KNIGHT: Texas Brigades prepares campers to be conservation leaders

Published 8:31 am Wednesday, July 27, 2016

STEVE KNIGHT/texasalloutdoors.com   

The sun was barely up in the morning sky and already the heat and humidity in the Trinity River bottom in Anderson County was becoming unbearable.

For the participants at the fifth Texas Waterfowl Brigade who had been up and going since 6:30 a.m. it was another day of fun, sun and outdoor education.

The camp, which ran Sunday through Thursday at the Bigwoods on the Trinity, is a crash course in waterfowl management and conservation with a side dish of leadership thrown in for good measure.

Tuesday morning the 19 youths ranging in age from 13 to 17 were learning things like hunter safety, how waterfowl are banded and what makes a good wetlands.

And that was just the first two hours of the morning. Before lunch they still had time to watch a rocket net demonstration, a technique waterfowl biologists use to trap ducks for banding or other research project.

“We are part of the Texas Brigades. We are called the Waterfowl Brigade. It is a leadership camp with a waterfowl backbone that goes through waterfowl conservation and habitat management. We teach the kids to shoot a shotgun and basic hunting skills, and public speaking and how to get their voice out so we can get a clear voice out there to the youth of Texas,” said Tyson Hart, camp co-coordinator.

The Texas Brigades got its start in 1993, the brainchild of Dr. Dale Rollins, then Texas Agricultural Extension Service wildlife specialist. Rollins, a bobwhite quail expert, started with a single Bobwhite Brigade. Over the years the program was expanded to include multiple Bobwhite and Buckskin brigades, a Bass Brigade, a Ranch Brigade and for the first time a Coastal Brigade geared toward coastal ecology and saltwater fish. They are operated by a partnership between Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Wildlife Association, Texas Wildlife Association Foundation, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service and Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

“It is about learning, but at the same time it is all about having a good time,” Hart explained.

While the days are spent learning about wildlife, fisheries and ranching, the goal is not necessarily to lead them toward a career in those fields.

“The biggest thing is we are not trying to turn kids into waterfowl biologists. I tell them every year I prefer them to be doctors and lawyers and legislators. They are going to have the power and going to have the money, and all we want is to have a sound ethics voice in the people we teach,” Hart explained.

“We all understand, as far as being biologists and ecologists about hunting ethics, but we want people in different walks of life to understand why we go hunting because we are kind of becoming a minority.”

Hart said through the lessons learned at the camp they are building a generation of youth who understand why there is hunting and why it is OK to hunt. The hope is these campers go out and explain it to their peers, and as they get older, pass the traditions and lessons along to others.

“Dr. Rollins has a saying that you can count the seeds in an apple, but can’t count the apples in a seed. We hope these and other campers that go through the program become spokespersons for sound ecology, conservation and the continuation of hunting,” Hart said.

Unlike other summer camps that have swimming pools and horseback riding, the campers at the Waterfowl Brigade found themselves wearing rubber boots and standing knee-deep in one of the 34 man-made waterfowl management ponds on the 7,500-acre ranch.

Instructors are experts in their field whether it is wildlife biologists, hunter safety instructors or technicians skilled in different areas of wildlife research.

“This morning (Tuesday) was our third day of camp and we looked at trapping and banding techniques, decoys spreads and ethics, how close you can shoot ducks – we had a Parks and Wildlife employee who was tasked with creating a habitat management guide that now all the Texas waterfowl specialist use, a hunter education station, entomology station and this occurred over a two-hour period. We have to multiply that over five days of activities,” Hart said.

And unlike a normal summer camp the campers are commonly up until midnight and later doing homework. From the beginning the campers are divided into groups, going to different sessions during the day and doing various projects together in a team-building exercise.

Brigade activities continue even when the campers go home as they are asked to speak to classes and programs like 4-H and FFA, civic groups, church organizations and local media about the Brigades, hunting and conservation.

This camp included youth from around the state, but was heavily weighted toward the Houston area. Some were back for a second year while some had been to some or all of the other camps before coming to the Waterfowl Brigades. Of the newcomers, a few knew what they were getting into because their siblings had already attended one of the camps. Others were completely surprised at first about what was happening.

By mid-camp they all had their own their highlights, whether it was shooting, duck identification, habitat management, the rocket nets or team work.

Although a number of the camps are built around wildlife not all of those that attend hunt.

“I always ask the kids when we start the camp how many hunt and it is about half of them,” said Jared Laing, TPWD waterfowl biologist for East Texas and one of those responsible for the camp programs. “I ask those that hunt how many waterfowl hunt and it is about half of those that hunt. You are looking at five out of 20.”

Laing said a part of the camp is to earn points through ongoing games and a poster contest the last day. Those earning the most points get to return in the fall for a hunt at the Bigwoods. In some cases it is their first.

However, Laing said he also stays in contact with alot of the former campers and many of them find other avenues into waterfowl hunting, some becoming hard core duck and goose hunters.

TPWD has a big presence within the Brigades starting with financial support, but more importantly through manpower as everything from instructors to bottle washers. It is a way for the department to help educate the conservation leaders of tomorrow.

Laing said that whether they become hunters or not, they still learn the importance of habitat management and conservation, and hunters’ contribution to the enhancement of wildlife.

“They learn the economy of conservation and that hunters pay the bill for conservation across the board,” he said.

Have a comment or opinion on this story? Contact outdoor writer Steve Knight by email at utdoor@tylerpaper.com. Follow Steve Knight on Facebook at Texas All Outdoors and on Twitter @txalloutdoors