- 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 provided by the Toyota Tundra.

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

Adventure: it's what we share.

- NARRATOR: Coming up on Texas Parks and Wildlife... - The pressure on water is growing all the time, and we feel it.

And we are increasingly concerned that Mother Nature will be overlooked.

- I do it because it's fun.

I do it for the team.

I knew I needed something to do in high school and I found what I think is a really good fit.

- Reel that in there.

You caught something!

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

[birds chirping] [water sloshing] [gentle music] - MAN: The future is gonna be water management.

Texas is growing like 1,400 people a day.

Northeast Texas has a lot of water, and when people move here, they use a lot of water.

You know, Dallas is pulling from Lake O' the Pines, and we wanna make sure we keep our water on this side of the lake.

Water management is something that we've been thinking about for several years, conserving it, managing it.

[car door thudding] [gentle music] Right now, we're gonna swing around and we're looking at the edge of the woods where a cow is probably calving.

So we check on them, make sure nothing's wrong.

So he was born this morning or last night.

Today's the what?

25th.

The ranch is located in Northeast Texas, and we have 2 1/2 miles of river frontage, and there's two big lakes.

We're right in between Lake O' the Pines, and then down south is Caddo Lake.

- Caddo Lake's not really like any other lake that you know of.

It's the only naturally formed lake in the entire state of Texas.

It's a series of bayous and rivers and swamps and open lake, and is home to hundreds and hundreds of bird, fish, plant species.

It's very diverse.

It's just otherworldly, and water is key to that.

Without the water, the forest doesn't function.

Without the water, the fish can't function.

Without the water, the birds aren't stopping here.

So, water is key to the tens of thousands of acres of all types of habitat that are here.

[gentle music] The pressure on water is growing all the time, and we feel it.

And we are increasingly concerned that mother nature will be overlooked.

[gentle music] - Water is a public resource.

We all use water, and so, you know, we all should be responsible for that water.

Texas is seeing a lot of growth right now, means more demand on that resource.

We're also seeing things in certain parts of the state like drought, so that resource is not getting replenished as quickly as it may have been in the past.

So finding that balance between our human needs for water and the needs for fish and wildlife is really important right now.

- It's not if drought is gonna occur, it's when the next drought is going to occur.

And in Texas, that's just the reality.

These droughts cause economic shocks to producers and to communities, but they also cause environmental shocks to these river systems.

Our work focuses on partnering to change behavior around water use, trying to leave more water in stream when we're facing scarcity.

So environmental water transactions, which is a strategy that we use, are basically partnerships with private landowners to incentivize them to change their behavior around their water use to protect and maintain the health of our freshwater resources of the state.

[gentle music] - BOB: During the drought a couple of years ago, we made a decision that we would sell some of our water rights to create some cash flow to get us through the drought.

They appraised it, we agreed on the appraised price, and then we closed the deal.

If Lake O' the Pines ships a lot of water out, if the river's way low and we need a pulse for the paddlefish or for whatever, then we can get that pulse working with Nature Conservancy.

It's just a protection, basically, for this ranch and for the Northeast Texas, this watershed, Lake O' the Pines to Caddo Lake.

[gentle music] - KYLE: The Texas Water Trust is a vehicle to protect water rights for the environment.

Working with groups like Parks and Wildlife, the Caddo Lake Institute, and others, we're looking at using this transaction as the first transaction in about 20 years that's been dedicated to the Water Trust.

We're really hoping that this shows the pathway, not just for groups like The Nature Conservancy, but private landowners who are interested in using their water rights to protect the freshwater resources of the state.

- BOB: It's been a great public-private partnership.

When people wanna know where their meat come from, we have a story to tell.

That we're not out there wrecking the environment, we're the tip of the spear on preserving the environment.

That's our story.

It's up to us to tell the story for our family, for our future generations.

We're laying the path, we're laying the groundwork.

[gentle music] - JANICE: Go, go, go!

Go downstairs, go.

[people chattering] - CAROLINE: Come on, this way.

- JANICE: Get down there just like these people are and stand behind your target.

[upbeat music] Okay, good luck.

[upbeat music] [bell ringing] - I am Caroline Gianotti and I go to CAST Tech High School.

I'm a sophomore.

[whistle chirps] - JANICE: Let's get our bows, bows on toes.

[whistle chirps] Let's shoot.

- CAROLINE: Today we are in the Fox Tech Auxiliary Gym doing archery practice.

- JANICE: Remember when you finish shooting your five arrows, hang your bow on your rack, go stand behind the waiting line.

- I think it was a Tuesday.

One of my friends came up to me during physics, and this was before we were friends, I barely knew her and she said, "Hey there's gonna be archery in the gym after school today at four, do you wanna come?"

And I was like, "Do I need to know how to do anything?"

And she said, "No, no experience required.

Coach told us, 'As long as you don't shoot yourself in the foot, you'll be fine.'"

[whistle chirps] So I showed up to the gym and it's been history since.

It's been a lot of fun.

- My name is Janice Cuccia.

Where's your camera, where's your phone?

You ought to take a picture of that.

I am the athletic coordinator, physical education teacher and I am known as the archery coach.

So there's a practice round, they don't score it and she shoots a 49, and she can't count it towards her total score 'cause it's only a practice round.

I don't think she's ever shot that well [laughs].

I call archery an equalizer.

You don't have to be a certain height, certain weight.

You don't have to be super athletic to participate.

[whistle chirps] This is a non-scoring round.

This is where you get your sighting in.

[whistle chirps] Okay, you can shoot.

- Hi, I'm Peter Flores.

Bullseye.

I'm a student at Fox Tech and I'm a senior.

I'm trying to have the same progress as I've been making throughout this year for State.

I'm hoping to achieve winning first place in State this year, as I did back in my freshman year in 2019.

- JANICE: So Peter Flores joined archery when he was a freshman, got to go to State his first year.

He seemed to be a natural, scores probably one of the highest scores for my team.

There's some yellow.

Very shy, very quiet, but he's so helpful to other kids.

When he sees somebody struggling, he'll go help them.

- Tina, you did pretty good with that practice round.

- No, I did my first one.

- I know.

- So he's a winner in all kinds of ways.

I think archery does something for him.

[whistle chirps] - I've been doing well.

Long distance hasn't been as good, but it's something I need to practice anyways.

Ah, that was bad, that was really bad.

We make friends really quickly because doing archery in total silence is really awkward.

- There's always that one extra person and I'm that.

Yes, that's me.

- I was going to wear a dress but it wasn't clean.

- Okay, see, I'm the only one dressed like Robin Hood.

- When you just have your friends just talking about like, you know, "How's your day?

Oh this happened in this class.

Oh, I have so much homework," it gets rid of a lot of the anxieties which helps a ton.

- JANICE: Caroline is a little different than Peter, a little more outgoing, a little more outspoken.

- CAROLINE: Okay, there we go.

- A little more full of energy, maybe not as much of an introvert or something that you might say.

She tries to improve, she analyzes her shooting.

She studies it, purchased her own bow.

And again, I think archery does something for her.

- I would say today's been a pretty successful day.

I'm excited for Friday, which is our next practice and then State, which is exactly a week away.

- JANICE: We're growing, we're learning what it's gonna be like to go to State, the differences there that we may not have known before.

But it's going as well as can be expected with all the kids being involved in multiple things.

And I'm excited for the adventure that awaits us coming up.

[wind blowing] - CAROLINE: It's so weird being here so early.

- JANICE: Are y'all excited?

- STUDENTS: Yeah.

- JANICE: That's good.

- I'm tired, everyone's tired.

- We're just hanging out until we leave at, I believe at 6:30.

- JANICE: You all can nap on the bus going.

- CAROLINE: Oh my God, State, it's anxiety-rocking.

I'm very excited but I'm mostly looking forward to the experience.

- JANICE: Okay, double check and make sure your bow case is down there.

Ariel?

- CAROLINE: I've never been to a State competition for anything except for when I would travel with my sister to hers.

- Caroline?

- Here.

- Alexia?

- ALEXIA: Right here.

- Okay, 100% here, that's awesomeness.

Okay, first thing, bathroom break, now.

- I'm very excited for State but I'm kind of sleepy too.

[upbeat music] [students chattering] - CAROLINE: Hey, are you excited, tired?

Oh boy, I hate getting on buses.

- PETER: Too bad this is my last year.

Sophomore and junior, we didn't get to go State because of Covid.

I really enjoy the ride going from San Antonio to Belton, 'cause I usually just stay here in the city.

The first stop, must-go, is Buc-ee's.

[upbeat music] At least I get to have one last time of doing this.

[upbeat music] [students chattering] [upbeat music] - JANICE: So as far as the tournament goes, I think just from past experience, my shooters will be overwhelmed when they walk into the building.

It will be just eye-popping but it will be such a great experience.

So, is everybody awake?

- STUDENTS: Yes.

- Okay, like I told you, long road trip.

We represent not only the campus in each of your individual schools, but you're representing your parents also, and your community and your family and all that good stuff.

So be mindful of your language and your behavior and let's go have a great experience 'cause that's what this is gonna be.

I always tell them you've gotta take the challenge to see what you can do, doesn't matter how you shoot.

The thing is the journey.

[upbeat music] I'm looking forward to it.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ - ANNOUNCER: Okay, all the archers should be in their chairs, awaiting the two whistle commands to get bow.

All archers should be in the chairs.

- It's number 17 on the top 20 school sports.

As far as safety, there's only three sports safer.

Ping pong, bowling and badminton [chuckles].

Archery's on a big upswing.

It's been on an upswing for several years and you know, in 2012 there were a lot of archery movies and archery really got popular with "Hunger Games" and "Brave" and things like that and it stayed popular.

[whistle chirps] In Texas, about 100,000 kids do archery in their schools each year.

All the schools today, here, are from all over the state.

We have schools from the Valley, the Panhandle, Northeast Texas, all over.

They're from rural areas, urban areas, private schools, home schools, big, you know, really large inner city schools down to, you know, Big Bend National Park schools.

The one-room schoolhouse, they're here with four kids, and so, they're competing against, you know, 6A high schools and stuff.

And so, it's kind of a unique competition.

That's one reason a lot of schools do it.

It's very adaptable, flexible program for all the kids to do at once.

They can all shoot at the same time, no matter their athletic ability, their size.

Gender doesn't matter.

The one-room schoolhouse in Big Bend National Park for instance, is K through 12.

And so what PE activity sport can you do with kindergartners through 12th grade?

- Smell the spray paint through the air, trying to keep those lines fresh, so any help you can give us by avoiding stepping straight on that line is appreciated, thank you.

- There's a lot of younger kids here.

I didn't expect to see kids so young but it makes sense, I guess.

So it's pretty cool, I'm just nervous.

I get anxiety so easily so I am worried about getting next to somebody that's like God at archery, has been doing it since they were two or something.

- They're getting a little more tense as we get closer to the time, but they'll be fine.

They've done this in the gym many times and it's just a matter of repetition and, after they shoot their practice round, I think they'll settle in just fine.

They'll be good.

Just relax and enjoy the moment.

It's an experience, somewhere where you would never have come, had you not joined archery.

Okay, go get y'all's bows and arrows and get us lined up.

See where that team's going down over there?

That's where y'all need to go down.

[upbeat music] - All right, 15-meter practice round, unscored round.

[whistle chirping] - CAROLINE: Here we go [chuckles], just like practice, just like practice.

- ANNOUNCER: All right, everything looks good, range is hot.

[whistle chirping] - PETER: What I'm doing to stay focused, I look at a target first and I tell myself mentally that I'm capable of aiming very well.

- CAROLINE: Three nines and two 10s, good job.

Honestly, I kept a lot of thought like, "Okay, I need to get my stance ready, I need to get my arm right so the string doesn't snap on my arm."

One nine, two eights, seven and a three.

It's okay.

- Does that look nice?

- Check this out, yellow nails so you can shoot more yellow.

I like it, I like it.

[whistle chirps] Find some yellow.

I don't know who's more nervous, me or them.

- I think it was a middle school.

They came in and a lot of 'em were really nervous.

This one little girl looked like she was gonna cry so I was like, "Can't have kids crying here.

I'm gonna get thrown off.

I gotta make sure she was all right," so I did make a friend.

Hey, you have two more rounds.

She was sweet, talking about how she was doing good.

I was happy for her.

Yes, so you know, you're here to have fun.

You'll be all right.

- Range is hot.

[whistle chirps] - I think they're doing extremely well.

I think they're pleased with their results so far.

And soon as we finish here, we get to go shoot 3D which no one from Fox Tech has ever done.

[spectators applauding] Let's go, let's go.

If y'all going to 3D, get over there with her.

Get over there with her.

We gotta go!

- STUDENT: Hustle!

[suspenseful music] [whistle chirps] [suspenseful music] - JANICE: We are now shooting at the NASP/ IBO 3D Challenge.

- Get bow.

- JANICE: The kids are shooting six different targets in the shapes of animals and they're finding it a big challenge compared to the bullseye target that they shot at earlier.

- CAROLINE: Oh, we are having a lot of fun.

A lot of us are really nervous.

We're trying to reassure each other, you know, like, "It's gonna be okay, you'll be fine."

[suspenseful music] - Research says that when a student learns an activity like this in school as a young person, when they get older, they're more likely to try other outdoor activities like mountain biking, fishing, visiting state parks, hiking, hunting, perhaps.

- PETER: Me and Caroline say we don't have hearts for it.

- We don't have hearts for hunting.

I would think the deer would be cute.

- Not even fishing too, I don't wanna hurt their- - Okay, fishing's, maybe.

[whistle chirps] - Yeah, fishing- - Fishing is okay.

- ANNOUNCER: Get bow.

- They can just become a target archer, that's fine with us [laughs].

[upbeat music] - The 3D shooting, we have a lot of animals.

We have a bear, a turkey which I did not do very well on.

- Zero.

- CAROLINE: A white-tailed deer, and I don't remember the other one.

[upbeat music] - That was it, last year.

Emotional, bittersweet.

[students chattering] - ANNOUNCER: Everybody give these kids a big round of applause, they finished up their State tournament.

[spectators applauding] [upbeat music] - JANICE: It was a success, definitely.

What's next?

We are going to eat at Whataburger, yes.

[upbeat music] - It was great.

It was a great experience here and also, kind of sad too because it's my last year, bittersweet moment.

- All right, three, two, one.

- PETER: If you cannot find the passion you're looking for, what you're doing in clubs, athletics, academics, try something new.

- I do it because it's fun.

I do it for the team.

I do it because I knew I needed something to do in high school and I found what I think is a really good fit.

If you wanna do archery, do it.

Even if you think, "I don't know how to shoot a bow, I'll shoot myself in the foot."

You won't, unless you're doing something really wrong then I don't know how you would do that.

But, it's stress-relieving, friends I've made through it, I'm close with them.

It's a lot of fun.

You'll be nervous but just release it all with the arrow.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - HEATHER: All right, so reel that in.

[laughing] You got something.

- NARRATOR: The thrill of the catch is creating lasting memories along the shore of Lake Pflugerville.

Even if the catch isn't quite a keeper.

For Heather England, all these people outside is success.

- Getting out here and actually seeing this in action, it's a great time.

- NARRATOR: And this success is earned by many hours spent inside.

- It is a bit ironic yeah, that I create social media posts for Instagram and for Facebook as a means of getting people off their phones.

[Heather chuckling] - NARRATOR: Heather uses her skills to help volunteers further the mission of Texas Parks and Wildlife across the entire state.

- HEATHER: Outreach and education here is a very small staff.

We have a trainer in Austin, we have a trainer in Houston, and we have a trainer in the DFW area, and that's it for angler education.

We could in no way engage the public on the scope and scale that we do today without our volunteers.

- Great, thank you.

- HEATHER: There we go.

All right, so reel that in.

- NARRATOR: And Heather has helped a ton of volunteers.

- HEATHER: Since September 1st of this past year, 2023, of 229 events, about 5,500 volunteers across the state that I support.

- NARRATOR: Volunteers like Timothy Ward, and Lauren Decker who helped organize free fishing day at Lake Pflugerville.

- Every year, the first Saturday of June, Texas Parks and Wildlife hosts a free fishing day,.

Allow folks to fish in public waters without licenses or endorsements.

The purpose of this event is really to remove barriers, and allow families who have little to no experience fishing, come out and do it for the first time.

- Was working with eight, nine-year-old never seen a lake, never seen a fishing pole.

Teaching them to cast- - Great job.

- Teaching 'em how to read the bobber.

Super rewarding.

- It's awesome seeing the community out, taking advantage of this beautiful park and lake, doing things maybe they've never done before, creating those memories.

It makes it worth it, for sure.

- HEATHER: Got a tangle?

That's all right, let's see what we can do.

- TIMOTHY: Partnering with them, utilizing their resources, their volunteer network really helps this event be successful.

- You're holding it the other way around.

This is what's so rewarding about it.

And then real fast, straight out.

That's great!

Is knowing that we're reaching the public, and we're getting them engaged in fishing, and that of course leads to more conservation activities.

I am happier here doing this than I've been in any role in my life.

Yeah, so I'm where I should've been.

[Heather laughing] [bright music] [trickling water] [trickling water] [trickling water] [trickling water] [trickling water] [trickling water] [trickling water] [trickling water] [trickling water] [trickling water] 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 provided by the Toyota Tundra.

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

Adventure: it's what we share.