- ANNOUNCER: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation -- conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas, thanks to members across the state.

Additional funding is provided by Toyota.

Your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas.

Toyota -- Let's Go Places.

- NARRATOR: Coming up on Texas Parks & Wildlife... - This is the first time to rehabilitate bears and release back into the wild.

- We use a lot of trail cameras here and that just helps us monitor the types of species we have.

- Now to go hunting, wake up at 4:30, 5 o'clock in the morning, I just barely have to tap him and he is out of bed.

[laughs] [theme music] ♪ ♪ - NARRATOR: Texas Parks and Wildlife, a television series for all outdoors.

[soft music] - RYAN: The habitat here is undisturbed.

Some of the best habitat in the area.

To get to adequate bear country which we've selected here, Devil's River State Natural Area, you have to get off the beaten path.

We're hoping that this is the first step in reestablishing this population of bears in west Texas.

[bear growling] It's a great opportunity to put some bears back on the landscape.

[dramatic music] - NARRATOR: This is a happy story about bears but it did not start that way.

- REPORTER: A black bear and her cub were spotted roaming around a Del Rio neighborhood causing quite a scene with neighbors.

It was a somewhat chaotic situation that had a tragic ending.

Officials said the mother bear was shot and killed by a resident.

The cub is now in custody of state officials.

- NARRATOR: Two separate black bears in sad circumstances.

- One was orphaned from a Del Rio resident that shot the mother.

The other bear was in a horrific train accident.

The party that she was a part of two were killed by the train.

And this is the last one of the group.

Four to five year old female.

They weren't in good shape.

And given the age of the cub, it was my feeling that we weren't gonna be able to do anything for these bears.

- This bear has gone from 60 pounds, she weighed in at 128.

- NARRATOR: Enter Dr. Kathleen Ramsey.

- So she's really put on a lot of weight.

- NARRATOR: She is a veterinarian in New Mexico.

- Such good hound dogs.

Animals need help.

That's why I'm a veterinarian.

I will look again.

They can't just knock on your door and say, here I am.

All wildlife.

I don't care what it is, needs help.

So pretty.

Yes.

- NARRATOR: At her wildlife clinic, Dr. Ramsey has successfully rehabilitated more than 600 black bears.

- Been doing rehabilitation for over 40 years, now.

It's been an interesting challenge.

The first two Texas bears that I know of being rehabilitated.

I live in Northern New Mexico, we do Northern New Mexico bears and not Mexico bears.

So I had to first figure out what does she eat?

They're getting their second chance.

This is what it's all about.

Okay, one, two, three.

- Okay.

Our success in rehabilitation is by getting these animals on the natural diets that they would be eating in the wild.

So she's been eating acorn, she's been eating pecans, road kill, Juniper berries, prickly pear fruit, prickly pear petals, making her eat what she should be eating in Texas.

- NARRATOR: The bears must have liked the menu because they put on some weight.

- RYAN: Gives them a better chance of survival.

- DR. RAMSEY: The big bear, she came in about 60 pounds, went out at 128.

Yeah, right there Ty is probably good.

This little cub, she came in at 30 pounds and Miss Texas went out at a whopping 102 pounds.

- RYAN: All Right, she's ready to go.

[cage clanging] She's free.

- DR. RAMSEY: Very healthy.

- RYAN: Good water, good food.

Good place to let her go.

- DR. RAMSEY: Next couple of days are really hard for these bears.

They've gotta figure out where the other bears in the territory are.

They've gotta figure out where the food bases are.

So they've got a lot of exploring and a lot of learning to do.

And so they don't have to worry about eating.

[dramatic music] - NARRATOR: While the bears pose little threat to people, they can endanger one another.

So releases happen miles apart.

- This bear would just go turn around and go kill that other bear in minutes, just by nature.

And so I really like to keep my adult bears away from my younger bears to give 'em a better chance.

- This one?

- Yeah.

- DR. RAMSEY: When you release an animal, it came in because something was wrong.

It wasn't doing well.

She's just been sniffing and sniffing and sniffing.

- RYAN: Smelled like home.

- It's home.

It's totally dependent on me making it do perfect so it can survive in the wild.

Did I do a good enough job?

Did I teach her well enough?

And unfortunately I'm not gonna know this for a while until Ryan calls me one day and says she's in a yard or we never ever hear about this bear again.

Then I did my job right.

- RYAN: Dr. Ramsey did an outstanding job getting these bears ready for release.

- NARRATOR: And her fee for months of expert bear care, nothing.

- It's been an honor for me to be the veterinarian that gotta work with them.

Bring it to my door and I will make an honest attempt to get that animal back into the wild where it belongs.

Just watch her, she's pissy.

This bear is ready, ready to go.

- NARRATOR: It's a big day for a couple of bears, for the people who care about them.

- DR. RAMSEY: Everybody ready?

- NARRATOR: And for West Texas wild.

- DR. RAMSEY: Look at her, she's just gonna fall right out.

The joint effort between these two states has been phenomenal.

And that's what allowed these two kids to go back into the wild.

- RYAN: I am ecstatic.

I think she's gonna do quite well.

- DR. RAMSEY: I'm hoping big mama within a year will raising her first baby big bear.

And we've increased the number here in Texas.

[frogs croaking and birds chirping] - My name's Daniel Rios, I am the resource specialist at Ray Roberts Lake State Park.

When monitoring wetlands, it's not only important to know what's in the wetland but also what's around it to really tell you the health of that wetland.

So we could put a nice tree camera up high on this one to get some footage of any animals coming up this game trail here.

We'll put it up high, so hopefully the raccoons don't steal my cameras this time.

[dramatic music] [static] We're actually gonna go out and start cutting out some mesquites out of our prairies.

[chainsaw revving] As the resource specialist, my team and I, we do a lot of natural restoration type projects.

So we do prairie restoration and forest management as well as wetland monitoring.

We'll go through an area and we try to restore prairies and forest back to what they originally looked like before invasive species were introduced to this area.

And if we don't take 'em out, they'll continue to spread and they'll take over the area completely.

Things like deer will kind of avoid this area because they won't be able to get through here.

[playful music] The resource team and I do a lot of conservation, preservation, and restoration.

One of the ways we can kind of determine if an area is healthy or if it needs some type of restoration, is actually the types of animals that are in it.

In our wetlands we have quite a few beavers, and beavers are a keystone species.

If we have lots of beavers, then we know that that wetland ecosystem is very healthy.

Because they're the ones that build and maintain that ecosystem.

And so without them, those dams will break and the water will be released.

All the other animals that are living in that ecosystem will die off.

[playful music] We use a lot of trail cameras here and it kind of just helps us monitor the types of species we have because that helps us determine if what we're doing is working.

If we restore an area where we're trying to get more turkey and quail into that area, we'll put some game cameras out and if we get a lot of turkey and quail that area, we know that we were successful in those efforts.

[playful music] When we're out placing cameras.

There's certain things we look for.

One of them is tracks.

So here's some deer tracks and it seems like it's leading through a very distinctive game trail going across here.

We have all our special trails here for the hiking trails and biking trails but kind of animals make their own little trails.

A lot of times we'll just kind of follow those to see where they go.

Another thing we look for if it's rutting season is marks on the tree where the deer have actually kind of tried rubbing the felt off of their antlers.

Right here, this tree right here.

Those are actually the rut marks I was talking about.

When we're looking for beavers, one thing we'll look for is dams that they've built, which is a collection of sticks, mud, and rocks.

That they've kind of built up in an area to flood the grounds behind it.

[dramatic music] So here's a good sign that there are active beavers around here doing what beaver do, which is eating trees with those giant yellow teeth that you see.

[dramatic music] We use three different types of containers or stands for it.

So in a grassland area, if we're trying to monitor that, we'll use actual tall stands so we can see over the grasses so we can see like the deer moving through.

If we're in a forested area, we have attachments for trees and then for kind of our wetlands and other areas where we want to get some smaller animals.

So like your, your beavers and otters, we actually have ammo boxes that we've kind of changed into containers for these game cameras.

[dramatic music] This ammo box, we actually kind of built ourselves.

It was just a cheap $5 ammo box that we drilled some holes in.

And that is so we could actually put it down lower and attach it to a tree because we have had several cameras get stolen by animals around here.

Especially raccoons.

[static] [dramatic music] We're not only just looking to see what species are there, we're also looking to see if they're healthy.

Chronic wasting disease within deer is a kind of a big problem.

And so if we can record our deer, because we can't just walk up to our deer and check 'em like a vet does.

We'll record them and then we'll see if they have any signs of chronic wasting disease.

So the chronic wasting disease doesn't spread to other deer.

One of the most exciting species that we've actually got are beavers and our otters.

We've never actually seen beavers here, we've seen signs of them, but we've never actually seen them until we started doing kind of some studies down in our wetlands.

[playful music] With that study, we actually started capturing video of otters because otters really weren't known to be within this area.

The very first clip we ever got was just this otter that kind of walked up and just looked at the camera and then just turned around and walked away.

We enjoy putting out the cameras because we actually get to see all these animals and what they're doing in their natural environment.

[dramatic music] [dramatic music] [bird calling] [dramatic music] [bird calling] - We're at the Roger R. Fawcett Wildlife Management Area.

We're about 65 miles west of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

It's in the Southern part of the cross timbers where we've got a lot of unique habitats here.

We've got open grassland prairie habitat, bisected with post oak, blackjack oak woodlands.

We've got a lot of water on the area, provides good habitat for waterfowl.

And here on the south end of the area, we've got some dove fields.

We've been planting native sunflowers here for doves, provide good feeding area.

Also provides good public hunting opportunity.

The Fawcett Wildlife Management Area is just one of many public hunting lands that are open for public access in Texas.

We now have just over a million acres of land that's accessible with the annual public hunting permit or the limited public use permit.

This time of year we offer walk-in dove hunting with the use of the annual public hunting permit.

You self-register, and you just go find a good a spot to hunt.

[wind blowing] [dramatic music] - EVAN: Oh, I like this spot a lot.

Where do you think they'll come in from?

- I think they're gonna be coming from the creek behind us, and coming into the sunflower fields, and kind of landing.

I think we're in a perfect spot.

You know, to wake him up to go to school, I have to tell him a couple times.

Now, to go hunting, wake up at 4:30, 5 o'clock in the morning, I just barely have to tap him and he's out of the bed.

[Evan laughs] He beats me out the door, you know, so, and that's, it's our time to get away and spend some quality time together as father and son.

And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

- The birds ain't coming.

It's a real nice breeze.

- It's perfect.

- I love when we go hunting, because it's always a good time, and if we don't get something, we're at least happy to go or get out of the house.

It's like real good weather for dove, I think.

And I hope they like it, because if they like it, then I'm liking it.

[shooting] - He was at a pretty good distance.

Wasn't he?

- EVAN: Yeah.

- He was farther than usual.

- That one got away.

That's, that's the fun part about dove hunting, you know.

It's just, all of a sudden, you're just blasting away and just trying to get one.

So, it's fun.

To have access to public land like this, I mean, it's a dream.

It's perfect right now, because we're the only ones out here.

So it's ideal.

And the scenery behind it, with all these hills?

I mean, it's, it's just beautiful.

You couldn't ask for a better place right now.

[shooting] - EVAN: Did you get one?

- I did, you, you bumped him up for me.

- Ha!

Where'd he come from?

- He come from right, right beside you, he flew behind you.

- Oh!

I didn't even see it!

[laughing] - Oh yeah.

It's a good one.

Actually, he helped me out.

He kind, he kind of scared it out, you know?

It come in behind him and I, I took him down, one shot.

- EVAN: Well, when the birds are active, it keeps you active, and it's just a fun time, really.

- JEREMY: It's perfect.

It's memories that we will both remember forever.

[dramatic music] [clanging on rocks] - This is a challenge up here!

- NARRATOR: Robert Newman looks after the Franklin Mountains like no other.

His passion for this place is cultivated high up in the hills.

[sledgehammer busts rock] - NARRATOR: A tool in hand... - I just take it day by day, one rock at a time!

- NARRATOR: And a plan in his head... he is the Trailblazer.

- ROBERT: Ah that's looking all right!

[clink] - NARRATOR: Robert's about to turn 79.

[coffee trickles] [coffee pouring] [cup clanks] A cup of joe and the El Paso Times are his way to kick start the morning.

- But I do have a three-star day, the maximum is five stars, so I have a three-star day today.

And I don't go out every day, I'm too old to go out and do this every day.

[sighs] - NARRATOR: You can sense a bit of morning aches and pains for Robert, but the trail calls.

- I don't mind being out there by myself, I just love sitting there and looking at the scenery out there.

[vehicle beeping] Now this is going to be a pretty rough ride, I'm going to go very slow.

[Jeep motors down trail] Today we are at the Tom Mays unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park, and we're going on up to where I'm working on a new trail.

[Jeep continues over bumps] There's existing trails, well actually old bulldozed roads basically.

That are really tough, so I'm trying to put in one that's more user friendly!

- NARRATOR: From four wheel to feet, Robert has another half mile walk up through the rugged terrain to get to his work site.

[Robert breathing heavy] [sledgehammer smashes rock] - Keep em on the upside.

[rocks crumble] So this I'm going to leave cause I don't want to push them away from the downside, but this I'm gonna take out cause I want them to get closer to the upside.

- NARRATOR: Robert is a retired math teacher.

- You know they used to do all of this by hand, they didn't have mechanized stuff.

- NARRATOR: He's been building trails up here all by himself for 15 years.

- Agh!

I'm gonna rest a bit!

Oh I haven't gotten very far today.

[breathing heavy] Like I say I'm in no hurry, it'll be here tomorrow too.

[breathing heavy then sighs] [shovel clanking on rocks] Now this is about right where we are right now, we are nearing this first rock slide right in here.

- NARRATOR: To calm his nerves Robert goes over the plan with Park Superintendent Cesar Mendez.

- The idea is to get rid of this section over here because it's too steep.

He's willing to spend hours and hours of his life, I mean days, months of his life devoted to doing something right for the mountains and for the people to enjoy!

[uplifting music] His mathematician mind helps him to have this greater comprehension that sometimes the average person doesn't have.

He understands slopes very well, uh, he understands drainage.

[inspirational music] - ROBERT: It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be, I can see a line through here now, uh, I think it will be all right, have to come through here several more times.

Hahhhh.

[Canyon Wren calls] When I'm at home and I can't get out here, I'm frustrated I need to get out here I want to get out here.

I don't know I just love being out here.

- NARRATOR: Over the years, Robert's built more than 12 miles of trail all by these hands.

- Building these trails, it's a challenge to see if I can put in a trail that's going to be hikable and bikable and sustainable, one that's going to last more than four, five or six years.

[wind] You don't know what's here until you get out of your car and get up in the mountains.

Just driving by on the freeway over there looking at these, you don't realize how much depth there is.

How much variation there is here.

And you can get back here in some of these canyons and feel like you are in a complete other world.

[music] - NARRATOR: It took a good year for Robert to finish the Agave Loop Trail and it's now open.

- ROBERT: They are still on the ridge going up, I guess they are going to do the whole thing.

- CESAR: His reward is seeing people that are using the trails and that's all.

- Can I hug you?

- Oh thank you very much!

- Thank you very much I love your trails, out of seven days maybe we come four, five times a week.

- Oh well great, that's fantastic!

It does help relieve stresses, it just, when you are out here you are not thinking about anything else except you better concentrate on the trails.

Oh there they are, they are coming back!

Ah that's great!

[clapping] Way to go, good job!

[clapping] Fantastic, fantastic!

- Thank you!

- My pleasure, my pleasure!

Thanks for coming out and riding it, that's what makes it all worthwhile to see y'all come out and ride em.

[inspirational music] [shovel scraping rock] - NARRATOR: The next morning, there's that familiar sound up on the mountain.

And it doesn't look like Robert's coming down anytime soon!

- Right now I still feel good, as long as I'm able, I'm going to be out here doing this!

[footsteps on trail] [footsteps on trail] [footsteps on trail] [footsteps on trail] [footsteps on trail] [footsteps on trail] [footsteps on trail] [footsteps on trail] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] This series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation -- conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas, thanks to members across the state.

Additional funding is provided by Toyota.

Your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas.

Toyota -- Let's Go Places.