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Wildlife

Chronic Wasting Disease And Deer Management On Private Land

Chronic Wasting Disease and deer management on private land

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a degenerative, fatal disease of deer, elk, and moose first discovered in Colorado in the 1960s. The disease can be transmitted among animals and over the past 6 decades, the disease has spread to more than 25 states and 3 provinces. There is no effective cure for the disease and so limiting its spread is the best management action. Government agencies act where they can to limit the spread of CWD, but landowners and deer…

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Explosive Growth Endangers Unique Wildlife, Critical Waters Of San Marcos River

Explosive growth endangers unique wildlife, critical waters of San Marcos River

The San Marcos River touches hearts in the fastest-growing city of Texas’ fastest-growing county, and threats to it strike a nerve. Its champions warn that rapid development and the crush of new residents could herald a dark fate for the river’s endangered species and for its critical role providing drinking water to nearly 2 million people from San Antonio to Austin. The river draws from the San Marcos Springs and by extension the massive Edwards Aquifer. And as people and…

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Austin City Council Approves Housing Contracts, Colony Park Developments

Austin City Council approves housing contracts, Colony Park developments

Here’s what we’re following ahead of the Austin City Council meeting Thursday. Housing and support services contracts: approved Council is expected to amend an agreement with Foundation for the Homeless to provide housing for families with children for an additional 12 months, an extension worth $264,519. A separate contract extension with LifeWorks would allow the continuation of support services for young people like food, clothing, health and shelter.   Read more about the other approved developments from the city council…

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EPA Recognizes Austin Water For Efforts To Restore Ecosystems

EPA recognizes Austin Water for efforts to restore ecosystems

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized Austin Water in this year’s Outstanding Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development Competition. Austin Water’s Wildlands Conservation Division received First Place in the People’s Choice Category for a project that manages stormwater runoff in sensitive habitat areas in its Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. This work connects forest fragments, restores diverse native flora and fauna, and recharges karst features on critical conservation lands.   Read more in the press release from the City of…

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Feral Pigs Release 1.1 Million Cars-worth Of Planet-warming Carbon Dioxide Every Year

Feral pigs release 1.1 million cars-worth of planet-warming carbon dioxide every year

As Twitter user Willie McNabb tried to warn in 2019, the threat of feral hogs is real—whether their numbers range from 30 to 50 in the backyard or millions across America. The pigs have damaged virtually every ecosystem they have invaded, often with the help of European colonizers who once ferried them around the world as livestock. These rewilded swine cost the United States an estimated $1.5 billion annually, with their indiscriminate, nearly insatiable appetites matched only by their apparent…

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Solarization On The Water Quality Protection Lands And How You Can Do This At Home

Solarization on the Water Quality Protection Lands and how you can do this at home

On the Water Quality Protection Lands, we’ve been experimenting with soil solarization to control invasive grasses in summer (June-August). This process uses solar radiation to heat the roots and seed of herbaceous plants to such high temperatures that they are no longer able to grow and spread. If you have ever pulled weeds in your yard, only to find that they continue to grow and spread from seed or roots left behind, you may want to try this method at home.…

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Members In The Wild: Loving The Llano

Members in the Wild: Loving the Llano

As a professional fly fishing guide, I’ve spent the last decade getting to know the rivers of Texas on an intimate level. It has become my life passion to explore these waterways but also share their wonders with others through angling and paddling. Seeing the look on someone’s face as they catch their first Guadalupe bass on a beautiful stretch of river is just as exciting for me as it is for them. Nothing tops wild fish in wild places,…

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Wild Rice Sues To Stop Oil Pipeline

Wild rice sues to stop oil pipeline

In 2018, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and the 1855 Treaty Authority, an organization that upholds treaty rights for Chippewa bands, enacted legal personhood for manoomin -- wild rice. Manoomin, which translates to “good berry” in Ojibwe, is a sacred food for Chippewa, Ojibwe and Anishinaabe people and has been a part of traditional teachings, stories and way of life since time immemorial.   Read more from Jessica Douglas with High Country News here.

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Six Texas Freshwater Mussels Proposed For Endangered Species Act Protection

Six Texas freshwater mussels proposed for Endangered Species Act Protection

AUSTIN, Texas— Following litigation by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed to protect six species of Texas freshwater mussels under the Endangered Species Act. The Service also proposed designating 1,944 river miles as critical habitat for the mussels. The Texas pimpleback, Guadalupe orb, Texas fatmucket, Guadalupe fatmucket and false spike will be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, while the Texas fawnsfoot will be classified as threatened. All six species inhabit…

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TWA Announces Justin Dreibelbis As New Chief Executive Officer

TWA announces Justin Dreibelbis as new Chief Executive Officer

Texas Wildlife Association (TWA) is pleased to announce the hiring of Justin Dreibelbis as Chief Executive Officer. Tom Vandivier, immediate Past President of TWA, organized the Search Committee that selected Dreibelbis.  According to Vandivier, “During the search process, the committee gave thoughtful consideration to a variety of candidates and is very pleased with its selection of Dreibelbis.  Justin brings background, skills and convictions that will be of great benefit to TWA.  We look forward to a bright future for TWA…

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