Texas

About The Show

About the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department provides outdoor recreational opportunities by managing and protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat and acquiring and managing parklands and historic areas. It has inherited the functions of many state entities created to protect Texas' natural resources. In 1895 the legislature created the Fish and Oyster Commission to regulate fishing. The Game Department was added to the commission in 1907. The State Parks Board was created as a separate entity in 1923. In the 1930s, projects of the federal Civilian Conservation Corps added substantially to the state's parklands. In 1951, the term oyster was dropped from the wildlife agency's name, and in 1963, the State Parks Board and the Game and Fish Commission were merged to form the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The legislature placed authority for managing fish and wildlife resources in all Texas counties with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department when it passed the Wildlife Conservation Act in 1983. Previously, commissioners courts had set game and fish laws in many counties, and other counties had veto power over department regulations.

Currently, the agency has 11 internal divisions: Wildlife, Coastal Fisheries, Inland Fisheries, Law Enforcement, State Parks, Infrastructure, Legal, Administrative Resources, Communications, Human Resources and Information Technology. Two senior executive staff provide special counsel to the executive director in the areas of operations and administrative matters. Intergovernmental affairs as well as internal audit and investigations are administered through the Executive Office.

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About The Agency

Executive Director - Carter Smith

Carter Smith was selected as executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission late last year and he officially took the helm at TPWD on January 28, 2008. Prior to his selection as TPWD executive director, Smith had been with The Nature Conservancy of Texas since 1998, serving as state director since 2004. Prior to his promotion to state director, Smith served as Director of Conservation Programs where he was responsible for conservation, external affairs and science programs. Before working at the Nature Conservancy, he was the first executive director of the Katy Prairie Conservancy and continues to serve on their Advisory Board.

Smith is a native of Central Texas and began his professional career in 1992 as a management intern at TPWD, assisting in the Private Lands and Public Hunting programs. He has a wildlife management degree from Texas Tech and a master's degree in conservation biology from Yale University.

He has served on a number of conservation-related boards of directors and advisory councils, including the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's State Parks Advisory Board, the Natural Resources Conservation Service's State Technical Committee, the Texas Land Trust Council, Texas Tech University's Natural Resources Management Advisory Board, and Texas A&M University's Sea Grant Program. Smith is a private landowner and his family has owned farm and ranch properties in Edwards, Gonzales and Williamson counties.

About the Series

Texas Parks & Wildlife is a weekly, half-hour program that airs on the PBS stations throughout the state, as well as in a number of other public television markets around the country. October 2006 marks our 21st year on PBS.

Each week, our program travels to several different destinations around the state. The stories cover a wide range of topics, from in-depth issues about conservation and the environment, to fun family activities in the outdoors. One week you might meet some volunteers at our state parks, go pier fishing on the coast, or join an archeology expedition in Palo Duro Canyon. The next week you'll learn about efforts to save our state fish, the Guadalupe Bass, see how Texas Game Wardens helped out in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, or maybe even see Texas through the eyes and lenses of some professional photographers.

We want our stories to inspire you to get outdoors and visit the natural places in our state. We want to provide a compelling reason for you to care about your outdoor and cultural heritage. Maybe you'll even get involved and help preserve a piece of that heritage. It's our hope that you'll develop a new appreciation for the natural world, a world that's right here in your backyard.

Returning this year is a segment we call “Wild Things”. Outdoor Learning Programs instructor Ann Miller will present interesting and obscure facts about some of our native Texas animals. Our “Outdoor Info” segments offer all kinds of handy tips; how to re-spool your fishing reel, wing shooting tips, and even a series on Dutch Oven cooking. Every show will continue to feature our state parks and historic sites. And of course, each week we'll present our award winning stories about the people and places that make the Texas outdoors the natural place to be. We hope you'll join us.

Where's Wade?
Our resident "every man's outdoor man" is all over the compass dial. Here's our game plan for pinning Wade Bourne down long enough to get another round of "Wade's World" tips.