Presentation Title: Restoring the State Fish of Texas to Its Home Waters
Presentation Description: Since establishing the Guadalupe Bass Restoration Initiative in 1991, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and partners have made significant progress towards the goal of restoring and preserving 10 genetically-pure, self-sustaining, fishable populations of the official state fish of Texas. This includes ongoing efforts to preserve intact populations of Guadalupe Bass in Brushy and Gorman creeks and the Pedernales and lower Colorado rivers. Guadalupe Bass were also recently restored to the South Llano River, Blanco River, and Mission Reach of the San Antonio River. Efforts to restore Guadalupe Bass to the namesake Guadalupe River are ongoing, along with efforts to assess the status of Guadalupe Bass in the San Gabriel River. Future directions include assessing the status of native Guadalupe Bass populations in Cibolo Creek and the upper San Antonio and Medina rivers, and assessing the status of introduced, refuge populations of Guadalupe Bass in the Nueces, Frio, and Sabinal rivers. This presentation will profile recent successes in restoration of Guadalupe Bass within its native Hill Country rivers, and profile next steps and opportunities for collaboration.
Speaker Bio: Tim Birdsong is Chief of Habitat Conservation for the Inland Fisheries Division of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Tim leads and coordinates efforts to restore and preserve the diversity of Texas freshwater habitats and species, with an emphasis on conservation of the more than 240 species of native freshwater fishes and mussels that occur in the state’s 191,000 miles of creeks and rivers. In recognition of those efforts, Tim and colleagues have received numerous awards including the 2014 National Fish Habitat Award, 2015 Texas Parks and Wildlife Conservation Award, 2016 Dr. James A. Henshall Warmwater Fisheries Award from Fly Fishers International, 2016 Sport Fish Restoration Outstanding Project Award from the American Fisheries Society, and 2019 Outstanding Team Award from Texas Parks and Wildlife. Tim serves on various local, statewide, regional, and national advisory councils and committees, including the National Fish Habitat Science and Data Committee and as chair of the Native Fish Conservation Network. Tim is also past chair of the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership and Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative. He has a M.S. in Fisheries and Coastal Sciences from Louisiana State University, a B.S. in Biology from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Texas at Austin.
