The following items are compiled from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement reports.

Since Texas Parks and Wildlife Department launched a statewide appeal in early December for donations to aid a financially strapped Texas State Parks system, more than $1 million has been raised.

Dates for the highly-anticipated return of the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC), the world championship of professional bass fishing and country music festival, were announced today with all of the action set to begin Friday, Sept. 28.

If you’re a saltwater angler and don’t like the idea of hundreds of abandoned crab traps catching and killing game fish you could have landed, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is looking for volunteers willing to help get rid of these derelict traps along the coast.

Today, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation board of trustees voted to donate $500,000 to Texas State Parks, hoping to encourage more donations to aid the state park system, which is facing a $4.6 million revenue shortfall caused by heat, drought, wildfires and a drop in park visitation.

Anyone looking forward to operating a motor-powered vessel, sailboat or personal water craft on Texas public waters this year needs to have completed a state-approved boater education course if born after Sept. 1, 1993.

Hunters and landowners participating in the Texas Big Game Awards (TBGA) this hunting season will not only see some new rules and changes for this year’s program, they will also welcome the debut of a  “Landowner of the Year” (LOTY) Awards program.