Texas Parks and Wildlife Film, Bayou City, Nominated for Jackson Wild Media Award

Texas Parks and Wildlife Film, Bayou City, Nominated for Jackson Wild Media Award

AUSTIN — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is proud to announce that the short film, “Bayou City”, has been nominated for a 2021 Jackson Wild Media Award in the Ecosystem – Short Film category. The film explores the 22 diverse bayou systems throughout the city of Houston.

“Bayou City” is produced by Olivia Haun (Schmidt), an Information Specialist with TPWD’s Wildlife Diversity Program. The short film focuses on the unique bayou habitats that lie within the city limits of Houston. The city has a long and tumultuous relationship with its bayous as many have been steadily stripped, straightened, and lined with concrete in the name of flood control and citywide growth and development. The film follows dedicated and passionate individuals within Houston’s conservation community who are working to change the relationship between Houston, its bayous and the diverse wildlife habitat and ecosystem services they provide.

The research behind “Bayou City” began within TPWD’s Wildlife Diversity Program in 2018. Haun began shooting the film then but applied for the Wild Texas Short Film Grant to complete production in 2019. “Bayou City” was the first ever recipient of the $10,000 film grant presented by Explore Ranches and Fin & Fur Films.

A trailer for “Bayou City” can be viewed on the Jackson Wild Media Awards Vimeo page.

The Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, founded in 1991, has been renamed Jackson Wild in recent years. Jackson Wild seeks to accelerate and elevate storytelling surrounding nature, science and conservation. Storytellers featured by Jackson Wild illuminate human connections to the natural world.

The 2021 Jackson Wild Media Awards submissions include over 750 category entries from almost 30 countries. Finalists for the awards were selected by more than 150 international judges. A distinguished panel of final judges from around the world will select the 2021 Jackson Wild Media Award Winners in the coming weeks. Winners will be announced during the Jackson Wild Media Awards Ceremony, Sept. 30.

Houston’s Buffalo Bayou is home to a multitude of sensitive wildlife, including the largest urban population of Alligator Snapping Turtles.  These turtles and 12,000 species of concern will benefit from funding proposed under the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) bill, H.R. 2773 in the U.S. Congress. The bill would provide $1.4 billion to state and tribal wildlife conservation initiatives to support at-risk wildlife populations and their habitats. The funding would come from existing revenues with no new taxes.

For more information on RAWA, visit the Texas Alliance for America’s Fish and Wildlife’s website. With over 170 members, the Texas Alliance is a diverse coalition consisting of organizations and businesses who have come together to support fish and wildlife conservation, outdoor recreation, and conservation education.