In this issue’s Q&A, Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Todd Votteler, interviews Dr. David Yoskowitz, Executive Director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD).

At TPWD, Yoskowitz oversees an agency of 3,300 professionals in 13 different divisions, including Wildlife, Law Enforcement, State Parks, Coastal Fisheries, and Inland Fisheries. Yoskowitz has been actively engaged in the areas of private lands conservation, the acquisition of additional state parkland and wildlife management areas, securing state funding for state parks, children in nature initiatives, coastal conservation and mitigation initiatives stemming from the Deepwater Horizon incident, and the state’s management response to chronic wasting disease.

Prior to joining TPWD, Yoskowitz was the Senior Executive Director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies and the founding Endowed Chair for Socioeconomics at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. As an economist, Yoskowitz worked to inventory and value ecosystem services and quantify the impact of sea-level rise on coastal community resiliency in North and Central America, and Cuba. Yoskowitz has also served as Chief Economist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where he co-chaired an interagency task force under the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy that developed a research agenda around coastal green infrastructure and ecosystem services. Alongside his professional roles, Yoskowitz serves on the board of directors of Indifly, which is dedicated to using recreational fisheries to create sustainable livelihoods for indigenous peoples around the world, and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program. Yoskowitz also served on the National Research Council Committee on the Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Ecosystem Services in the Gulf of Mexico and the Socioeconomic Scientific and Statistical Committee for the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.

Yoskowitz, his wife, Carolyn Walker, and their son, Max, enjoy all the outdoors has to offer. He is also an avid fisherman, hunter, camper, backpacker, implementer of native grasses and plants, and is slowly becoming a birder.

What previous experience has benefited you most in your new role at TPWD?

I feel my varied background has been the most beneficial to me in the role of Executive Director of TPWD. Time in academia and at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, which is a research-intensive outfit using science to help develop implementable solutions, was critical because of the importance that science – both bio-geo-physical and socio-behavioral-economic – plays in the decisions that we make at TPWD. My time in Washington D.C. serving as Chief Economist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gave me the opportunity to develop policy that would be impactful for an entire agency and have an impact on conservation and natural resource management. It is a unique path I took to TPWD but one that has prepared me for this role.

What are your priorities as Executive Director of the TPWD?

The future starts today. With 20 million – or more – Texans by 2050, we need to get busy now knowing that providing outdoor recreation opportunities and impactful conservation of our terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems doesn’t happen quickly. The next ten years will be critical for TPWD to be able to meet our mission in 2050 and beyond. We are poised to meet that challenge but it is going to take a whole community effort.

What are some of the unique water challenges facing Texas fish, wildlife, and their ecosystems in Texas?

This is not unique, but it is critical to be able to deliver on what Texans and our visitors expect and that is the challenge of land fragmentation, which leads to water fragmentation. As open land is converted to built infrastructure the character of the state’s ecoregions begins to change. Corridors where wildlife moved through might be cut off. Rain that used to seep into an aquifer might be diverted to sheet flow across the landscape. Development is here and more is coming so how does TPWD help to keep the character of what we know Texas to be?

What is TPWD’s role regarding Texas water management?

Our most direct role in water management starts at the properties that TPWD stewards. For example, Balmorhea State Park hosts San Solomon Springs and is visited by over 200,000 people annually. San Solomon Springs and the surrounding Ciénegas are home to 2 federally listed fish (Comanche Springs Pupfish and the Pecos Gambusia), one species of greatest conservation need (Headwater Catfish), and three federally endangered invertebrates (Phantom Springsnail, Phantom Tryonia, and Diminutive Amphipod).

Honey Creek Springs (Comal County), while not located on State Park property, forms the headwaters of Honey Creek, which flows through Honey Creek State Natural Area and into the Guadalupe River. We have been fortunate to be able to protect more of this important watershed with the recent acquisition of Honey Creek Ranch, which at one time was slated to become a development with 1,600 homes. The landowners wanted to do something that was transformational for conservation and with a number of partners we were able to make it happen.

Do you see TPWD’s role in Texas water management changing in the future?

Absolutely. We know that land and water go hand in hand and as much as we think about conserving land and opening it up for recreational opportunities, water needs to stay on the landscape – or underneath it. Our conservation efforts have always had this as an important component in our decision-making process. Going forward I imagine it will only grow in standing.

What are some of the TPWD’s accomplishments and projects regarding water that you are most proud of?

I am very proud of the recent acquisition of Honey Creek Ranch. Those 515 acres are making a significant impact on the health of the watershed. And what I am most proud of is that it was a team effort with landowners, Ronnie and Terry Urbanczyk, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy in Texas, and TPWD. Also, eight foundations provided important funding to ensure an important piece of Texas will forever be protected.

What do you consider to be the biggest challenge facing Texas over the next 20 years regarding water?

People! All our conservation challenges come down to people. How many we have. How they behave. What motivates them. Incorporating more of the human dimensions and behavior in decision-making will lead to longer lasing and more impactful conservation.