TPWD Protects Bats on Wildlife Management Areas

White Nose Syndrome (WNS) is named for a white fungus found on the muzzles and wings of infected bats. Bats with White Nose Syndrome awaken often during hibernation and use up the fat reserves they need to last through the winter, causing them to freeze or starve to death. Because this bat “disease” can impact Texas bats, Executive Director Carter Smith has issued an executive order giving authority to close caves on Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) property to protect bats from the spread of White Nose Syndrome.

Though individual animals can spread the bat disease among themselves, there is evidence that humans coming from infected bat caves and roosts can transport the fungus as well. WNS “has caused the most precipitous wildlife decline in the past century in North America,” said John Hayes, chairman of the University of Florida Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. So can WNS be stopped? Continue reading TPWD Protects Bats on Wildlife Management Areas

Grants for Habitat and Wildlife Management

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and local water conservation districts work together to provide technical assistance to provide Texas landowners to help conserve, improve, and develop their soil, water, plant, wildlife and related resources. There are several financial assistance programs available through the NRCS that can help you develop a wetland and offer wetland management incentives.

The Texas Prairie Wetlands Program is administered and funded by the USDA-NRSC, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Ducks Unlimited. Cost-share assistance (75 to 100%) is available to restore, improve, and create wetlands on private lands for waterfowl management. A 10 to 15 year wetland management plan and written agreement is developed jointly and is carried out by the landowner. NRCS and Ducks Unlimited write the management plan, survey, and design any need water control or earthen structures. The landowner agrees to follow the management plan (Wetland Development Agreement) for the life of the contract. Continue reading Grants for Habitat and Wildlife Management

Federal Grants for Wildlife Management

Texas will take part in a nationwide celebration of the 10th anniversary of the State and Wildlife Grants (SWG) program during the week of September 4 through 12. Over the past 10 years, the federal funding source has provided more than $30 million in Texas for a wide array of efforts to help fish and wildlife habitat management, including non-game species.

Throughout the nation the grant program has provided stable federal funding totaling more than $573 million since 2000 to state agencies such as Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which has received about $3 million a year for Texas conservation, which has been put to work on various fish and wildlife management projects across the state. Continue reading Federal Grants for Wildlife Management

Mourning Dove Diseases: Trichomoniasis

Trichonomiasis is a Mourning Dove Disease

There are many diseases that can plague both mourning and white-winged doves in the United States. And some of these mourning dove diseases and white-winged dove illnesses can cause problems for local and migrating dove populations. Avian trichomoniasis, a naturally-occurring parasite, is the likely cause of minor dove die-offs observed recently in the Central Flyway.

“It’s a fairly common occurrence, but folks should be aware of it,” said Corey Mason, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) dove program leader. Trichomonas gallinae is a single cell protozoan common in nature that circulates within bird populations, impacting many different bird species including mourning and white-winged doves. In fact, trichomoniasis is considered by many avian disease specialists to be the most important disease of doves in North America. Outbreaks at bird feeding stations and similar locations reported to the National Wildlife Health Center have occurred from coast-to-coast within the USA. Continue reading Mourning Dove Diseases: Trichomoniasis

Wildlife Habitat Response to Climate Change

The vast majority of climate models predict more variable rainfall with greater periods of drought in the next 50 to 100 years. However, researchers do not yet understand how increased drought and more variability in drought stress will affect ecosystem structure and function. For example, in ecosystems such as central Texas grasslands, where rainfall is already highly variable and drought can be severe, less rain or less frequent rain may push the ecosystem past a threshold, especially in an absence of brush management, to where grasslands are not sustainable.

Alternatively, drought-prone ecosystems that already face extremely variable rainfall may be well equipped to withstand increased drought. How drought alters ecosystem function will be important for both the ecosystem itself and for ecosystem feedbacks to climate change. Continue reading Wildlife Habitat Response to Climate Change

Gus Engling WMA Flooded

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is reporting that the Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is closed to public use until further notice after major localized flooding during recent rain storms in Anderson County resulted in major road damage. The WMA received 8 to 12 inches of rain and the main road that provides access to visitors and hunters is washed out in at least 7 places.

The department has also said that all side roads are also impassable to motor vehicles, but habitat should respond well. The Texas Department of Transportation is assessing damages and repair costs and WMA staff is trying to get a handle on side road damage. According to local accounts, the event marks the heaviest localized flooding since the early 1970s. Continue reading Gus Engling WMA Flooded

Edible Native Plants of Texas

Texas is a state diverse in both native plants and wildlife. Almost anyone that has spent time in the beautiful outdoors of the Lone Star State has probably thought more than once about the edible plants of Texas. Using native plants for human consumption is not only cool in my opinion, but there is something to be said of having natural foods in our diets.

First, let me say that before consuming any wild food, be absolutely certain of its proper identity. Many plants have look-a-likes that appear very similar. So when in doubt, do not eat it. So after doing a little research, here are some of the edible Texas plants you can enjoy: Continue reading Edible Native Plants of Texas