- 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... - Looks like a scaup.

It's pretty heavily oiled.

But you can see how you can't even see feathers there.

It looks like it's been painted on.

- What I really want to be is a storyteller, to show people things that maybe they haven't seen before.

Everyone has a story.

- Attention!

- We've had over a hundred people to help us build two water catchment devices we call guzzlers.

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

[gentle music] - NARRATOR: There is a delicate balance going on.

Between the fragile ecosystems where we live.

[gentle music] And the fossil fuels which we need.

[gentle music] Unfortunately this relationship can be at times a tenuous one.

[helicopter whirs] [dramatic music] When accidents happen, a special team of biologists answer the call.

- REBECCA HENSLEY: With failing infrastructure for pipelines and with increased activity, the number of spills that we see are increasing.

- GREG CONLEY: Because of all the drilling going on in Texas they say that we are probably just as big as the Iraq field in Texas right now.

We are only going to get busier.

- NARRATOR: They are the Kills and Spills Team, and these first responders are needed now more than ever!

[dramatic music] Talco, Texas.

An oil pipe has burst and now the oil and sludge is choking a nearby creek.

- GREG: Ok. - REBECCA: Our team... - GREG: All right good deal.

- REBECCA: Are the first feet on the ground, first eyes on the resources.

We will go out and look for dead birds, oiled wildlife.

And we also identify where the cleanup needs to begin.

- GREG: Yeah looks like there is a good bit of oil upstream and downstream.

- NARRATOR: Meet Greg Conley... [camera clicks] - GREG: It's shell is open with fresh meat in there.

- NARRATOR: He is one of four regional biologists that coordinate response to these fish and wildlife kills across the state.

- GREG: There's another small mussel!

This is the first time I've seen this number of mussels, freshwater mussels in a stream such as this in East Texas.

It's surprising.

But they're dead.

It's not an easy process to repopulate a mussel population.

- ADAM WHISENANT: Yeah, all this movement in the water, those are all juvenile small fish that were once in this creek, there's probably 20 small fish in here hangin' on!

Ugh!

Seeing fish struggle like that, it makes me feel disappointed that these particular fish won't make it.

So in this investigation, all the resources we find, specifically the fish, Just over three inches.

- GREG: Just over three inches, ok. - ADAM: We total up the species, the size, and get a value.

And that value is put towards a restitution project to restore the habitat that was lost or somewhere nearby.

- NARRATOR: The responsible party will cover the cost of cleanup.

As for that restitution, the values can vary.

This crawfish will cost ten cents.... - ADAM: Yep, little over two inches.

- NARRATOR: And this sunfish?

- GREG: I don't know if we are able to identify that species.

- NARRATOR: 37 cents.

- The impacts that are caused for fish and wildlife kills due to oil and pollution events is often not very high.

[dramatic music] And so there isn't an incentive for them other than being good stewards of our resources.

They are not going to pay a lot of money.

- NARRATOR: Texas is the country's top crude oil producer, and the business brings in billions.

As part of this business, accidents happen like this one near Texas City.

[dramatic music] - BIOLOGIST: You need to get pictures first right?

- NARRATOR: Andy Tirpak has word that several ducks are dead along this beach.

- ANDY: In essence we got oil on a beach where birds are coming through, to rest, to feed as they continue their migration.

So it's challenging right now.

It looks like a scaup, it's pretty heavily oiled, I mean you can see how they're you can't hardly see can't even see feathers there, it's almost like it's been painted on like wax.

[crate slides on concrete] - REBECCA: They are looking for oiled birds, picking those birds up, and getting them to a rehabilitation site to save those birds.

- NARRATOR: Spills can wipe out many of the small fish and coastal invertebrates that live along the shoreline.

- REBECCA: If your food source goes away because of some sort of spill or pollution event.

Then you end up with animals that will die from starvation.

[birds chirp] - ANDY: So it's all interconnected and it's all about that circle of life that we talk about.

It's not just that we are going to try and save the birds, if we try and save the birds, that's great, that's good.

But we also need to be worried about impacts of the sand and the things that live in the sand that the birds are feeding upon.

[birds calling and waves] [dramatic music] - NARRATOR: There's a natural killer that this team also focuses on.

A toxic algal bloom that hits the Gulf coast called red tide.

[waves on shore] - REBECCA: What the cell counts do whenever our crew looks at those, it's more for, are we anticipating a fish kill pretty quickly.

We know that once it hits five, once it hits 100, and we start looking at that, we are going to have to get staff onto the ground.

[dramatic music] - NARRATOR: While it can cause respiratory problems for humans, Red Tide is lethal for fish.

- REBECCA: When we have our first fish kill, they are out assessing what kind of fish are killed, how many are killed, where it's occurring.

And trying to assess what that impact is along the coast.

If it's a natural event like a red tide, we can't do anything to stop that.

In an oil spill we may not be able to stop the oil, but we can protect some of the resources.

- NARRATOR: Back at that oiled creek in Talco, Adam and Greg take a few more notes for their investigation.

- GREG: Definite water moccasin, he's fixing to disappear into that oil.

[water splashes] You see the rainbow sheen is always indicative of a crude type spill, petroleum related.

It's really impacting the creek, the deer are going to have to go somewhere else to drink, the coons are going to have to go somewhere else to drink, what a mess.

That's exactly what goes through my head, what a mess!

But I know they can make it better.

- NARRATOR: The compensation for spills can be as little as $100 like here at Talco, or it can be upwards of a million dollars.

- When we are done with an event, any kind of event, and we get compensation from a responsible party, we actually are able to do good things for the resources.

An example of that could be with oyster reef restoration that we've done.

- BIOLOGISTS: Looks real healthy!

- REBECCA: As well as marsh and wetland creation and restoration.

[fish splash] Inland that can be fish stocking and habitat creation in lakes for fish as well as stream creation and restoration.

- NARRATOR: As for this creek, the members of the Kills and Spills team are doing everything they can to help it heal.

- ADAM: This is a sock boom, it's absorbent, it floats on the surface and absorbs the oil as it passes by.

If cleanup is done well, give it time, these systems are typically pretty resilient and can recover well.

- It makes me feel really good, I can actually come out here and, what I feel, is make an impact for the better through what I do with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Kills and Spills team.

[dramatic music] - I'm Devonte Hill and I'm 22 years old.

[door close, car starts, radio music] I just graduated from college and, you know, just looking for an opportunity to get out before I start grinding in a regular job.

What I really want to be is a story teller, show people things they haven't seen before.

Everyone has a story.

[birds chirping] When you see things on TV about outdoors and things like that, all you really see is a certain type of demographic.

[camera clicks] You kind of get raised thinking that, okay, these things are not really for me.

And whether that's making documentaries...

...I just want to show people things that maybe they haven't seen before, give them a different reality.

I was a state park ambassador that got exposed to the Buffalo Soldier Program.

- SOLDIERS: Attention!

- DEVONTE: I'm always open to new experiences.

- Let me take your picture.

[bugle music] [military snare drum] - DEVONTE: I don't have too much experience with kids besides my cousins.

So it will be interesting dealing with the little people.

[laughs] - SOLDIER: Salute.

- LUIS PADILLA: The Buffalo Soldiers were created in 1866 to assist and protect the settlement as it continued to move further out west.

- SOLDIER: What we have here today guys are the 10 essentials of outdoor living.

- These were the first black professional men in the U.S. Army.

Now they got their name from the Indians.

[stampede] When the Native Americans saw the buffalo soldier, he wasn't used to seeing a man of this skin color and the wool uniform.

So the only thing the Indian could do at this point was compare this new soldier to something he knew out on the frontier.

And that something on the frontier just happened to be the buffalo.

They had a reputation of being fierce fighters, not backing down.

- Like a buffalo come running through there right now, he won't run around you or jump over you.

He'll run right through everybody.

- LUIS: Texas Parks and Wildlife started the Buffalo Soldiers program to preserve the cultural history... - SOLDIER: We're about to go out on a scouting mission!

- LUIS: ...and to connect people with the outdoors, get connected to the state park resources.

- SOLDIER: What are these that he's drawing?

- KIDS: Tents!

- When a participant comes to see the Buffalo Soldiers... - SOLDIER: About face!

- ...they are able to learn about what they did on the frontier, how they camped, how they cooked.

[clinking] - SOLDIER: It's hardtack.

- LUIS: We use the Buffalo Soldiers' rich heritage and history to connect urban audiences who are not currently connected to their state parks to get them outside.

Get them outside throwing a baseball, get them outside walking the trails.

Get them enjoying what's in their own backyard.

- SOLDIER: All those landmarks that we saw, we're going to make a list of them and then we're going to make a map together.

- LUIS: The Buffalo Soldier program depends heavily on its volunteers.

- Sergeant says point to the lake.

When you're thrown into this situation, especially when you put on their uniform, you feel a connection automatically.

[string music] - MASHAWN: They accomplished so many things, building roads, putting up telegraph lines, mapping out areas so they knew where watering holes were.

- LUIS: Buffalo Soldiers were also some of the first professional mountain bikers.

The Iron Riders blazed a trail of off-road biking for the country.

- MASHAWN: The women that supported the Buffalo Soldiers were strong pioneering women.

They would keep records about what happens in town.

[string music] - LUIS: The text messages that people send today started a long time ago with the Buffalo Soldiers as they were working on the frontier stringing up telegraph poles.

- MASHAWN: They were really pioneering this land that we now call America.

- SOLDIER: Come on up here 'cause you're going to be batting next!

There you go!

[cheers] - MASHAWN: The kids that we interact with, I hope that they leave with a sense of pride, with a sense of wonder, with a sense of curiosity.

- SOLDIER: You don't need all this fancy equipment to play.

- MASHAWN: So that they have a better understanding of not only the Buffalo Soldiers but also where they come from.

- SOLDIER: Good afternoon!

How y'all doing?

- KIDS: Good afternoon!

- Black history's not taught in schools anymore.

They don't talk about the kings in Africa.

They don't do that anymore.

- We fought just like the buffalo, just as brave, just as strong as the buffalo.

- STEVE: A lot of our inner city kids have problems because they don't understand the history.

- We showed that we were able to do what anybody else out here could do.

- STEVE: These Buffalo Soldiers were from an era where they created their own company with a high level of expectations, requirements and it produced a lot of dignity.

- And if you didn't want to go outside and work, what do you think they said?

- Just do it!

- Exactly.

- STEVE: I'm just asking these kids to go and do and be the best.

And Buffalo Soldiers were some of the best.

[upbeat music] - LUIS: With segregation around, with these men combined into units of just other black men going into settlements and towns where tensions were high, says a lot about their character and spirit.

- MASHAWN: As we all know, the Native Americans were pushed off their land by the U.S. government.

Buffalo Soldiers were a part of that mission.

But at the same time, they were also trying to prove themselves to the U.S. government.

To prove that they were more than three-quarters of a person, of a man.

So both of these groups were trying to show the leading power, the U.S. government that they are both human.

- DEVONTE: Any time you listen to a story of people who have been put into a really bad situation and still was able to do amazing things, that definitely has a sense of pride.

Maybe I had a Buffalo Soldier in my family line at some point in time.

That's really cool when you really think about it.

You have to put a little more muscle in that one, man.

This whole experience has just been one of those life-changing moments.

I've never really done anything like this before, never really did anything with kids before so there was a lot of firsts for me.

But it definitely got me a lot more comfortable with sharing history with people, a lot more comfortable kind of getting outside my box, and kind of exploring something new and something different.

These represent fish that you can catch here in Texas.

And learning.

Stand by.

5, 4, 3, 2... - Coming up tonight at 10, a gruesome discovery... - DEVONTE: I got a job!

Hopefully this is the first step to me continuing my training and practice of being a storyteller.

From there we're going to go to camera 3 back to 2 position.

I see myself traveling through the beautiful state of Texas telling stories about a lot of the history here along with some of the groups that are doing some great things.

- KIDS: Me!

Me!

[upbeat music] - DEVONTE: And this is part of my story.

[upbeat music] [snare drums] [upbeat music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [wind] [dramatic music] - NARRATOR: Out here in the mountains of West Texas you will find a rare animal.

Desert bighorn sheep at one time completely disappeared from this region.

[dramatic music] - Historically, the native Texas desert bighorn sheep occurred in about 16 mountain ranges out here in the Trans-Pecos.

Mainly due to unregulated hunting, diseases associated with the introduction of domestic sheep and goats and net-wire fencing, they brought the demise of the desert bighorn and by the early 1960s they were gone.

They were all gone from Texas.

[dramatic music] [Gate clanking open] - Come on big boy.

- NARRATOR: But the bighorn has made a comeback.

Recent restoration efforts have brought a healthy bighorn population back to its native home.

[dramatic music] One key factor for the survival of the restored bighorn population is access to water.

Water is scarce in these arid mountains.

But there is a way to ensure the bighorn has enough to drink.

With a manmade watering hole called a guzzler.

- A guzzler is essentially a rainwater collection system for wildlife.

We've got two large panels of sheet metal that collect the rainwater, funnel that down into storage tanks, that feed to wildlife friendly watering stations.

These watering stations play a big role in bighorn sheep restoration.

And they also provide for any thirsty critter that comes along.

[helicopter engine starting up] - NARRATOR: But it's no easy task getting a guzzler going.

- Safety things on the bird, we do want you to duck a little bit.

So all you tall guys got to be careful because you're tall and... - VOLUNTEER: You won't be.

- Yeah don't ever raise your hand.

Hey see you later!

[laughter] - NARRATOR: On this Spring weekend, the Texas Bighorn Society has gathered at Black Gap Wildlife Management area for a work project.

- These work projects normally last a couple of days and they are always in extremely remote areas.

[helicopter engine starting up] For this work project, we've had over 100 people here to help us build two water catchment devices we call guzzlers.

[energetic music] ♪ ♪ - NARRATOR: If Black Gap weren't already remote enough, the workers must travel by helicopter to the mountain tops where the guzzlers will be constructed.

- MARK GARRETT: We use helicopters to ferry all the equipment we need to get up there and build the guzzlers high enough up to be utilized by the bighorn sheep.

[energetic music] [welding buzz] [whining drill] [clanking metal] [ratcheting] - We've got the tanks anchored down, the troughs in place.

I think all we have left to do now is put tin on, run our fast lines to our troughs, and plumb everything in.

[sledge hammer clanking] - WORKER: That looks good.

- TONY BAKER: It's a hands-on organization.

I brought my son and his friend so they could see what real conservation is.

And we've been doing it a couple of years now.

[drilling] He's a junior in high school and he'll be able to take this as a lifetime event for him.

- We need to get over there and proceed.

[upbeat music] - NARRATOR: By the end of the day, this team has completed their mission.

Leaving behind their mark on this mountain.

And after a scenic ride back to camp they're rewarded with a well-earned feast among friends.

- Are you in the way?

- Probably.

- NARRATOR: Before the weekend is done, the group is already collecting funds for the next effort.

- AUCTIONEER: I got two hundred.

Can I have two and a half.

I got three, I got three.

Three, three, three, I need three.

I have three hundred and six U.S. dollars right over here.

[crowd cheers] - This land is suitable for all the game that live here.

It was missing one thing.

Water.

And now it'll have water.

That's conservation right there.

[dramatic music] [energetic music] - ALVIS HILL: Okay guys, Gorman Falls trail, quickest way to the falls.

[waterfall] - Colorado Bend State Park is about a two-hour drive from Austin or Waco.

It's a nice getaway kind of place.

- ALVIS: For mountain bikers coming out, you'll find a little bit of everything at Colorado Bend.

You've got some real easy flat trail that young beginners could work on.

Nice bumpy piece of trail!

All the way up to some very challenging rock gardens and hills that would challenge even the most experienced rider.

- RUSTY HANSGEN: This trail is Lemons Ridge Pass.

- DAWN: All right go for it!

- RUSTY: And it's a fairly easy trail.

- DAWN: Whoha!

- RUSTY: And there's a lot of rocks you can ride over.

Through a lot of Juniper and Live Oak trees, just a beautiful trail to ride on!

- DAWN: Whatever mood I'm in, it has that particular aspect of trail riding for me.

If I feel like an easy ride, I can do an easier trail.

If I feel like something more technical, something challenging, I can jump out there and get that going.

- ALVIS: Beautiful day to ride!

- DAWN: Colorado Bend has just a little bit of everything for everybody.

[water flowing] [water flowing] [water flowing] [water flowing] [water flowing] [water flowing] [water flowing] [water flowing] [water flowing] [water flowing] [gentle wind blows] 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.