- NARRATOR: 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.

Coming up on Texas Parks & Wildlife... - We didn't create it.

It was here before we were here.

But we brought it back.

- What we've been able to do is triple the number of bobwhites on this property since we started.

[bird flushes] - Not many people know about this park because they hear about the bigger parks.

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

- JEFF: We didn't really know what we were doing.

The goal wasn't necessarily to create habitat.

[bright music] We bought the property because we wanted a place to ride our bikes.

As we started building, we started learning about the native species.

We didn't create it.

It was here before we were here, but we brought it back.

[bright music] - AMY: We're like in a looking glass of nature.

All we have to do is look out the window and it's nothing but butterflies and bees.

It's incredible.

- I'm Jeff Thompson.

- I'm Amy Thompson.

- We are west of Burton at Coyote Run.

[bright music] - This all started when we had our AgriLife agent come out.

We just wanted to do, like, plant identification to figure out what we had out here.

And he said these really foreign weird words to us, which was, "You have a post oak savannah."

I just said, "Wow.

What's a post oak savannah?

Never heard that before."

We thought, "This is so cool.

Why don't we, like, try to bring it back to some semblance of what a post oak savannah would be?"

- JEFF: When we tore all the trees out, and we smooth everything off, and almost instantly, the native seed bank came up and we were just amazed at all of the things that were here.

[bright music] - AMY: This is definitely my happy place.

- JEFF: Her line is, "I'm in heaven."

It's her line as she's walking through and seeing everything.

- AMY: Look at this one.

This is our yard.

Most everybody we know, even out in the country, they have St. Augustine grass yards.

Most people are taken aback by the house being surrounded by wildflowers.

- JEFF: Or tall grass.

- AMY: And tall grass.

- JEFF: Everybody feels like, manicure right around the house.

[bright music] - AMY: I have noticed that the more our friends come out here and they observe the insects, they observe the wild bees.

It starts gelling for them.

They start getting it, and they start to understand that you don't have to even have a short-mowed grass all around the perimeter of your house.

[birds chirping] - JEFF: You don't want everything to bloom at once and then go away or there's no food for the foragers.

The idea is to have some come on early and some come on late, and it just goes all the way through the season.

- AMY: We definitely leave sandy areas open.

There's always somewhere where the ground nesting bees can nest.

We have learned that, you know, you can put blocks of wood up and the mason bees, you know, you drill holes and we've got several snags around here that we have purposely left up for fireflies and for butterflies and for frogs, and, you know, for everybody.

[bright music] - JEFF: We do shred it once a year and it's usually January and February.

And that was always a battle.

As soon as the flowers were gone, I wanted to go ahead and mow it down.

And what I learned is that there are insects and then birds that will use that tall grass all the way until February, maybe even March.

[bright music] - AMY: We do go out and assess insect activity and make sure that we time it so that it's the most dormant time of the year.

- JEFF: It's incredible when we mow and everything's brown on top.

We shred it to about six inches tall and everything's green underneath.

And it just takes off as soon as we shred.

Problem is, when they have these mowers and they come from your neighbor's property, they pick up all the seed and deposit it on our place.

Amy has seen mowers in the neighborhood, and she'll go talk to the mowing crew and tell them, "Don't mow in front of my house.

Please don't mow in front of my house.

I'm putting signs up."

It's frustrating to do the restoration and then see them mow it.

And next thing you know, you have Johnson grass and Bahia coming up in your natives.

And those introduced species will choke out all of the natives in a heartbeat.

If you walk along that easement along the driveway, you'll see all the same insects that you see back here.

There's no need to cut it all down.

We eventually mow it and we don't let the trees grow out to the street.

We're maintaining it.

It just looks a little different than everybody else's.

[gentle music] - Something that I had never really even thought about before is the competition between European honeybees and native bees.

We started the process of regaining agricultural exemption on this property by being bee farmers.

So, we're apiarists.

We have several bee colonies.

We were up to 12 because that was what was required to get your agricultural exemption.

When we reached our agricultural exemption, we decided to transition to a wildlife exemption because we felt like having 12 bee boxes for European honeybees was too much pressure for the native bees on the land.

And we wanted to create more of a balance.

So, we're actually down to four.

It's not horrible to have European honeybees, but too many is a problem.

We'd like to see the stocking rates for bees less and be able to support the native vegetation more and support the native wildlife more and all of the native pollinators.

[bright music] - JEFF: There's not a playbook that says do this on this day and everything will be beautiful.

This has been a learning experience.

We plant all kinds of stuff.

Some stuff comes up, some doesn't.

Two years later, what we planted all of a sudden does come up.

- AMY: We've simply learned to assist Mother Nature in what Mother Nature does best, which is heal and regenerate and create wildlife habitat.

We're very passionate about it and we love doing this.

We find that it is our way of giving back to the world.

[bright music] [bobwhite whistles] - Sobering to think that we are on their extinction periphery here.

You go 20 miles to the north, it is just bermuda grass and trimmed oaks.

Those counties are almost out of bobwhites.

There is something beautiful about having quail and what they symbolize.

The sound of their whistle in the spring, the sound of their wings when they take to flight as a covey.

And most importantly to me, the way they signify landscapes that are still unspoiled.

[dramatic music] I am Eric Grahmann, and we're on our family ranch.

[upbeat music] This ranch has been managed by our family for about 13 years.

- Here we go.

- This is Freckles.

She's usually sweet, but she's never been through this chute before.

- Our management goals are to maximize the property for both cattle and wildlife in a balanced approach.

I'm gonna turn her loose.

She's got an utter.

She has got to have a calf.

We all love wildlife and we all love cattle.

But it differs a little bit because my dad's primary interest tends to be on the cattle side of things.

My brother, sister and I tend to be on the wildlife side of things.

- I am for sure the cattle guy, because I am here, you know, and I can come feed whenever they need to be fed.

We have these interesting discussions, we'll call them, but somehow we always tend to meet in the middle.

- Eric has long knowledge.

So we listen.

[laughing] - They are very supportive.

And so much so that none of this conservation work happens without them.

They have veto power.

[wind blows] - SHANNON: Well, you sure do have a lot of grass right now.

- ERIC: It's really come on.

And we are thankful 'cause it's pretty dry right now.

- The Grahmanns are really trying to go back to more of a native grassland.

They really are trying hard to control the brush.

The stats say that there is less than 1% of the coastal Texas prairie left right now.

So, it is definitely a habitat that we need to protect.

- ERIC: When we started, there was a very severe brush encroachment problem.

- Oh, it was a jungle.

It was a lot of rose hedge, a lot of yaupon.

We did a lot of dozer work and a lot of spraying with the family.

Slowly but surely, we got it to where it is today.

It's probably 90% grass when it was like only 10% grass.

- I'd say the biggest a-ha moment was tempering our approach with huisache control.

Huisache is a huge problem in this county and along the gulf coast.

We initially took an approach of eradication, but we started to realize huisache does have some benefits.

- There is some little bluestem.

- Oh, yeah!

So, basically I conducted a science experiment in order to get my dad to make me cut down less huisache.

During the experiment that I did, I took soil samples from underneath the huisache and I found that soil nitrate was higher underneath the huisache.

That means that the huisache is basically fertilizing the soil beneath it and facilitating the growth of desirable native plants.

Instead of cutting out all the huisache, we will leave a few huisache here and there in order to facilitate pockets of biodiversity.

[gentle music] - ERIC: A landscape without wildlife is a lonely place, and I think we need wildlife more than we realize.

[gentle music] - SUSAN: We are proud of all our children.

They are real passionate about the land and the wildlife.

- JOHNNY: And we're real fortunate that the kids are really passionate about the land and keeping the land when we are no longer here.

[birds chirping] - I was very fortunate to come from a family who loves quail.

My grandfather would always get excited when we were out in the field and a covey would flush.

He would always say, "Quail!"

And so, you know, looking back on those sort of things, you realize later on that... [gentle music] Pardon me.

I miss my grandfather.

[upbeat music] [whistle blows] Good girl, Kali!

I think the future is bright, I know the future is bright.

Oh, look at that.

Oh, you see that?

- That was good.

- That was pretty, wasn't it?

What we have been able to do is triple the number of bobwhites on this property since we started.

[upbeat music] Oh, look, it's like a pair!

[Eric laughing] Always trust your dog!

That was cool.

I am really proud of the way that our family has been able to work together and achieve a common goal.

I am really proud of that.

Celebrating a century of Texas State Parks.

[wind] - J.D.

MILLER: It's a very, very beautiful park.

Very small, quaint.

Unknown to a point.

We most definitely are a hidden gem.

Not many people know about this park because they hear about the bigger parks.

Once they find out about this park, we see them coming back again and again.

[bird call] [gentle music] - TOMMY NEYLAND: There's woods, there's open space.

Every bit of it just real picturesque and something that you won't forget.

[upbeat music] [calm music] - I'm J.D.

Miller, I'm the superintendent of Fort Boggy State Park.

We consider ourselves East Texas.

We're about 45 minutes north of Huntsville, about two hours north of Houston.

[woodpecker pecking] Tree-lined terrain.

We have the oak trees, we have the bois d'arcs, we have hickory, uh, just about every imaginable tree, really.

I consider it more of a true forest area.

A hilly country as well.

[birds calling] Back in the 1800s, there was an actual fort here named Fort Boggy after Boggy Creek.

Our little 12-acre lake is pretty much what everybody comes out to enjoy.

It is spring fed, so it's actually cooler than the actual creek itself.

It is a no-wake lake.

They can get out and swim and fish.

[fly casting whooshes] We do have a one-mile hiking and biking trail that goes around our lake.

We do have the two-mile hiking trail and biking trail that encompass our primitive campsites.

They are spaced out.

No electricity, no running water, it's true roughing it.

It's a hike in and enjoy actual nature.

We do have an actual pavilion for the rental.

It will hold up to 40 to 50 guests at one time.

Pretty much used every weekend.

Our cabins seem to be our main attraction.

It is glamping.

The cabins are very, very beautiful.

You have your queen-sized bed, bunk bed with an actual trundle.

It is heated and air-conditioned.

A little bit more home comforts.

[gentle music] [fire crackles] - We could not do a short trip if we had to bring it all.

It's just not worth it.

- We like the amenities that the cabin brings as far as a nice cushy bed.

- If you're not into bugs and things as much, you can escape that.

[laughs] Having a bed and not having to worry about the shelter aspect is good, and it's good for any kind of weather.

- At the same time, you know, a little bit of rustic with the environment and the fire that we can still have, so it's just right.

- JENNIFER: Just a little escape.

[upbeat music] - We hear it all the time, "We never knew y'all were here," "We never heard of Fort Boggy," "Man, y'all have a beautiful park."

If you don't want the big park experience, most definitely come to Fort Boggy, the small park experience that you will never forget.

[gentle music] Visiting Texas State Parks just got easier.

With our new online reservation features, you can choose a specific cabin, campsite or shelter and reserve it for your next visit.

The new reservation system makes it easier to plan group getaways.

[upbeat music] Save the date [honk honk] and don't get turned away with our optional day use reservation... - Good morning!

- ...and be sure to get in.

- Thank you.

- Plus you can buy gift cards and park passes online.

Texas State Parks, getting better for you.

[upbeat music] - NARRATOR: They can be flame grilled... or fresh from the bay.

Folks love their oysters.

But what to do with these oyster shells after dinner.

Well, there's another place besides the trash.

- What we're doing is helping to return oyster shells back to the bay.

Oyster shells are a very easy resource to recapture from the restaurants.

So why not grab those shells and put them out in the bay.

- NARRATOR: In Galveston, a hands-on Oyster Shell recycling program is underway.

Tons and tons of old oyster shell... are on their way to a new home.

[back-up beeper] But to tell this tale, we need to back up a little bit.

It's recycling day, and Tookie's Seafood is stop number one.

- If the restaurants buy in on it, and the restaurants then influence their staff to really be a part of it, it makes our job so much easier.

Their servers, their bus boys, their back of the house is taking all those shells, recycling them, putting them in the bins for us.

So that way we can come by every week to collect the shells.

- HAILLE: We began oyster shell recycling in response to the damage to the oyster reefs in Galveston Bay after Hurricane Ike destroyed nearly 60% of the bay's reefs.

So, the Galveston Bay Foundation's mission is to return as many shells to the bay as possible, to provide new oyster habitat.

[shells clatter] - MICHAEL: We then leave the shells out and they cure in the sun for six months.

[shells clatter] This pile here has been collected for about a year, so in a year's time, this is some of the shell we've collected.

It's going to sit here for a little bit longer to be fully cured.

Then we can actually put it back out in the bay, and that's ultimately the goal.

- You're taking it out of its natural environment to eat it, you might as well return what you can to the sea.

I mean, if you want to keep eating oysters in the future, it's a good idea.

- We get to come out here and rebuild reefs.

Do good work to help the environment.

I don't know, it's really rewarding.

- MICHAEL: All right, now we have these 30-pound bags that can then be floated out to our reef site.

And then used to build, we stack em in sort of a pyramid formation.

And it gives a solid surface for that new oyster reef to begin to grow.

[uplifting music] - HAILLE: We've already seen an abundance of oyster growth on these recycled shells, so it's definitely working.

This guy here's pretty unique, you see on the tip here, there is a brand new baby oyster that's growing.

You can really see the old shell here and the new oyster growth.

- NARRATOR: While the increase in oysters is great, a years' worth of mud and muck means new marsh grasses can be planted.

- MICHAEL: So this site in particular was seeing a lot of erosion.

Our goal is to get that marsh back.

- HAILLE: The reefs have been in place for a couple of years, we've got some of that sediment accumulated, and we're going to be planting smooth cord grass behind that reef, in between the reef and the shoreline, to help establish that new marsh habitat.

[splashing] - NARRATOR: And while the reef restoration project will bring much needed habitat to this small stretch of Galveston Bay, the hope is to keep this recycling idea going to improve bays all along the Texas coast.

- And ultimately, these reefs provide that shoreline protection.

We need that support, that buildup of oyster reefs on the bay bottom, and along our shorelines, to better the bay as a whole.

[wind, trees creak, chirping] [wind, trees creak, chirping] [wind, trees creak, chirping] [wind, trees creak, chirping] [wind, trees creak, chirping] [wind, trees creak, chirping] [thunder claps] [trees creak] [thunder rolls, wings flutter] [wind, trees creak, chirping] [wind, wings flutter, chirping] [wind, wings flutter, chirping] [wind, trees creak, chirping] - NARRATOR: 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.