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National Invasive Species Awareness Month Feb. 20-26, combat harmful plants, wildlife

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AUSTIN – The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) asks Texans to join the fight against invasive species that negatively impact the state’s natural resources and economy. National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW), slated for Feb. 20–26, is an initiative to raise awareness of the threats and provide solutions on how to prevent the spread of invasive species.

“During National Invasive Species Awareness Week, and throughout the year, we want to encourage all Texans to take time to prevent new introductions and spread of invasive species and help to protect our natural resources for the enjoyment of future generations,” said Monica McGarrity, TPWD Senior Scientist for Aquatic Invasive Species.

Invasive species are non-native to an ecosystem and can cause environmental or economic damage and harm to human health and quality of life. In addition, invasive species are expensive to control and can be impossible to eradicate once established, and can inflict costly damage to crops, fisheries, forests and more. According to recent estimates, these costs total approximately $219 billion across the United States every year. Many invasive species are spread (inadvertently or intentionally) by humans, who play an important role in preventing their spread to new areas.

A variety of non-native plants, animals, insects and even diseases can become invasive when they enter a new environment, growing or reproducing rapidly and potentially outcompeting native species. This allows them to become established and problematic across large areas. They can be introduced by humans in a variety of ways, including intentional introduction through aquarium dumping, live bait releases or outdoor plantings, or accidentally as “hitchhikers” carried through recreational activities.

These risky recreational activities can include hauling firewood long distances for a campfire or moving a boat from one reservoir to another without properly cleaning, draining and drying it first. Once introduced, some species can harm native species and ecosystems, impact recreational activities, damage infrastructure and require costly, long-term management in cases where control is possible.

This year for NISAW, TPWD offers five easy actions anyone can take to help prevent or slow the spread of invasive species in Texas.

Never Dump Your Tank 

Don’t dump anything — whether it’s fish, animals or plants — out of an aquarium into any of Texas’ waterbodies. The same is true for flushing them down the toilet. Whether saltwater or freshwater, there’s a good chance your aquarium fish, animals and plants are not native to Texas. If dumped into the wild, they can quickly introduce diseases and establish themselves at the expense of native aquatic life, vegetation and reef systems. Learn more on the Texas Invasives website.

Similarly, you should never release any animal that you have purchased as a pet into the wild. Most likely your pet is not native to Texas and could cause serious harm to our native species and ecosystems. Find more resources on the Don’t Let It Loose website.

Use Your Bait Where You Catch It / Never Dump Your Bait

Many people don’t realize the potential impact that releasing live bait can have on aquatic life. Bait bucket introductions — anglers dumping live bait into a water body other than the one where it was caught — are one of the most common ways we spread aquatic invasives.

Just remember this: Don’t dump leftover bait in the water at the end of a fishing trip and don’t take live-caught bait (or any bait that’s touched lake water) to another lake to use. Alternatives include taking your bait home to use on a future fishing trip at that same lake, offering it to another angler to use or placing it in the trash. 

For more information, check out this TPWD magazine article.

Plant Native

When landscaping near your home or planting a garden, it’s important that you choose plants that are native to your region. Non-native plants can escape cultivation and become invasive and have an impact on water quality, biodiversity, fish and wildlife habitats and more. Learn about great native plants to plant in your garden and find native plant suppliers on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center website.

Don’t Carry Hitchhikers

You could be carrying invasive species with you when you’re enjoying outdoor recreation and not even know it. Insects and plants, including plant seeds, can hitch a ride on your clothes, shoes, gear or even your firewood. You can help stop the spread by removing plants, animals and mud from clothes, boots, gear, pets and vehicles, cleaning your gear before entering and leaving recreation sites, using only local firewood and simply staying on designated roads and trails. Learn more on the Play, Clean, Go website.

Clean, Drain and Dry Your Boat and Gear

Boaters can help keep zebra mussels, giant salvinia and other invasive species from being moved and harming more lakes. We ask all boaters to take a few minutes to properly clean, drain and dry their boats and equipment before they leave a lake every time they go boating. Remove plants, mud and debris from the boat and trailer and drain all the water from the boat and gear. Once you get home, open up compartments and allow everything to dry completely.

For more information on how to properly clean, drain and dry boats and equipment, visit the TPWD YouTube channel for a short instructional video. If you have stored your boat on the water at a lake with zebra mussels, it is likely infested and at high risk for spreading this invasive species. Before moving it to another lake, call TPWD at (512) 389-4848 for guidance on decontamination.

Learn more about aquatic invasive species on the Stop Invasives page of the TPWD website.

TPWD also encourages the public to use the Texas Invaders app or website to report sightings of invasive species, whether in your backyard or in wild spaces. Citizens can learn how to identify invasive species on the Texas Invasives website.

 
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Bowie track runs at Peaster in final meet before district

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The Bowie track team competed in its final meet before district last week on March 27 at Peaster.
The boy’s team finished fourth overall while the girl’s team got seventh place.
The boy’s team had three athletes who won their events.
Russell Anderson won the 400 meter race, Braden Rhyne won the triple jump and Tyler Richey won the pole vault events.
Some other highlights for the team included Cody West getting second in the shot put, the 4×400 relay team getting second place, Richey getting fourth in the 110 meter hurdles, Rhyne getting third in the 300 meter hurdles and Jorge De Leon getting fourth in both the discus and shot put.
Brayden Willett got second place in the 3200 meters, third place in the 1600 meters and fourth place in the 800 meter race.
The Lady Rabbit highlights included Dallie Monroe getting fourth in the shot put, Laney Segura getting fifth in the 800 meters and Olivia Richey getting sixth in the 100 meters.
The 4×200 relay got fifth place and the 4×100 relay got sixth place to earn points.
Bowie competes in the district rack meet this week at Iowa Park. The running finals are scheduled for 5 p.m. on April 4.

Results for all Bowie varsity athletes who finished sixth or better are in the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

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Montague County has nine named all-region basketball players

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Nocona’s Meg Meekins (above) not only earned all-region honors, she also earned all-state honors and was named the Texas Girls Coaches Association 1A-4A Player of the Year.

Other Montague County basketball athletes who were named to all-region teams including Rayder Mann from Bowie and Reagan Phipps from Nocona. From Saint Jo, Payzlie Cervantes, Taylor Patrick and Barrett Johnson were named to the all-region team. From Forestburg, Jesus Sanchez, Brenna Briles and Kyler Willett were named to the all-region team.

For pictures of all nine athletes, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

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Baseball Roundup

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Logan Hoover dives head first into home plate, beating the tag to score one of Saint Jo’s three runs in the game. (Photo by Jennifer Gaston)

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost a close game at home against Perrin-Whitt on March 28.
The Pirates won 8-3, only taking the lead in the seventh inning after the Panthers had come back to tie up the game.
Saint Jo was coming into the game after a close one-run loss in extra innings against Perrin-Whitt earlier last week.
The second game started with two scoreless innings before the Pirates got on the board in the third inning. A line drive into left field resulted in a fielding error that allowed one run to score. A double followed that drove in another run as Perrin-Whitt went up 2-0.
The Pirates added to the lead in the fourth inning, driving in a run on a single to extend its lead to 3-0.
Saint Jo answered back in the same inning. Charlie Evans drove in one run with a single. Later in the inning, with a runners on second on third base, the Perrin-Whitt pitcher balked twice, an illegal pitching motion, that allowed both runners to advance to home plate. The Panthers had tied the score at 3-3.
After a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, the Pirates had the pressure on in the seventh inning.
With the bases loaded, a hit batter and later a walk scored two runs for Perrin-Whitt. Then a bases clearing double scored three more runs to break the game open in the final inning.
Saint Jo tried to answer in its final at-bats, getting two singles and drawing a walk but could not get enough things going to score.
The Pirates won 8-3.
Evans led the team with one RBI and two hits as the team finished with five hits and drew six walks.
Sam Martin allowed eight runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out six and walking three batters in 6.2 innings of work. The defense committed three fielding errors overall.

Nocona
The Nocona Indians had a tough start to district last week, losing both games in their series against Lindsay.
The Knights won 11-4 and 7-3 against the Indians last week as Nocona hopes to get back into the playoffs.
Nocona was coming off a string of good wins the previous week against smaller schools, but knew Lindsay would be tough.
The first game saw Lindsay continually score runs in the first four innings, building a 9-0 lead before the Indians could get on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning with two runs.
Nocona added two more runs in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 9-4 and get some momentum heading into the final two innings.
After a scoreless sixth inning, the Knights scored two runs in the seventh inning to extend their lead and eventually win 11-4.
Miller Jentry led the team with two RBIs while RJ Walker also drove in two runs. The team had only two hits, but drew nine walks in the game.
Brody Langford allowed six runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out three in three innings pitches. Landon Fatheree allowed five runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out one and walking four. The defense committed five fielding errors.
Nocona knew it could play better and tried to in the second game later in the week while playing on the road at Lindsay.
The Knights again took the early lead, scoring in three of the first four innings and going up 6-0. The Indians scored two runs in the fifth inning and one in the top of the sixth inning to initially cut the lead to 6-3. Lindsay answered with one run in the bottom of the sixth inning and held on to win 7-3.
Walker Murphey led the team with two RBIs after hit a double. Kutter Cabrera drove in the other run for Nocona. The Indians finished with three hits and drew only two walks, making the most of their limited opportunities.
Walker got the start on the mound and allowed seven runs (two earned) on eight hits while striking out six batters and walking two in six innings of work. The defense committed six fielding errors overall.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles started district last week playing a series against fellow 1A team Bryson.
Unfortunately, the Cowboys won both games handily 11-1 and 10-1.
Bellevue was coming off a tough week where it hung tough playing 2A teams Nocona and Chico, not getting wins but competing well against the more experienced and bigger schools.
Unfortunately against Bryson in the first game, a few bad defensive innings threw away a good start to the game. Bryce Ramsey drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and stole his way around to second base, third base before eventually coming home on a steal.
Bellevue led 1-0 after the first inning.
That was the highlight as the Cowboys scored four runs in both the third and fourth inning to take control of the game. Bryson eventually added three more in the sixth inning.
The Eagles needed to score at least one run to avoid getting run-ruled and play the seventh inning, but could not do it. The Cowboys won 11-1.
Walker Strahan, Ryan Jones and Ramsey each had one hit to lead the team. With the Eagles drawing only one walk, it was a tough day swinging the bats for Bellevue.
Defensively, the Eagles allowed 12 hits and walked four batters, though avoided committing any fielding errors.
The second game on the road was not much better.
Bryson built up a 6-0 lead before Bellevue scored in the fifth inning. Cam Blaylock scored on the base paths to cut the lead to 6-1. The Cowboys responded in the same inning scoring four runs to go up 10-1.
The game cuts off on the Game Changer app from there.
Ramsey led the team with three hits in the game and Strahan was behind him with two hits as the team finished with six total and drew one walk.
Defensively, Bryson had nine hits and drew eight walks, but Bellevue did not commit any fielding errors.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

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