In this week’s Nevada Wild, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by spotlighting Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors (HECHO), an organization created to provide a platform for Hispanics/Latinos to contribute knowledge and perspectives about public land conservation.

Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with HECHO Program Manager Bianca McGrath-Martinez and NDOW Outdoor Connection Coordinator Bobby Jones to talk about the importance of HECHO’s mission and connecting more communities with the outdoors. They also provide information on how you can get involved.

To learn more, connect with HECHO on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn @hechoonline. You can also sign up for the HECHO newsletter at https://support.nwf.org/page/28220/subscribe/1?mode=DEMO and for our HECHO Advocacy Network at https://support.nwf.org/page/25620/subscribe/1?mode=DEMO. Feel free to reach out to Bianca at [email protected].

There is no better excuse to explore Nevada than by celebrating Nevada Public Lands Day next Saturday, September 25. Nevada Public Lands Day, which also falls on National Public Lands Day (NPLD), encourages Nevadans to discover the many exciting and affordable recreation opportunities right in their own backyards.

In this week's Nevada Wild, NDOW's Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller talk to Jenny Ramella, Kim Zuch, and Carson Fehner with Nevada State Parks to highlight parks you can explore near you, fun ways to celebrate your National Public Lands Day, and how to respect the outdoors while exploring. As Park Interpreters Kim highlights Washoe Lake and Carson highlights Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort and all the NPLD activities happening at and in the surrounding areas of both parks.

To celebrate Nevada Public Lands Day, Nevada State Parks is waiving park fees, including entrance costs, camping, and for the day. Find a state park near you here: parks.nv.gov/

You can also look for virtual and in-person volunteer events to celebrate National Public Lands Day here: www.neefusa.org/npld

Saturday is also National Hunting and Fishing Day. Buy your fishing license today at ndowlicensing.com to join in on the fun.

In this weeks’ Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez are joined by NDOW Outdoor Connection Coordinator Bobby Jones and Outings Leader for Latino Outdoors Dagmar Galvan to discuss Hispanic Heritage Month. Dagmar tells us about her background and how she came to Las Vegas to pursue her career. The group has a great discussion on the importance of outdoor experiences for young and old. As a Latino Outdoors Outings Leader, Dagmar explains how she plans to engage with Latinx communities and share her passion for teaching the rich cultural history and archaeology that the Southwest and its environment has to offer.

NDOW's Conservation Education Division has a wide variety of education programming free for classrooms, homeschoolers, and after-school programs!

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Wildlife Educator Jess Brooks and Urban Wildlife Coordinator Lauren MacLeod to talk about two programs classrooms will take part in this fall: Know Your Nevada, which teaches fourth-grade students all about Nevada's living state symbols and Nevada Knockout, NDOW’s award-winning animal battle program that gets students doing a deep dive on some of Nevada’s wildlife and what makes them so special. They also discuss other programs that are in the works, explain the importance wildlife and urban wildlife education and more!

If you interested in putting these programs in your student's classrooms, fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScIZxUki28V-JSC1h4NvzTdPDlZFzkUbekntvq2DEp7xD-asQ/viewform?fbclid=IwAR1g3XvCco4IAHSWQvIex4SbC6KgeyUZUCKMvJ0GYkQMRZF9Q8dt-Ue1ODc

Upland Game hunters... it's that time of year! September 1 is the opener for dove, ruffed grouse, blue grouse, Himalayan snowcock and crow. On top of that, many more upland game seasons are approaching!

In this week's Nevada's Wild Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Upland Game Staff Specialist Shawn Espinosa and Migratory Game Bird Staff Specialist Russell Woolstenhulme to talk about the upcoming upland game seasons, the best places for hunters to have success, and more!

NDOW is working on duck banding projects across Nevada through the end of September. NDOW uses these projects to capture waterfowl and place bands on them to help track the species and collect data.

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Migratory Game Bird Staff Specialist Russell Woolstenhulme to explain the duck banding process, why data from these bands is critical in making management decisions, how you can help us track our waterfowl populations, and more!

Bighorn sheep exist in the desert where no other native ungulates (hooved mammals) inhabit because of the limited water resources and plant life, and the rugged, precipitous terrain. But even desert bighorn sheep must drink water during the hottest months of the summer, which is why NDOW works with other land management agencies and conservation organizations to build “guzzlers” or water developments to provide water to bighorn sheep and other wildlife.

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Southern Nevada Game Supervisor Joe Bennett and Water Development Biologist Sam Hughes to talk about the importance of guzzlers, especially in the extreme drought conditions the state is experiencing, recent emergency water hauls to fill these water developments, the biology of bighorn sheep and more!

The Nevada Department of Wildlife is so lucky to be able to host Americorps members. Americorps is a nationwide community service program that gives young people a chance to gain professional experience while giving back to their communities. NDOW has been fortunate enough to attract really amazing members that have done invaluable work for the agency.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez speak with NDOW Wildlife Education Coordinator Julie Bless, and Americorps Claire Clarke and Amanda Mulholland to talk about the importance of Americoprs within the agency, the work they're doing, and their future plans!

If you're interested in becoming an Americorps, check out the links below.

Southern Nevada: https://naaee.org/eepro/jobs/wildlife-educator-americorps-member-5

Western Nevada: https://naaee.org/eepro/jobs/wildlife-educator-americorps-member-6

Eastern Nevada: https://naaee.org/eepro/jobs/wildlife-educator-americorps-member-4

In this week's Nevada Wild, we're looking at the importance of preparing for your hunt as seasons begin to open across the state. Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller are joined by NDOW Big Game Staff Specialists Cody Schroeder and Mike Cox to talk about the best strategies for scouting, other critical ways to prepare for your hunt and more!

This week is Latino Conservation Week: Disfrutando y Conservando Nuestra Tierra, an initiative of Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF), to support the Latino community getting into the outdoors and participating in activities to protect our natural resources.

In this week’s Nevada Wild, NDOW’s Ashley Sanchez and Bobby Jones sit down with Jessica Godinez from HAF’s Conservation Team to talk about Latino Conservation Week, the importance of this initiative and how to get involved. We also explain how HAF works toward providing Latino families and youth with outdoor recreation opportunities and removes barriers for them to get involved in conservation.

Learn more here: http://latinoconservationweek.com/