With the redbuds and bluebonnets blooming, it’s time to get outside and enjoy spring in Texas.

If you’re a saltwater angler and don’t like the idea of hundreds of abandoned crab traps catching and killing game fish you could have landed, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is looking for volunteers willing to help get rid of these derelict traps along the coast.

Things are looking up for the endangered whooping crane. The bird made news three years ago when a record number of crane deaths were reported during drought conditions on the Texas coast. But according to state and federal biologists, flock numbers have rebounded, and a new record high number of cranes should start arriving on the Texas coast later this month.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission today approved $5.6 million in competitive grants for city and county parks across the state. Commissioners chose 12 out of 52 eligible grant requests for outdoor recreation facilities funding.

Banding ducks off the side of a speeding airboat requires coordination and the wherewithal to lie on the front of the boat and basically hug a duck out of the water as you zoom by. If the duck makes a run for a tight spot, you’d better be ready to jump out of the boat and chase it down on foot.

At the very tip of South Texas in Estero Llano Grande State Park, Christopher Sandoval stands at a trail head waiting for visitors. Sandoval is interning this summer with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.