For many Central Texans, Enchanted Rock is a special and mystical place, and now it’s more than doubled in size. Rodney Franklin, director for state parks with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said lots of people have fond memories of hiking to the top of the dome and seeing the view for the first […]
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Posted inPlanning
Design Commission hears how buildings can be safer for birds
No city in Texas has adopted bird-friendly building policies for new construction or retrofits, but the Travis Audubon Society hopes Austin, a designated “Bird City,” will lead the way. To advance this cause, the organization enlisted Heidi Trudell, a consultant and researcher on preventing bird collisions, to prepare a report that could be presented to […]
Posted inAustin
Alligators in Del Valle aren’t as rare as you might think
While some people think states like Louisiana and Florida have cornered the market on alligator territory, Texas has what Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Jonathan Warner called a “healthy” population of about half a million gators. While most live in the state’s southeast region, Warner, who serves as TPWD’s alligator coordinator, says some gators, both […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cold weather kills bats across Texas
Large numbers of dead or dying bats are being discovered under bridges and overpasses in Texas after last week’s winter storm. One Austin resident sent KUT a video of what she saw downtown under a bridge at Henderson and Ninth Street. “It was really upsetting,” Amy Miley said. “A number of them were obviously dead, and […]
Posted inEnvironment
Frigid temps put strain on wildlife and pets alike
As an energy crisis triggered by unusually frigid weather persists throughout the state, even our wild neighbors have struggled to adjust, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department reports. Mortality events have been observed in several bird species, including various species of waterfowl, purple martins and other songbirds. Fatalities are more likely in areas in which abnormal […]
Posted inParks
Neighbors of Bright Leaf worry about fire risk
After a City Council vote on July 29 allowing the city to take over management of Bright Leaf Preserve from the Austin Community Foundation, some residents worried about what that might mean for their Northwest Austin neighborhoods, especially in terms of wildfire prevention. The 216-acre nature preserve, the legacy of Georgia B. Lucas, is located south […]
Posted inParks
More parks close, more parks to close
The Austin Parks and Recreation Department continued its recent pattern of issuing increasingly strict rules for city-controlled parks on Tuesday, with an announcement that all city parks and trails will close over Easter weekend in an effort to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The new closures go into effect at sunset on Thursday, April 9, […]
Posted inEnvironment
White-nose syndrome has been found in Texas. Here’s what that means.
Texas’ first case of white-nose syndrome in bats has been confirmed. The fungus that causes the disease was first detected in Texas bats in 2017, but the disease itself, which has killed millions of bats on the East Coast, hadn’t been found by Texas Parks and Wildlife until Feb. 23 in Gillespie County. Because of […]