat in Texas’ public inland waters. August 20 is the deadline to apply for grants under the new Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) program, which is funded from the sale of freshwater fishing licenses.
The following items are compiled from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) law enforcement reports.
TOYAHVALE— The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is excited to announce that the spring-fed swimming pool and day use area at Balmorhea State Park will reopen to the public on June 26. The pool and day use areas only will be open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. or sunset, whichever comes first. Light construction is still ongoing in the pool area, so the public is asked to remain vigilant.
AUSTIN— Since 1971, a special group of law enforcement officers have been responsible for the safety, security and protection of the natural jewels in Texas and those who visit them. In 2021, Texas State Park Police celebrate a half-century of serving these special places and the 10 million state park annual visitors.