Carter Smith talks about the Impact of the Texas Farm & Ranch Lands Conservation Program, Texas Agricultural Land Trust

In this Texas Agricultural Land Trust video, Carter Smith, Executive Director of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department explains the impact of the initial round of funding used to conserve working agricultural lands through the Texas Farm & Ranch Lands Conservation Program which provides grants for paid conservation easements to private land owners.

Mussels Matter: Research team increasing knowledge of mussels, txH2O

Though zebra mussels in Texas give mussels a bad name, other freshwater mussels are welcomed and needed in Texas waters.

Invasive zebra mussels, first confirmed in Texas in 2009, are causing major economic and environmental damages to Texas reservoirs. But unionid mussels, a family of freshwater mussels, are important indicators of water quality and stream health and play an important role in freshwater ecosystems, according to Dr. Charles Randklev, research scientist for the Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources (IRNR).