Pre-Institute Sessions

Our Pre-Institute sessions offer the perfect way to launch your TRAPS State Institute 2026 experience! These focused, hands-on workshops are designed to deliver in-depth learning and skill-building before the main Institute gets underway. Whether you're looking to sharpen your leadership skills, advance your professional certifications, or build specialized expertise, our Pre-Institutes give you practical tools and experiences you can put to work right away.

Registration Opening Soon

Accessibility in Action: Adaptive Recreation Equipment Workshop

Join the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Accessibility team for a deep dive into the adaptive loaner equipment program, featuring hands‑on time with all‑terrain chairs, hiking carts, and adaptive kayaking gear and a walkthrough of the adaptive loaner trailer. Learn how to assess needs, manage equipment, make informed purchasing decisions, train staff and users, and design outdoor programs for people with sensory, intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities. Don't miss this one!

Angler Education Instructor Training

Turn your passion for fishing into an opportunity to teach others! This fun, hands-on course will prepare you to teach basic fishing skills to your students and certify them as Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Anglers.

As a certified instructor, you’ll also have access to loaner equipment for use in your classroom and can order free educational materials for each student to take home.

The Bridge Between Park Planning and Maintenance: Real-World Solutions

Third annual interactive session under POPS Maintenance Morning explores the synergies between park planning and maintenance, demonstrating how collaborative planning can lead to effective, sustainable operational solutions. Participants will engage in real-world, hands-on exercises that simulate the process that planning and maintenance teams could perform to align their visions with implementation, ensuring that park projects are not only well-designed but also efficiently maintained.

AgriLife Extension Maintenance Planning Lab
Join us in the maintenance planning lab at the Texas A&M AgriLife Dallas Extension & Research Center. Participate in an expert-led panel and audience-engaged discussion about maintenance issues and opportunities; break out into small group discussions and site demonstrations to identify and assess evidence-based operations and maintenance practices for topics such as weeds, bioswales, water smart approaches, creeks and streams, turf, educating and communicating with decision makers, CPTED (Crime Prevention through Design), and safety. Gain basic feedback as you devise notes on crafting or updating maintenance plans or operational procedures.

Elevating Aquatic Facility Maintenance and Performance

This interactive pre-conference session will explore practical strategies for elevating the maintenance, efficiency, and overall performance of aquatic facilities. Participants will gain insights into proactive maintenance practices, operational strategies, and real-world solutions that can help extend the life of facility assets, improve performance, and create safer, more efficient aquatic environments. The session will provide an opportunity to learn from industry professionals and apply strategies that can be taken back and implemented in their own facilities.