The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

state agency that oversees and protects

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

and their

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas. Its mission is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and

future generations Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations, and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The moral patienthood of future g ...

. The agency maintains its headquarters at 4200 Smith School Road in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

History

In 1895, the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

created the Fish and Oyster Commission to regulate fishing. The legislature added the Game Department to the commission in 1907. The Legislature created the State Parks Board as a separate entity in 1923. In 1963, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was formed through merger of the State Parks Board and the Game and Fish Commission. In 1983, the Texas legislature passed the Wildlife Conservation Act, giving the department the authority for managing fish and wildlife resources in all Texas counties. The department operates 95 state parks and historic sites, 51 wildlife management areas, eight fish hatcheries, and numerous field offices statewide. On January 1, 2008 and September 1, 2019, TPWD transferred management of several historic sites to the

Texas Historical Commission The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas. The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Historic L ...

Employees

The agency employs more than 3,500 permanent employees, and 300 interns every summer, from every field of study. Intern programs vary but are typically 12 weeks long and go from May until August.

Game warden A conservation officer is a law enforcement officer who protects wildlife and the environment. A conservation officer may also be referred to as an environmental technician or technologist, game warden, forest ranger, forest watcher, forest g ...

s and Park Police Officers undergo a 30-week course at TPWD's Texas Game Warden Training Center in rural Hamilton County.

Organization

The department is made up of 12 divisions: * Coastal Fisheries * Communications * Financial Resources * Human Resources * Information Technology * Infrastructure * Inland Fisheries * Law Enforcement -

s primarily enforce the provisions of the TPW Code but are fully empowered peace officers with statewide jurisdiction and may make arrests for any offense. * Legal * State Parks - includes Park Police Officers * Support Resources * Wildlife

Magazine

TPWD publishes ''Texas Parks and Wildlife'', a monthly magazine available both in print and online editions. The magazine features articles and full-color photos on topics such as birding, boating, camping, fishing, hunting, state parks, travel, wildlife, and environmental issues. ''Texas Parks and Wildlife'' has been in publication since 1942.

Television programs

''Texas Parks & Wildlife''

''Texas Parks & Wildlife'' is a weekly, half-hour television series aired on Texas

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

stations, as well as on a number of other PBS stations around the country. Viewers can stream episodes on the PBS website and on the TPWD YouTube channel. Originally titled ''Made in Texas'', the series began production in 1985 as a magazine style show, with three or four different segments each week. For several years, the show focused on one topic each week, documentary style. In 1991, the name of the series changed to ''Texas Parks & Wildlife'' and reverted to its original magazine format.

''Lone Star Law''

Beginning in June 2016, TPWD Game Wardens were featured in a new

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series on

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...

titled ''Lone Star Law''.

Radio program

''Passport to Texas'' is a daily series broadcast on radio stations throughout Texas. The series includes 90 second radio spots on topics, including wildlife, state parks, and outdoor activities.

Podcast

''Under the Texas Sky'' features outdoor experiences of both everyday people and experts from inside and outside TPWD.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation

Founded in 1991, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation is the nonprofit funding partner of TPWD. Overseen by a board of trustees and administered by full- and part-time staff members, the foundation has raised over $205 million since its inception to ensure all Texans can enjoy, explore, and be inspired by the wild things and wild places in Texas.

References

External links

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department website

Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation website

''Texas Parks & Wildlife'' magazine

''Passport to Texas'' websiteMoving images from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
available on the

Texas Archive of the Moving Image The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002 by film archivist and University of Texas at Austin professor Caroline Frick, PhD. TAMI's mission is to preserve, study, and exhibit Texas film h ...

Parks Under the Lone Star
exhibit of moving images of Texas state and national parks by the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Texas Parks And Wildlife Department Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas State law enforcement agencies of Texas State environmental protection agencies of the United States State wildlife and natural resource agencies of the United States