AUSTIN – Texans can help the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department keep the state’s rivers healthy and flowing through their purchase of the new Texas Rivers conservation license plate, available now at www.ConservationPlate.org/Rivers.
AUSTIN – The inaugural Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest (TBTF) scheduled for May 17-21 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir may be replacing the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC), but the support for youth fishing outreach initiatives in Texas and the fish-friendly catch, weigh and immediate release tournament format lives on.
AUSTIN— With their popularity soaring, visitation at Texas State Parks has increased by more than half a million visits in the past four years, making entrance into the system’s more popular sites difficult. Instead of waiting in line to enter a park, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) staff are recommending visitors explore some of the area’s lesser known sites that offer park goers less crowds and unique experiences for their family adventures.
AUSTIN – Thirty-nine organizations across the state have been awarded nearly $1.5 million in grants through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Community Outdoor Outreach Program (CO-OP). This support helps connect Texas communities with their natural environment, provide hands-on environmental education and introduce underserved communities to outdoor recreation skills.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is joining the statewide campaign, No Land No Water™, the theme of this year’s Soil & Water Stewardship Week, which runs through May 7. To support the campaign, which highlights the importance of voluntary land stewardship in Texas, the department has partnered with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, Association of Texas Soil & Water Conservation Districts, Texas Agricultural Land Trust, Texas Wildlife Association, and Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
The Texas Deer Study Group will convene May 11-12 at the Kuykendall Events Center, 2200 RR 152 in Llano. This year’s event will focus on “Land Stewardship: The Basis for Good Deer Management.” Everyone with an interest in deer and deer management is encouraged to attend.
AUSTIN – They restore vital woods and waters, help bring back diverse wildlife ranging from rare species to popular game animals, share their knowledge with neighbors, and open their gates to youth groups and researchers. They are recipients of the 2017 Lone Star Land Steward Awards, bestowed each year by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the nonprofit Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.
WICHITA FALLS – Biologists from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries office in Wichita Falls recently completed fall electrofishing and spring gillnet surveys on Possum Kingdom Reservoir, finding striped bass populations to be at their highest in 14 years.
AUSTIN— The findings from an unprecedented national study of Americans’ relationship to nature reveal an alarming disconnection, but also widespread opportunities for reconnecting. The results are prompting nature conservation, environmental education, and outdoor recreation leaders to rethink how they work to connect people with nature.
GRAPELAND— Experience how early Texas settlers lived at the 12th annual Mission Tejas Folk Festival 10 a.m. — 3 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Mission Tejas State Park.