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View this message on our website.
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After being cooped up for a couple of months, Texans are itching to get outside and visit their favorite park. A huge thanks to Texas State Parks rangers for doing everything they can to ensure visitor safety and deal with pent-up demand. New operational measures are in place, and we hope you will join us in thanking Texas State Parks staff as you explore our beautiful parks.
So, plan ahead and make your reservation online. Life’s Better Outside!
We made a recent visit to Lake Corpus Christi State Park and talked to a few visitors who were enjoying the park safely.
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Chance Yarbrough is an outdoorsman, Texan, and sporting artist who has made a career out of combining his love for art and nature. His career got started in a fly shop in Rockport, where he decorated the store’s blackboard with beautiful chalk drawings of coastal fish when he wasn’t tying flies or interacting with customers. His work caught the eye of a regular shop visitor, venerated Texas sporting artist Herb Booth. Herb encouraged Chance to follow his muse, and took him under his wing. Thanks to his mentor’s encouragement, Chance took the leap into the life of a full-time artist and has never looked back. Today he’s considered one of the best Texas sporting artists working today, with commissions backed up for years. Chance is thrilled to be able to make a living through his dual passions of art and nature, while raising two young sons with his wife, Haley.
“Becoming a father has just intensified my passion for Texas lands, waters and wildlife,” he said. “I want my sons to be able to experience the outdoors like I have. The Texas we love would not exist without conservation efforts, and I want to do everything I can to be sure it is available for future generations."
That’s why Chance is serving as one of Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation’s (TPWF) We Will Not Be Tamed ambassadors. We Will Not Be Tamed calls us to appreciate the wildness of Texas, the vastness of our Texas spirit and why we should be inspired to conserve it.
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Chance Yarbrough appreciates the coastal waters of Texas, and all the fish and wildlife that enhance its beauty. Development pressure on the coast is increasing, and that’s why TPWF is raising private funds to expand Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Matagorda Peninsula Coastal Management Area. This remote and undeveloped barrier system preserves habitat for a remarkable diversity of coastal wildlife, from nesting sea turtles to shore and wading birds, several of which are listed as species of greatest conservation need. Thanks in part to TPWF members, this critical habitat will be conserved forever. By becoming a member, you can help support conservation efforts like this.
JOIN NOW to support TPWF and to be entered into a drawing to win a Chance Yarbrough signed print and a Texas Hill Country experience, courtesy of Garrison Brothers Distillery!
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| *The price of membership pays for TPWF membership only and not for the chance to win the signed print and Hill Country experience. Members who join or renew between January 1 and July 15 are automatically entered in the drawing. |
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This year’s Texas Conservation Hall of Fame event was sidelined by COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean we’re not celebrating. Late last month, the Stumberg family was inducted into the Texas Conservation Hall of Fame during an online event.
Louis H. Stumberg, Sr. was a lifelong friend to Texas Game Wardens and Texas Parks and Wildlife. Today, his wife Mary Pat and children Diana, Herb and Eric are steadfastly committed to conserving the lands, waters and wildlife of Texas.
“We’re honored to celebrate the conservation legacy of the Stumberg family,” said Mike Greene, chair of TPWF’s Board of Trustees. “They exemplify the conservation ethic of private landowners in Texas, and they are unwavering supporters of the wild things and wild places of our state."
Watch this video about the Stumberg family’ legacy.
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Thanks to TPWF supporters and partners, our conservation work flows across every region of Texas. TPWF’s 2019 annual report focuses on the ripple effect that amplifies our shared conservation efforts. The 2019 report is now posted online.
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Texas State Parks staff is getting used to the “new normal.” As COVID-19 restrictions have eased, guidelines for visiting the parks have changed to facilitate the safety of both visitors and park staff. We caught up with Texas State Parks Director Rodney Franklin, along with Mother Neff State Park Superintendent Melissa Chadwick and Enchanted Rock State Natural Area Superintendent Doug Cochran to find out how it’s going out there.
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Staying at home more means shopping at home more, too. Why not put some of those dollars to work for your favorite charity? Thanks to the Amazon Smiles, program, now you can. Check out the link below to visit Amazon Smiles and select Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation as your charity of choice. Proceeds from your qualifying purchase will go directly to support TPWF’s efforts to conserve the wild things and wild places of Texas.
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