AUSTIN – Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) are seeking input on a cooperative effort to monitor for Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) in Texas, which would include sampling hunter-harvested mule deer and elk. The tissue samples used for this effort would be the same samples currently collected as part of the ongoing Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) monitoring effort.
AUSTIN—Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Inland Fisheries will be stocking 2,400 rainbow trout into the Llano River near Castell, Texas, on December 18, 2013. This site is a recent addition to the popular winter trout program which provides Texans a unique fishing opportunity during the winter months. The trout will be dispersed among three public access sites along the Llano River down from Castell to ensure a wide distribution along this five-mile river stretch. The stocking sites will be the three river crossings at RR 2768, CR 102 and CR 103.
The following items are compiled from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement reports.
FORT DAVIS – Davis Mountains State Park will reopen for all activities on Friday, Dec. 20, well ahead of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s original projected opening date.
SAN ANTONIO – Texans looking to experience the beauty and adventure of the Texas Hill Country will have more opportunities to visit and explore Government Canyon State Natural Area in west Bexar County during the upcoming Christmas holidays and throughout the coming New Year, thanks to extended days of operation.
AUSTIN — The Deepwater Horizon oil spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees have released a draft plan that proposes $627 million in early restoration projects across the Gulf states. The proposal includes the first Texas early restoration projects, five projects totaling about $18.4 million. The Draft Programmatic and Phase III Early Restoration Plan and Draft Early Restoration Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is available for public review and comment through Feb. 19.
AUSTIN – In the state’s ongoing effort to combat the spread of invasive zebra mussels, new rules take effect Dec. 10 requiring that all boats operating on public water in 17 Northeast Texas counties be drained after use.
AUSTIN—Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has signed temporary leased access agreements with four Guadalupe River property owners to expand public access to the trout fishery downstream of Canyon Lake.
AUSTIN— Spend a weekend at one of the 70 state parks that offer group facilities and create a new holiday tradition in the great outdoors. Serve turkey and all the trimmings in a park recreation hall equipped with a full kitchen or gather near a roaring fireplace in an open-air pavilion to sing carols and rejoice in the season.
ATHENS—Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Inland Fisheries and State Parks divisions have partnered with other private groups to develop habitat enhancement projects to improve fishing opportunities at Inks Lake the past three years. Selected sites have been refurbished with brush, gravel and light structures designed to attract fish to areas accessible by boat and bank anglers.