A couple with East Texas roots – Arthur “Buddy” Temple and his wife Ellen – have been presented the 2011 Leopold Conservation Award for Texas for their transformation of an over-grazed, over-hunted South Texas ranch into a haven for wildlife and valuable research venue.

Can people in cities and wildlife coexist? Must urbanization mean the decline of biodiversity? Those are among the questions that will be on the minds of more than 250 attendees from across the U.S.A and eight foreign nations at the international Urban Wildlife Management and Planning Conference to be held May 22-25 in Austin.

Native habitat restoration and enhancement for the benefit of wildlife is a common thread among the recipients of this year’s Lone Star Land Steward Awards. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Sand County Foundation are recognizing these model land stewards and others, who have shown exemplary efforts to manage their property as ambassadors of conservation.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens working with other law enforcement agencies will be concentrating their efforts on enforcing boating while intoxicated (BWI) laws this summer, but they’d just as soon see boaters go to school than jail.

The Llano River in Texas has been named one of 10 “Waters to Watch” for 2011 in the National Fish Habitat Action Plan. The watch list doesn’t necessarily indicate waters in trouble, but points to those that will benefit from strategic conservation efforts to protect, restore or enhance them, thus providing models for good work elsewhere.

Thousands of Texas children will explore and learn more about the states’ cultural and natural resources thanks to more than $622,000 in Community Outdoor Outreach Program (CO-OP) grants from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

April is National Volunteer Month, and folks who love state parks, hunting and fishing in Texas have plenty tocelebrate. In 2010, volunteers provided close to 955,000 hours of service worth an estimated $16.9 million to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.