Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Background

Regan Templeton of KUT News researched and reported this article.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) mission is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas. TPWD seeks to provide hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

TPWD regulates and provides licenses for fishing, hunting, and boating. The department has authority to manage fish and wildlife resources under the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1983. The department also manages state parks.

TPWD is headquartered in Austin. Carter Smith has been the executive director of TPWD since 2008.

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May 8, 2013

Texas House Approves Bill Ending Comptroller’s Endangered Species Duties

The blind salamander is one of Texas' endangered species. A new bill passing through the House could move Texas' endangered species monitoring duties from the Comptroller to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Update: HB 3509 passed out of the state House Thursday, the final day for bills to be voted out. Earlier: The Texas House could vote today on a bill that would strip the Texas Comptroller’s office of its endangered species monitoring duties and send the job over to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Advocates [...]

May 2, 2013

Toads Gone Wild: The Promises and Pitfalls of Houston Toad Recovery

Hope for the Toads. A Houston toad pollywog set to be released into the wild. These tadpoles were not bred in captivity, but they were fostered from eggs in an attempt to increase their survival rates.

For decades captive breeding programs like the one at the Houston Zoo have been a strategy in preserving endangered species. But many conservationists see a downside.

May 1, 2013

Comptroller’s Endangered Species Duties Could Go to Wildlife Department

The Lesser Prairie Chicken was proposed for listing as "threatened" recently by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Comptroller Susan Combs, Texas’ top accountant and tax official, doesn’t just deal with money: she’s also in charge of monitoring endangered species. It’s an odd coupling, money manager and critter caretaker, and a new piece of legislation could undo the two disparate duties. The Senate Natural Resources Committee discussed a bill, SB 468, at a meeting Tuesday [...]

March 6, 2013

Why a New Law Aims to Ban Shark Fins in Texas

Shark fins for sale in Texas (like the ones in the this photo from China) would be banned under proposed legislation.

We all know there are sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. But why would Texas lawmakers care? A bill that went before the Senate Natural Resources Committee Tuesday says they should. State Senator Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, whose district includes Galveston, filed Senate Bill 572, which would outlaw the buying and selling of shark fins. Shark fins are [...]

March 4, 2013

Texas Bill to Ban Shark Fins Up For Hearing

A fisherman cuts the fins off of a shark at the fish market in Abobodoume, a popular quarter of Abidjan, on April 12, 2008. A new bill being considered by the Texas legislature would make the market for shark fins illegal.

The State Senate Natural Resources Committee will discuss banning the sale and transfer shark fins at a hearing Tuesday. Senator Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, filed SB 572 as a companion to a bill filed in the House, HB 852, by Representative Eddie Lucio, D-Harlingen. As StateImpact Texas reported recently, the bills would ban anyone from buying or selling [...]

February 27, 2013

How New Legislation Could Benefit Texas Deer Breeders

A fallow deer buck watches from the cover of a bracken thicket after sunrise during the autumn rutting season at Richmond Park on October 10, 2011 in London, England. New legislation proposed for Texas would help clarify deer breeding regulations.

Deer breeding as a commercial enterprise is expanding in Texas, and breeders say it’s time to firm up the permitting process. Sen. Tommy Williams, R-Woodlands, filed a bill this month, SB 820, that could overhaul some permitting for breeders. Gilbert Adams, President of the Texas Deer Association, said as breeding businesses grow across the state, [...]

February 20, 2013

How New Legislation Could Help Texas Go Native Again

A Texas A&M Aggie plants a Loblolly Pine seedling in Bastrop State Park after the 2011 wildfires. New legislation could expand the supply of native Texas seeds.

New bills could help reseed Texas with the hardy native plants and grasses of a bygone era.

February 12, 2013

Why One Lawmaker Wants Texas Lakes to Post Mercury Warnings

A fisherman walks from his fishing spot at the Tonkawa Falls area 10 January 2004 in Crawford, Texas. A new bill would require lakes with mercury contamination to post warning signs to fishermen.

Many of Texas’ lakes and bays have become contaminated with mercury, which has, in turn, contaminated the consumable fish living in them, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Now one lawmaker has filed a bill, HB 993, that would help notify people of mercury problems in state waters. “Right now there aren’t any [...]

January 15, 2013

Thanks to Limits, Flounder Making a Comeback on Texas Coast

Shrimp fisherman wait to board their boats following Hurricane Ike September 15, 2008 in Galveston, Texas.

Captain Dan, the ‘Flounder Man’ has been hunting flounder on the Texas coast for more than 30 years. In the dark of night, Captain Dan escorts his clients along the Gulf shore in his brightly lit skiff and stalks flounder laying on the sandy floor. Armed with miniature tridents set on poles, his clients wait [...]

January 14, 2013

Lesser Prairie Chicken Has Energy Industry Worried

The potential endangered species listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken could impact two big Texas industries: oil and gas drilling, and wind.

From the Texas Tribune: In a few months, a grouse known as the lesser prairie chicken will emerge from its West Texas winter hideaway. Males will do a loud and elaborate mating dance, delighting females — and birdwatchers. But there is less dancing now because the chickens’ numbers have declined. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife [...]

What is the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department?