Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Line & Lariat Hosting Downtown for Dummies, Buffalo Bayou for Beginners Open House

With all the buzz around downtown Houston lately, you may feel a little out of the loop if you haven't had a chance to check out the revitalized dining and entertainment district for yourself in the past year. Line & Lariat -- one of downtown's best restaurants, housed in the historic Union Nationa ... More >>

Honky Tonk Blood Brothers Ride Again on Hunchback of Mexico

Ed. Note: This article was written by Sonya Harvey. Guns. Knives. Ammo. Mexico. Prisoners. Hunchbacks. Hermanos. This is the stuff of spaghetti-Western legend in the making, which can only be thought up by Johnny Falstaff and Hank Schyma. The Honky Tonk Blood brothers and Houston musicians are up ... More >>

Texas' Forgotten Artificial Reefs: Six Great Photographs

For the past 30 years, the Texas Artificial Reef program has been adding reef sites throughout the state's waters, with 68 reef sites in the Gulf of Mexico ranging from 40 to 360 acres in size. The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department realizes most people haven't heard of the program. "The Texas Artif ... More >>

Great Egret Found Walking Around Front Yards With An Arrow In It

Great Egrets can be distinguished by their yellow bills and black legs and feet. And in Beaumont, they sometimes can be distinguished by the arrow sticking out of them as they wander through neighborhoods. Beaumont police say they received a call last week that a large white bird that "was going f ... More >>

Chupacabras, Assault Rifles, and Busting Facebragging Hunters: True Texas Game Warden Adventures

Among crime blotters in the state, two of the best belong to the Lufkin Daily News and the Wise County Messenger. But those are both private sector news sources. Our favorite "socialist" crime blotter comes from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, whose periodic Game Warden Field Notes is must ... More >>

"Natural" Texas License Plates: The Mind Assumes Weed, And The Vanity Plates Deliver

Ever on the lookout for more ways to praise the Lone Star State -- and the make a few more bucks in the process -- the people at myplates.com are now offering "Natural Texas" vanity license plates. A field of weeds, the plates look like -- not exactly inspiring. To myplates, though, they shine: "Bl ... More >>

Bastrop State Park, One Year After The Wildfire: Almost Ready For Its Close-Up

Just about one year after a devastating wildfire that torched much of its 6,000 acres, Bastrop State Park is getting ready to show visitors its made a comeback. Symbolizing the recovery is "a shade shelter originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps at Bastrop State Park during the 1930s," ... More >>

As It Was Written: The Red Tide Riseth from Sea, Kills Thousands (of Fish)

Some Biblical-type shit has struck Galveston, killing hundreds of thousands of fish and littering the beaches with their carcasses. The first dead washed ashore on Friday, and it wasn't until Monday afternoon that scientists gave this hidden killer a name: The red tide. It's composed of microscopic ... More >>

Coast Guard Seized $100,000 Worth of Illegal Shrimp Last Week

Only a couple of weeks prior to the Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season opening, the Coast Guard has been busy seizing thousands of pounds of illegally harvested shrimp in Texas waters. Last Monday, the Coast Guard Cutter Heron caught two shrimping boats hauling up their catches in closed water ... More >>

2012 Summer Guide

A new minor league baseball team, a new amusement park, the urban wilderness of Buffalo Bayou, food, concerts and plays — Houston, prepare to get your summer on.

Drought Time: Five Fun Alternative Texas Water Spots When Rivers And Lakes Are Low

Twin Lakes Scuba Park: There's a bus under that water​As we noted yesterday, the ongoing drought is kicking the ass of Texas rivers and lakes. The Guadalupe is just inching along, low in its banks, formerly underwater roots exposed, making toobing not the traditional summer romp it usually is ... More >>

Very, Very Determined Mountain Lion Denied Chance to Eat President Obama in El Paso

Dedicated mountain lion says Yes We Can, learns otherwise.​We know not the name of the mountain lion who was chased through the downtown streets of El Paso this morning, continuing to escape pursuers even with two tranquilizer darts in him. We only know the cat must have really wanted to see ... More >>

Border War: Don't Drift Over To The Mexico Side Of Lake, Texas Warns Fishermen

Watch out for the AK-47s on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake​You're out for a peaceful day of fishing on Falcon Lake, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border, and the next thing you know you're in the middle of an intense firefight, or you're being kidnapped, or turned into a junkie by ruthless drug ... More >>

Chron's Feelings Are Hurt

HBO drama didn't celebrate Houston as best-est place.

Coyotes And Bobcats Invade Area Yuppie Enclaves

​Back in 2004, we covered the battle of man vs. coyote in League City. Now it appears the wily canines have moved the battlefront closer to town.WestUInstantNews picks up the, um, tail: Coyotes and bobcats have recently been spotted prowling the border of Bellaire and West University Place, prom ... More >>

Texas Blind Salamander Blues

Photo by Robb Walsh​The Texas blind salamander lives in a dark cave in San Marcos and doesn't see very well, hence the blues-guitarist moniker. It's also an endangered species. Blind Salamander Pale Ale from Rahr Brewery in Fort Worth is the first of a new series called "Rare Breed" beers. Eac ... More >>

Texas Traveler: Sea Center Texas

Photos by Brittanie SheyAbout an hour south of Houston on 288, in a modern residential neighborhood in Lake Jackson, stands Sea Center Texas, an aquarium and educational center operated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. As aquariums go, it's not the state's fanciest, but it does include e ... More >>

Oyster Lovers Unite

This Valentine's weekend may be your best chance to eat oysters for years to come

“Barry Stone: Highway 71 Revisited”

This photographer found plenty of life under the road

The Gourds land a real Haymaker!

Dead to Rights

Half Shell Face-Off

Compare East Coast oysters to Gulf Coast oysters and see what you think

Letters to the Editor

Hog Wild

Feral pigs are ugly, destructive and mean. Some people in Texas just love to trap, stab or shoot them. Or put them in rodeos. With dogs.

Dark Water

A reporter, a photographer and canoeist Tom Helm paddle from the Galleria to Galveston Bay by canoe and kayak, finding beauty, danger and urban debris in equal measure

Hold the Salt

Too much of a good thing threatens the oysters in Galveston Bay

I Am the Walrus, Part 1

Winter is prime time at Willie G's oyster bar

Poured Out

With archaic and self-serving laws, reforms don't come easy for the Texas booze industry

Love It, Fear It

A Brit flourishes by studying Houston

Keeping It Real

Spring Creek stands poised to ride into history, one way or another

Sex, Death and Oysters

Beneath the muddy waters of Galveston Bay lies one of the greatest seafood treasure troves on earth

What He Said

Houston's new top cop may bring his own language barrier

Truth Hurts

Two University of Texas graduate students record small-town Texas life in Truth I Ever Told

Klan Comedy

Plus: Driving Him Mad, Cable Curse, Gay Players

The Bambi Syndrome

Texas is overrun with native whitetails, so why do restaurants have to buy their venison from game farms?

Up a Creek

Diverting streams into the Brazos and Posh Amenity lakes has been great for fancy Fort Bend developments. But it's killing Oyster Creek, the lifeblood for legendary Texas cattle ranchers.

Green Port?

A Port suit accuses several companies of contaminating its land for decades

Fish Tales

Rayburn's bass diminish as debates continue over pollution discharges

Best Place to Canoe

Armand Bayou Nature Center

Babe's Bad Night

Feral hogs are on the increase. And so are those who hunt them.

Letters 07-20-2000

Dish

Can't Buy Love -- or Armadillo

Killer Weed

The life-suffocating Salvinia molesta has entered Texas waterways. It's green, fast and deadly.

Letters

Press Picks

Beastly Behavior

Wildlife rehabilitator Vivian Steele got along fine with animals. It's people who gave her trouble.

Murky Water

State Senator Buster Brown wants to make Lake Jackson safe for development. Guess who's one of the developers.

Press Picks

Dead in the water

Bothered by shrinking catches, growing regulations and a sense of frustration, Galveston Bay's shrimpers say that they, not the shrimp, are the endangered species.

Sanctuary

The oil is gone from High Island, but the birds still come. So do the bird watchers.

Press Picks