EDITORS NOTE: In this issue of TPWD News, we forsake our usual format for the most part and provide a summary of the top news stories of 2007. Details about these topics can be found in the department’s online news archive. Please note that TPWD will not be distributing weekly news during the coming holidays. Weekly news distribution will resume on Jan. 14, 2008. Happy Holidays!
The following are excerpts from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement reports.
AUSTIN, Texas — State fisheries biologists have set a January series of public input meetings in Port Arthur, Dickinson, Port Aransas and Port Isabel to discuss possible changes to the way fishing and fisheries are regulated along the Texas coast.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Carter Smith was named executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Dec. 5 at a special meeting of the TPW Commission in San Antonio. Smith will be leaving the helm at The Nature Conservancy of Texas to take the top job at TPWD.
AUSTIN, Texas — For an inexpensive, entry-level fishing experience the entire family can enjoy, it doesn’t get much easier than winter rainbow trout fishing in Texas.
AUSTIN, Texas — Twenty-two chapters of the Texas Master Naturalist program are conducting spring training classes for volunteers wanting to learn about natural resource and conservation management.
ATHENS, Texas — Individuals or organizations that have made a lasting contribution to freshwater fishing in Texas may be nominated through Feb. 29 for induction into the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.
ATHENS, Texas — Texas students in grades 4 through 12 are invited to enter the tenth annual Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest. Deadline for entries is March 31, 2008.
AUSTIN, Texas — When the USTS Texas Clipper finally plunged beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico in a plume of spray at 12:35 p.m., Nov. 17, it’s fair to say the mood aboard many of the boats chartered to observe the sinking was euphoric.
AUSTIN, Texas — A ship with three lives — World War II troop transport, New York City luxury liner, and sea cadet training vessel — is about to make her final journey. Weather permitting, the Texas Clipper will be sent to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico Nov. 17* to become an artificial reef.