Spring/Summer 2005 • Wildlife Division TPWD Passes Changes to Hunting Regulations

TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE Spring/Summer 2005 • Wildlife Division TPWD Passes Changes to Hunting Regulations he Texas Parks and Wildlife A similar measure addressing Commission at its April 7, 2005 long-term habitat loss impacting lesser meeting has adopted a series of prairie chicken populations allows a Tchanges to state hunting and limited harvest option for properties fishing regulations that offer greater har- with a wildlife management plan geared vest flexibility on lands managed for mule toward this species. Under the new deer and prairie chickens, while simplify- regulation, hunting during the two-day ing and expanding hunting opportunity in season will occur only on managed other areas. properties in the program. There will be Based on the department’s popular a two-bird daily bag limit and proper- Managed Lands Deer Permit program that ties in the program will have a harvest provides incentives to individuals that con- recommendation. duct habitat improvement projects on their Another proposal offering incentives different one-buck-only counties or they property for the benefit white-tailed deer, for quail management was withdrawn from could hunt in multiple two-buck counties, the commission approved similar opportu- consideration pending further discussion provided they do not exceed the county nities for mule deer and prairie chickens. with constituent groups, landowners, bag limit or take more than three bucks in The new voluntary habitat-based hunters and other interested parties. all the two-buck counties combined. permit programs offer landowners with an Among the prominent changes in In addition to deer, the commission approved wildlife management plan hunting regulations adopted by the com- adopted regulation changes simplifying greater flexibility in managing mule deer mission is a continuation and expansion of turkey hunting. The fall Rio Grande harvest. Permit holders could hunt from special buck-deer harvest regulations in season has been consolidated and stan- the first Saturday in November through the 21 counties. For the 2005-2006 hunting dardized to run concurrent with the first Sunday in January. season, the department is adding a second general deer season. The spring season buck to the bag limit in counties with the for Rio Grande turkeys will open the special antler restrictions. Those hunters Saturday closest to April 1, 2006 for Inside Tracts will be allowed to take two bucks, but at 44 consecutive days and the eastern turkey least one must possess an unbranched antler. season will run April 1-30, 2006. The Purple Paint: Making Your In another move, the commission has commission also opened fall and spring Mark Without a Fence . .2 simplified antlerless white-tailed deer seasons for Rio Grande turkey in Cameron hunting by consolidating the seven differ- and Zapata counties, and a fall season in Lone Star Land Steward ent options currently in place across the Tarrant County. Awards Program . .3 state into just three standard doe day cate- The commission also adopted rules The Riparian Sponge – gories. Hunters are urged to check the prohibiting hunting by remote control. Bigger is Better . .4 county specific hunting rules for these This issue centers on the use of internet Wildlife and Habitat Management changes in the upcoming 2005-2006 technology as it relates to the taking of Outdoor Annual, available in August. on Small Acreages . .5 game animals and game birds. The new The commission also eliminated the provision requires any person hunting a Pastures for Upland Birds . .6 aggregate buck-bag restriction in one-buck game animal or game bird to be physically Wild About Wild Turkeys . .7 and two-buck counties. The new regulation present and personally operate the means allows hunters to take a buck in any three of take. Purple Paint: Making Your Mark Without a Fence ne of the advantages of wildlife management as an agricultural PENAL CODE §30.05. CRIMINAL TRESPASS. practice for ad valorem tax pur- O (a) A person commits an offense if he enters or remains on or in property, poses is landowners no longer need to including an aircraft or other vehicle, of another without effective consent or he enters or worry about maintaining livestock-proof remains in a building of another without effective consent and he: fences. The downside to this is that fences (1) had notice that the entry was forbidden; or often help deter trespassing. They can also (2) received notice to depart but failed to do so. provide places to post “NO TRESPASS- (b) For purposes of this section: ING” signs. Keeping up with these signs (1) “Entry” means the intrusion of the entire body. can often be a challenge, and many a (2) “Notice” means: landowner has been frustrated by a tres- (A) oral or written communication by the owner or someone with passer declaring they were unaware they apparent authority to act for the owner; were on private property because they (B) fencing or other enclosure obviously designed to exclude intruders didn’t see any signs. Thanks to the 1997 or to contain livestock; Legislature however, signs are not neces- (C) a sign or signs posted on the property or at the entrance to the build- sary in order to legally mark a property’s ing, reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden; boundary. Instead, landowners may utilize (D) the placement of identifying purple paint marks on trees or posts what has become known as “the purple on the property, provided that the marks are: paint law.” (i) vertical lines of not less than eight inches in length and not The 1997 session added (D) to §30.05 less than one inch in width; of the Texas Penal Code in defining what (ii) placed so that the bottom of the mark is not less than three constituted criminal trespass. In order for a feet from the ground or more than five feet from the ground; and person to be guilty of criminal trespass, (iii) placed at locations that are readily visible to any person they must have received – and ignored – approaching the property and no more than: (a) 100 feet apart on forest land; or notice that entry was forbidden. This (b) 1,000 feet apart on land other than forest land; or notice can be achieved in several ways, (E) the visible presence on the property of a crop grown for human including marking trees or posts with consumption that is under cultivation, in the process of being harvested, or marketable if purple paint. harvested at the time of entry. “What color purple?” is the question most often asked by landowners. Any shade of purple is acceptable as long as the it, it makes little sense to build fences in numbers of landowners opting for wildlife marks meet the requirements of height and order to mark a boundary by cutting down management as their agricultural practice spacing. the very product you are trying to grow for for ad valorem tax purposes, this law When this bill was introduced to the market! A distinctive color of paint made provides an attractive alternative to tradi- Texas Legislature many people – including considerably more sense. With increasing tional fencing. legislators – were confused as to why such a bill was deemed necessary. Using paint to mark boundaries is a common practice in several other southern states with exten- New Publications Available from TPWD sive timber industries. If one thinks about The Private Lands and Public Hunting Program of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has recently released several new brochures for TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT landowners. To obtain a copy of these Commissioners brochures, contact TPWD or your Joseph B.C. Fitzsimons, Chairman San Antonio local biologist. Alvin L. Henry, Vice-Chairman Houston A Place in the Country is J. Robert Brown El Paso T. Dan Friedkin Houston for new landowners who wish to Ned S. Holmes Houston manage their land for wildlife. Peter M. Holt San Antonio Prescribed Burning Philip Montgomery Dallas Associations in Texas provides John D. Parker Lufkin landowners with basic information Donato D. Ramos Laredo about prescribed burning and the Lee M. Bass, Chairman-Emeritus Fort Worth advantages of prescribed burning MAKING TRACTS FOR TEXAS WILDLIFE associations. Robert L. Cook Executive Director Potential Income for Texas Mike Berger Director, Wildlife Division Landowners: Public Hunting Leases Linda Campbell Editor, Program Director, explains TPWD’s short-term lease program Private Lands and Public Hunting Linda McMurry Assistant Editor of private land to be used for public hunting. 2 Lone Star Land Steward Awards Program – Ten Years of Recognizing Outstanding Stewardship on Private Lands ay in and day out, generation after Edwards Plateau – Treadwell Brady Two additional properties were generation, many rural Texas Ranch, John A. Treadwell, owner, and recognized in special categories for their Dlandowners are faced with the Brian Treadwell, operator, Menard and achievements: challenge of making a sustainable living McCulloch counties. Corporate – White Rock Lake Park, from their land. For these stewards of the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes – City of Dallas, owner, Dallas Parks and land, conserving and enhancing the state’s WW Ranch, Jim Willis, owner and opera- Recreation Dept., managers, Dallas natural resources are a way of life. tor, Colorado County. County. As the shift to urbanization in Texas Pineywoods – George H. Henderson Wildlife Management Association – grows, the significance of the efforts of Family Partners L.P., Trey Henderson, Cave Creek Wildlife Management private landowners to manage the natural owner and operator, Angelina County. Association, Sam Segner, President, landscape can be lost to those who seldom Post Oak Savannah – Shepherd’s Gillespie County. venture off the asphalt. Mountain Ranch, John and Nellie Colson, On May 25th, Texas Parks and owners, and Gary Chalmers, operator, The Sand County Foundation, LCRA, Wildlife Department recognized nine Washington County.

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