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Introducing Wild Thumb – TPWF’s Native Planting App
Just in time for spring, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF) brings you Wild Thumb— the only native planting app made just for Texas! With this free app, you can turn any outdoor space into a pollinator paradise. Available for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, Wild Thumb helps you select the best native plants or seed mixes for your region. Download the app today!
With an interactive design tool, step-by-step guidance, watering/pruning reminders and freeze alerts, and a directory of Texas nurseries that sell native plants, Wild Thumb takes the guesswork out of creating an outdoor space that’ll have pollinators making a bee-line to your yard.
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Put TPWF’s Wild Thumb app to work and start growing native plants for Texas-loving pollinators. It’s all part of TPWF’s Pollinators & Prairies program. Powered by Presenting Sponsor H-E-B Our Texas, Our Future and Contributing Sponsor Phillips 66, the program encourages Texans to create native habitat in yards and communities across the state.
DOWNLOAD WILD THUMB TODAY
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Partner Spotlight: Friends of Sabine Reefs
TPWF is a proud partner of Friends of Sabine Reefs, which has been hard at work bringing the life aquatic back to the waters off Sabine Pass and the Upper Texas Coast by replacing crucial lost habitat with purpose-built artificial reefs.
Artificial reefs play a critical role in restoring habitat in the Gulf, where the seafloor is largely flat and lacking natural structure marine species need to burrow, breed, or feed. For decades, decommissioned oil and gas platforms unintentionally doubled as thriving reef ecosystems. When the 2010 Idle Iron Policy mandated the removal of non-producing rigs, it also resulted in the widespread loss of thousands of established reef habitats across the Gulf.
This was the impetus behind Friends of Sabine Reefs’ founding in 2018. Working with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Artificial Reef Program, the organization has led the charge to create two artificial reefs so far along the Upper Texas Coast. The first, High Island 20 (HI-20), is a 160-acre site just 9 miles off Sabine Pass that is anchored by a 120-foot sunken barge and a labyrinth of concrete reef pyramids, granite blocks, steel structures, and concrete culverts.
The second reef, HI-54 Shallow, was created in 2024. Located less than two nautical miles from Sea Rim State Park’s beach, the 20-acre reef is the closest artificial reef to shore in Texas and an easily accessible fishing spot for anglers. Working with TPWD, Friends of Sabine Reefs recently deployed another 3.5 million pounds of concrete-covered steel pipes at HI-54 on Jan. 14, enhancing the site’s existing framework of 5,000 tons of riprap rock and dozens of concrete culverts and quarry blocks.
But that’s just the beginning of Friends of Sabine Reefs’ ambitious plans for 2026. A third artificial reef, the 160-acre HI-54 Deep, is planned for deployment this spring, furthering their mission to reestablish vital marine ecosystems that greatly benefit us all. The established reef projects and future plans for new reefs would not be possible without the generous support of key partners, including Cheniere Energy, Bayou Bend CCS, Golden Pass LNG, Motiva Enterprises, Sempra Port Arthur LNG, and Valero Port Arthur Refinery.
“Artificial reefs are quite literally the building blocks for resilient, thriving coastal ecosystems,” said Mic Cowart, co-founder of Friends of Sabine Reefs. “Not only do these sites attract new marine life to enhance Texas’ fishery resources, but they also provide additional recreational fishing and diving opportunities that benefit coastal communities and Texas at large."
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Honoring “Doc” Watson’s Legacy with a New Generation of Hunters
On a recent hunt at Devil’s Sinkhole State Natural Area, participants of a TPWD drawn youth hunt were able to chase their first deer while also honoring the life and legacy of Kenneth “Doc” Watson, a respected leader and sportsman who dedicated 30 years of his life to Texas State Parks before he passed away unexpectedly in 2024.
Watson started his career with TPWD as a State Park Police recruit in 1995, and over the next 20 years, he rose to the rank of captain for the West Texas State Parks region. He retired in 2014 only to return a few years later as the superintendent for Devil’s Sinkhole State Natural Area and Kickapoo Cavern State Park. Always very passionate and engaged in mentored hunting initiatives, he enjoyed guiding youth hunts and providing a positive introduction to the outdoors for Texas’ newest generation of hunters. He was even known for making custom knives and giving them away to new hunters he met.
At the Kenneth “Doc” Watson Memorial Youth Hunt, young hunters gathered for the special weekend to learn safe and ethical hunting practices in the same wild landscapes Doc worked so hard to steward. Using funds from memorial gifts made in Watson’s honor, TPWF worked with park leaders who knew him best to properly honor Watson. Each participant received a custom engraved buck knife bearing Watson’s name, a symbolic nod to the tradition he first started and a meaningful tribute to his positive influence and impact.
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Garrison Brothers Gives Back for Texas Independence Day
In celebration of Texas Independence Day, TPWF is teaming up with Garrison Brothers for Bottled in Bond: A 100 Proof Texas Celebration on Feb. 28 at the distillery in Hye. Alongside the release of Bottled in Bond, Garrison Brothers will release this year’s Cask Strength Balmorhea Single Barrel, with proceeds benefiting TPWF and the wild things and wild places of Texas.
Garrison Brothers has a full lineup of fun scheduled, including entertainment from the Noah Kurtis Band from 8 – 11 a.m., and the London Baileigh Trio from 12 – 3 p.m. Plus, enjoy a special appearance by Hooves & Horns from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., featuring a photo op with Ben the Longhorn.
Be sure to stop by the TPWF table, meet our team, and enter for a chance to win some wild TPWF swag! We will also have a Texas Game Warden K-9 unit on hand for live demonstrations between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Learn more and join us for a festive salute to Texas Independence!
LEARN MORE
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Join Stewards of the Wild for a Chance to Win
Are you or someone you know between the ages of 21 and 45 and wanting to connect with other conservation-minded Texans? Want to make lasting friendships while supporting Texas’ lands, waters, and wildlife? Stewards of the Wild is the program for you.
For over a decade, Stewards of the Wild, TPWF’s conservation leadership program, has equipped emerging leaders aged 21 to 45 with opportunities to actively participate in the stewardship of Texas’ wild things and wild places by providing education, networking, and outdoor experiences. Member-led chapters are all over Texas, with hundreds of members across the state.
FIND YOUR CHAPTER AND JOIN TODAY
And, if you join or renew* your Stewards of the Wild membership between Feb. 1 - 28, 2026, you will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a $500 gift card to Scheels Sporting Goods and two tickets to Luck Reunion on March 19, 2026.
Active Stewards members will receive two additional entries for every new member referred. To be eligible for additional entries, new member application must include referring member’s first and last name in the referral section at the time of new member registration. Membership renewal is not required to secure referral entries.
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| *The price of membership pays for Stewards of the Wild membership only and not for the chance to win the Scheels gift card and Luck Reunion tickets. Members who join or renew their membership between Feb. 1 and Feb. 28, 2026, are automatically entered in the drawing. |
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