TPWD Commemorates 20 Years of Collaboration with National Fish Habitat Partnership

TPWD Commemorates 20 Years of Collaboration with National Fish Habitat Partnership

May 6, 2026

Media Contact: TPWD News, Business Hours, 512-389-8030

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AUSTIN - Since its inception in 2006, the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) has collaborated with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to deliver nearly 100 fish habitat conservation projects in Texas public waterways.

Backed by more than $1.2 million in grant funding from NFHP matched 1:1 by contributions from local project partners, these projects restored, enhanced, or protected more than 26,000 acres of fish habitats in springs, creeks, rivers and lakes of the state. Several public waterways in Texas have been celebrated as NFHP "Waters to Watch," a recognition given to places where local partners are delivering meaningful conservation actions to ensure fisheries are sustained into the future.

This recognition has included spotlighting of conservation projects implemented at lakes Houston, Conroe, Livingston, Wichita, the Rio Grande, Balmorhea Springs, and the Blanco and Llano rivers.

"TPWD was an early supporter, partner, and collaborator of NFHP and its associated network of Fish Habitat Partnerships, including the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership, Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership, and Desert Fish Habitat Partnership," said Craig Bonds, TPWD Chief Operating Officer and member of the NFHP Board of Directors. "As we reflect on and celebrate this 20-year milestone for NFHP, the on-the-ground benefits to Texas public waters and fisheries resources are numerous."

Through grant funding provided by NFHP and the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership, TPWD and local partners completed fish habitat enhancement projects at lakes Belton, Buchanan, Conroe, Dunlap, Palestine, Livingston, Possum Kingdom, Austin, Canyon, Hubbard, Fork, Buchanan, John Paul Landing, Lewisville and Coleman. All projects centered on sustaining Texas' world-class largemouth bass fisheries. The largest single grant award from NFHP to TPWD was for $250,000, which supported fish habitat enhancements at Lake Ralph Hall, a new lake still undergoing construction located northeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Those funds were generated through the Bass Pro Shops National Bass Fishing Amateur Team Championships, with proceeds benefiting NFHP and some of the nation's top bass fishing lakes. A multi-lake fish habitat assessment was also supported at lakes Sam Rayburn, Nacogdoches, Naconiche, Toledo Bend, Conroe, and Fork that greatly improved understanding of fish habitat use by largemouth bass.

In collaboration with NFHP and the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership, TPWD and local partners completed 35 habitat restoration projects benefitting the clear, spring-fed streams found in the Texas Hill Country, namely the Blanco, Llano, and Pedernales rivers. This included projects that supported flood recovery along the Blanco River and wildfire recovery along the Llano River. Most had a primary focus and restoring habitat for the state fish of Texas, Guadalupe bass.

In collaboration with NFHP and the Desert Fish Habitat Partnership, TPWD and local partners completed fish habitat restoration and enhancement projects at several West Texas creeks and springs, including Alamito Creek, Phantom Springs Ciénega, and San Felipe Creek. Those projects helped conserve several imperiled freshwater fish found in the Rio Grande basin and nowhere else in the world.

To learn more about NFHP, visit their website fishhabitat.org.