The trumpeting sound of cranes overhead is a cherished sound of spring in Texas, but as endangered whooping cranes depart Texas this spring en route for breeding grounds in Canada, fewer birds will be making the trip.

TPWD Texas Parks & Wildlife TV Program (weekly schedule and show for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department) has recently been updated.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission on Jan. 21 authorized the department to seek public comment on a suite of proposed wildlife and hunting related regulations that would expand special buck antler restrictions and liberalize antlerless harvest opportunities in dozens of counties, part of a broader move to transition away from political boundaries and toward biologically-based communities for managing deer populations.

The online public comment period is 04:00 p.m. December 8, 2008, through 05:00 p.m. January 14, 2009.

The Nature Conservancy of Texas has purchased the 7,000-acre Fresno Ranch in far West Texas and plans to transfer it to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for the purchase price of about $2.6 million. The deal culminates 20 years of work to remove the largest remaining in-holding inside Texas’ biggest state park, expands hiking and public access, and protects desert springs, Rio Grande river frontage, diverse wildlife and rich cultural resources.

Texas’ newest state park and the eighth link in the World Birding Center chain stretching the breadth of the Rio Grande Valley — will host a grand opening celebration on Saturday, Dec. 6 in this border city.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has transitioned away from political boundaries for the purpose of monitoring white-tailed deer populations and toward biologically-based communities or Resource Management Units (RMUs).