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.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Commissioners Wednesday approved several proposed changes to saltwater fishing regulations recommended by TPWD Coastal Fisheries Division staff. The changes include new regulations dealing with flounder, federal consistency issues for sharks and other species, and a paddle craft licensing and training program. Scoping of these issues has been ongoing since the fall of 2008.

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.

Game wardens in the Special Operations Unit of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Law Enforcement Division have arrested six men and executed two search warrants as part of Operation Texas Shuffle, a year-long investigation into the black market deer trade in Texas.
“Our focus here is stopping two main areas of criminal activity: deer being brought illegally across state lines, and wild deer being illegally laundered into deer breeding facilities,” said Col. Pete Flores, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement director.

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

The staff of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission has released its report following a review of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The 12-member commission, made up of 10 legislators and two public members, reviews the policies and programs of more than 150 government agencies every 12 years.

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.

Seventeen lucky sportsmen are making special plans for hunting season as winners of this year’s Big Time Texas Hunts. The hunters were selected by random computer drawing from applicants in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department program.