WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced $18.8 million in grants to 14 states under the National Coastal Wetlands Grant Program to help conserve, restore and protect coastal wetlands. This includes an important project to protect habitat for fish and wildlife in the delta formed where the Guadalupe River flows into San Antonio Bay on the Texas coast.
AUSTIN, Texas — Game Warden Gary Barnes of Fritch north of Amarillo has been named the “Texas Officer of the Year” for 2006 by the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA). On Jan. 25, Barnes received special recognition for the award from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.
HOUSTON — A created freshwater/tidal marsh beside Brays Bayou at Mason Park on Houston's east side has claimed several regional environmental awards and is also featured in Building Better II, a Sierra Club report profiling 10 outstanding examples of innovative and environmentally sensitive ways to manage stormwater.
AUSTIN, Texas— Twenty chapters of the Texas Master Naturalist program are conducting spring training classes for volunteers wanting to learn about natural resource and conservation management.
AUSTWELL, Texas — The tallest bird in North America has something special to “whoop” about. The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge today announced the highest numbers of endangered whooping cranes are wintering in Texas in approximately the last 100 years.
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 2006. 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. News distribution will resume on Jan. 16, 2007. Happy Holidays!
ATHENS, Texas — Texas students in grades 4 through 12 are invited to enter the ninth annual Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest.
WESLACO, Texas — Build it and the birds will come. That could well be the mantra of the newest wing of the World Birding Center — Estero Llano Grande State Park — that officially opened this past June.
TEMPLE, Texas — The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Texas is seeking grant applications from landowners for conservation cost-share programs for 2007. NRCS has nearly $72.5 million for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and $665,000 for the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP).
FORT WORTH, Texas — Wednesday, a bald eagle nest located in the northern Texas Panhandle received a much needed restoration thanks to a statewide partnership of university and state wildlife experts and zoos. The group partnered to build an artificial nest and perch for a pair of bald eagles that has made the area home for the past several years. Biologists feared that if the nest was not restored, the eagle pair, which mates for life, would lose this nesting habitat.