Outdoor News - Wildlife Management Pro

Texas Crab Trap Cleanup Needs You!

Texas Crab Trap Cleanup Continues

Texas is hoping to add to the mountain of more than 24,000 abandoned crab traps it has hauled from Texas bays since 2002. And yes, it’s crab trap cleanup again! Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) officials are gearing up for the 8th Texas Abandoned Crab Trap Removal Program, running this year from Febrary 20 to March 1. Over this 10-day period, all Texas bays will be closed to crabbing with crab traps, and any traps left in the bay will be presumed to be abandoned and considered litter, thus allowing volunteers to legally remove any crab traps they find.

Volunteers are needed to assist in the coast-wide effort to remove the numerous wire mesh traps that have been lost or abandoned since last year’s cleanup. Abandoned crab traps pose a problem to both humans and ocean critters alike. People see the traps as nuisance and can hurt themselves by getting poked or even hung on their motors. Abandoned crab traps also work as ghost traps, catching sea life even without bait. Continue reading Texas Crab Trap Cleanup Needs You!

CWD Found in Colorado Elk, Meat Recalled

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been present in the wild for decades in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming. CWD can effect white-tailed deer, mule deer, and elk. Since that time, CWD has spread through some of the state’s elk ranches in 2001 after an operation with some infected animals shipped elk around the state. Since there is no vaccine for cervids, thousands of captive elk were slaughtered in Colorado to prevent spread of the disease.

Consumers are being warned not to eat some retail elk meat sold at a recent farmers’ market in Longmont, Colorado. State and Boulder County health officers issued a recall Wednesday for elk meat sold on December 13 at a farmers’ market at the Boulder County Fairgrounds. The meat comes from an elk found to have chronic wasting disease from a ranch in northern Colorado. Though the disease is thought to be harmless to humans, health officials still warn against eating meat from infected animals. Continue reading CWD Found in Colorado Elk, Meat Recalled

Texas Bays and Estuaries Meeting

The University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) is pleased to announce the annual Texas Bays and Estuaries Meeting (TBEM) for 2009. The meeting will focus on work being done in the bays, estuaries and near-shore Gulf of Mexico. It provides an opportunity for Texas scientists working in the coastal zone to share information, results and insights into our diverse coastal environment. Both natural and social science research is welcome. There will be awards for the best student presentations. The meeting will be held at the Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, Texas.

Talks will be held in the Auditorium located in the Visitor’s Center, and there will be a limited number of poster slots available. Information on the Institute and directions can be found at their website. Abstracts and registration are due 31 March 2009. Registration will open in mid February at URL to be posted in the 2nd announcement. Housing and registration costs will be similar to 2008.

Resaca de le Palma State Park Grand Opening

A break in inclement weather conditions, as well as a day full of family-friendly activities, welcomed about one thousand visitors and community leaders who turned out for the grand opening of Resaca de la Palma State Park this past Saturday. The new park is operated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and is named for the shallow, flooded oxbows that existed before reservoirs changed the Rio Grande, preserves 1,700 acres of disappearing native riparian and wetland habitat in the ever-growing metropolitan area of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. It’s the largest of the three state parks in the nine-site World Birding Center network and underscores the region’s renown as a premier birding destination, an area home to more than 500 avian varieties, including locally popular species such as the green jay and the chachalaca.

TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith, State Parks Director Walt Dabney and various other staff members and local dignitaries spoke to the crowd. The day included a ribbon cutting to commemorate the official opening of site facilities, mariachi bands, an art display and contest from local students, interpretive tours for birding, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies, and various exhibits and activities that included everything from Buffalo Soldiers and the Gladys Porter Zoo to the Last Chance Forever birds of prey show. With the opening of Resaca de le Palma, eight of the nine World Birding Center sites are now complete and open to the public, with the final site still under development at South Padre Island.

Resaca de le Palma State Park is Open!

Texas’ newest state park, and the last of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) three World Birding Center sites, opens this Saturday in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Resaca de la Palma State Park near Brownsville will host a grand opening celebration Dec. 5, though it opened quietly months ago. The 1,200-acre park near the southernmost tip of Texas is the largest of the nine sites that comprise the World Birding Center, a project begun by TPWD in partnership with local communities a decade ago, now nearing final fruition. South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, the final wing of the WBC, is under construction and slated to open in spring 2009. The other World Birding Center sites are: Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park (WBC headquarters), Edinburg Scenic Wetlands, Estero Llano Grande State Park (Weslaco), Harlingen’s Arroyo Colorado, Old Hidalgo Pump House, Quinta Mazatlan (McAllen) and Roma Bluffs.

Not a state park in the traditional sense (there is no overnight camping), Resaca de la Palma caters to bird watchers, butterfly enthusiasts and other nature lovers who seek an up-close view of wildlife in a natural setting. Like Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley, Resaca visitors must park at the visitor center and walk, bicycle or take the free tram into the park. The park’s centerpiece is a restored resaca (an ancient coil of a river bed once filled by Rio Grande floodwaters), but it also includes marshes, dense thorn-scrub, and mature palm and ebony forests. The new state park was made possible in large part by increased funding provided by the Texas Legislature in 2007, which helps pays the salaries of 14 full-time and part-time employees, among other expenses. Interpreting the park story for the visiting public is a major focus, with staff and exhibits, trails and observation decks, guided tours and other activities, all designed to teach visitors about the area’s unique natural and cultural resources.

TPWD Prepares for Acquisition of Fresno Ranch

Fresno Ranch

Last Tuesday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Nature Conservancy of Texas announced that the conservancy has purchased the 7,000-acre Fresno Ranch and plans to sell it to TPWD for the same purchase price of about $2.6 million. The property will be added to Big Bend Ranch State Park, culminating 20 years of work to remove the largest remaining in-holding inside Texas’ biggest state park. The acquisition expands hiking and public access, and protects desert springs, Rio Grande river frontage, diverse wildlife and rich cultural resources.

“The Fresno Ranch acquisition opens up key areas in the park, places the public couldn’t go before,” said Scott Boruff, deputy executive director for operations, in a joint news release. “Plus, the mouth of Fresno Creek is the one remaining large tract along the river inside the park that could have been subject to adverse development. So this protects one of the most scenic and important areas at Big Bend Ranch.” The acquisition has been widely covered in news media throughout the state.

7,000 Acres to Expand Big Bend Ranch State Park

The Nature Conservancy of Texas has purchased the 7,000 acre Fresno Ranch in far West Texas and plans to transfer it to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for the purchase price of about $2.6 million. The deal culminates 20 years of work to remove the largest remaining in-holding inside Texas’ biggest state park, expands hiking and public access, and protects desert springs, Rio Grande river frontage, diverse wildlife and rich cultural resources. Acquiring the checkerboard 11-section tract removes in-holdings within the park’s Fresno Canyon, a beautiful natural corridor with cottonwood trees, desert springs, archeological sites, and majestic views. The acquisition means park users will be able to access all of Fresno Canyon. The property comes down to the Rio Grande, so it also now gives the state park 8.5 miles of unbroken public river frontage. Most of Fresno Ranch lies in non-contiguous tracts in Presidio County, with some 200 acres in Brewster County.

“The Nature Conservancy is thrilled to be able to make this important addition to Big Bend Ranch State Park a reality to allow Texas residents and visitors greater opportunities to enjoy this beautiful and fascinating natural resource,” said Laura Huffman, state director of The Nature Conservancy of Texas. “Acquiring this key piece of land means additional opportunities for park visitors, and we believe providing access to this Texas treasure is important.”

Continue reading 7,000 Acres to Expand Big Bend Ranch State Park