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Texas Offers Grazing Workshops

Grazing workshops come to Texas

Livestock and wildlife producers, land managers and others interested in learning more about managing and optimizing their grazing lands will have an opportunity at one of five workshops being held throughout Texas from Sept. 3 to Oct. 1, 2008. “My Piece of Texas” grazing schools will teach attendees how to estimate forage production, determine grazeable acres and set proper stocking rates as well as learn valuable grazing management principles.

The $25 registration fee will include lunch and a copy of the soon-to-be published handbook, “Managing My Piece of Texas.” The how-to guide was peer reviewed by ranchers throughout Texas after being developed by grazing specialists from the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI), Texas AgriLife Extension Service, and the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Continue reading Texas Offers Grazing Workshops

Bluebird Boxes Made of Wood Are Best

Baby Bluebirds

Managed nest-box programs can significantly increase local populations of Eastern Bluebirds and other cavity-nesting species. Poorly designed boxes, however, may become population sinks rather than source centers. Internal box temperature is an important determinant of box success. Bluebird eggs and nestlings, for example, cannot survive temperatures exceeding 107′ F (41′ C).

Several researchers have investigated construction materials and nest box temperatures. Lawrence Zeleny in 1968 and Robert M. Patterson in 1980 studied wood, metal, and plastic bluebird boxes. Wood Duck boxes also have been studied. J. A. L. Mertens in 1977 developed a model predicting box temperature for any material and ambient temperature, but its complexity discourages amateur use.

The goal of this project was to examine the effects of construction material on nest box temperature and to develop a graphed model of the relationship.

Jasper Fish Hatchery Starting Up

The fish hatchery in Jasper will start soon!

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says that this week will begin the long-awaited groundbreaking for Texas’ newest fish hatchery in Jasper. As is turns out, a $27-million construction contract has been awarded for the project, which replaces the aging Jasper Fish Hatchery.

The Jasper fish hatchery will include a whopping 45 acres of production ponds, a 34,000- square-foot production building, administrative office space, and a maintenance shop and storage area.

The hatchery will be situated on 200 acres and is scheduled for completion in 2010. And the really good news for Texas’s fishermen — the hatchery is expected to produce between 4 million and 5 million fish per year!

Pronghorn Populations Decline in West Texas

Pronghorn populations in Texas have declined

Texas’ pronghorn numbers are on the decline. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) wildlife biologists recently recorded a considerable drop in the pronghorn antelope population in portions of Jeff Davis and Presidio Counties, although they said overall pronghorn populations in the Trans-Pecos remain only slightly below the 30-year average.

Department biologists annually conduct aerial surveys in June and July throughout West Texas to count pronghorn herds. The resulting data is used to monitor populations and generate harvest quotas for hunting permits issued to private landowners. While conducting surveys this year, biologists noticed significantly fewer animals in certain areas than in previous years.

Subsequent ground-based efforts, including rancher interviews, indicated that there had been a fairly extensive loss of adult pronghorn in the affected counties. Though it is difficult to determine exactly how many individuals might have perished, mortality estimates approach 50 percent of adult pronghorn in the two counties, or in excess of 1,000 animals from more than 500,000 acres of desert grassland habitat. Continue reading Pronghorn Populations Decline in West Texas

Texas Youth Super Shoot

Get ready for Texas Youth Super Shoot

What a sport shooting can be! Steve Hall fondly remembers the look on the faces of visitors to the clay shooting activities and the annual Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo in Austin.

“You see smiles on the faces of both kids and adults,” said Hall, Texas Parks and Wildlife education director. “It’s just fun breaking clay birds.”

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is helping to organize various shooting-sports associations, industries and ranges to bring more opportunities for youth to be introduced to the various shooting sports.

The result of the organizational effort is called the Texas Youth Shooting Sports Committee, an association formed in early 2008 with a mission to increase awareness of shooting sports and to encourage youth to participate in them. Starting with the shotgun sports, the committee is offering a series of “Youth Super Shoots” to give young Texans a chance to compete and show-off their skills or simply to shoot for the first time. Continue reading Texas Youth Super Shoot

Central Texas Native Seedlings Grow Better

Plant seedlings native to central Texas for best success

The Central Texas Seedling Program (CTSP) began in 2004 to help supply Central Texas landowners with high quality seedlings that have stewardship benefits for the region. The program supports and compliments current reforestation programs such as oak wilt suppression and recovery, forest stewardship, wildlife habitat, reforestation of marginal lands and farmlands, water quality control, and disease management through diversity.

Tree seeds are collected from a variety of tree species native in and around the Central Texas region. After collection, the seeds are grown at the West Texas Nursery into quality seedlings which are then shipped to Central Texas offices for landowner pickup.

The program is geared toward helping native species survive and grow in the harsh conditions of Central Texas. Because of this, seedlings are typically grown in “tall” containers and are ready to plant at the end of October to give seedlings the best chance of successful establishment. You can order seedlings beginning September 1. Continue reading Central Texas Native Seedlings Grow Better

Texas Duck and Geese Seasons

Season dates for Texas Waterfowl Hunting are here

Texas waterfowl hunters will once again have the Hunter’s Choice bag limit during the 2008-09 seasons. The Central Flyway, of which Texas is a member, will be allowed to complete the three-year experimental Hunter’s Choice bag limit pilot this season despite a decline in canvasback breeding population numbers that mandate a conservative harvest federal framework.

“The other flyways came out in strong support of the Hunter’s Choice experiment in the Central Flyway,” said Dave Morrison, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department waterfowl program leader. “We gave up some things the last couple of years in order to get the Hunter’s Choice and I think they recognized the sacrifices our Flyway has made.”

The Hunter’s Choice allows hunters to shoot five ducks daily, but only one in the aggregate of certain species. In the aggregate category, that one bird could be either a pintail, or a canvasback, or a “dusky duck” (mottled, black duck or Mexican-like duck) or a hen mallard. Continue reading Texas Duck and Geese Seasons