Category: Outdoor News

Balmorhea State Park Wetland Project Finished!

Wetlands provide important habitat for the animals that use them. Believe it or not, this is even the case in semi-arid regions such as west Texas! The construction of new wetlands at Balmorhea State Park to benefit several species of conservation concern has been completed. This system was designed to provide high-quality habitat for two endangered fish and three rare invertebrates.

Reports state that water began flowing through the newly constructed ciénega in April, and there are now large numbers of juvenile Comanche Springs Pupfish and Pecos Gambusia as well as a suite of other aquatic life including frogs, softshell turtles and a wide variety of invertebrates. It sounds like this wildlife management practice will have ongoing benefits into the future for both native plants and animals of the park and region. Continue reading Balmorhea State Park Wetland Project Finished!

Impact of Lead on America’s Wildlife

Wildlife management has come a long way since man learned how to manipulate plants and animals for renewable consumption. However, one thing that has yet to be addressed is the negative impact lead has on living things, for the toxic material is still used by hunters and anglers and gets left in the field. Lead has been known to be highly toxic for more than 2,000 years. Lead causes numerous pathological effects on all living organisms, from acute, paralytic poisoning and seizures to subtle, long-term mental impairment, miscarriage, neurological damage, and impotence in males.

Research has found that even low levels of lead can impair biological functions. In addition, there may be no safe level of lead in the body tissues of fetuses and young. Despite our knowledge of how dangerous lead is, the toxic substance continues to be used in hunting and fishing products that exposes both wildlife and humans to lead. Continue reading Impact of Lead on America’s Wildlife

National Petition to Ban Lead-Based Ammo and Lures

Research on lead in the environment has found detrimental impacts on fish and wildlife species. Lead is also an important component of fishing lures and shotgun shells used for hunting and target practice. Lead is also bad for hunters that fail to thoroughly inspect their game before consuming it. Recently, a coalition of conservation, hunting and veterinary groups today filed a formal petition with the Environmental Protection Agency requesting a ban on lead in hunting ammunition and fishing tackle.

Major efforts to reduce lead exposure to people have greatly reduced the amount of lead in the environment, but toxic lead is still a widespread killer in the wild, harming bald eagles, trumpeter swans, endangered California condors and other wildlife. It’s not a safe substance at all.

“It’s long past time do something about this deadly – and preventable – epidemic of lead poisoning in the wild,” said Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Over the past several decades we’ve wisely taken steps to get lead out of our gasoline, paint, water pipes and other sources that are dangerous to people. Now it’s time to get the lead out of hunting and fishing sports to save wildlife from needless lead poisoning.” Continue reading National Petition to Ban Lead-Based Ammo and Lures

Wildlife Management Class for Landowners

Texas AgriLife Extension Service (TAES) is offering a Texas Wildlife Short Course on August 20-21, 2010 in Bryan/College Station, Texas for interested sportsmen and landowners. The wildlife management class will consist of a day and a half of educational programming that merges into the Texas Big Game Awards Banquet for Regions 5, 6, 7 (Post Oak Savannah, Pineywoods, and Coastal Prairies).

In addition to covering topics on habitat management, activities will also have youth activities like archery, air guns, laser shot and more. This will be a great event for landowners interested in implementing wildlife and habitat management practices on their property, as well as those wanting to see some big white-tailed bucks harvested from eastern and coastal Texas. Continue reading Wildlife Management Class for Landowners

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

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

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