This week’s Nevada Wild celebrates National Volunteer Month! NDOW is lucky to have incredibly skilled and passionate volunteers working hard across the state. From field work to educational programming, volunteers are vital to this agency.

Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller are joined by NDOW Volunteer Program Coordinators Nicole Hamblin, Michelle Lopez, and Julie Bless. They explain why volunteers are so important to NDOW’s conservation programs and projects, upcoming volunteer opportunities across the state and how you can get involved!

Find everything you need to know to get started as a volunteer here: https://www.ndow.org/learn-discover/get-involved/

Great Basin Bird Observatory’s (GBBO) 2023 Nevada Bird-a-thon is a great way to set out on a fun adventure with your family while also supporting important bird research! During this statewide birding community event and fundraiser, teams and individuals are invited to participate by choosing one 24-hour period between May 5 and May 15 and then record as many bird species within Nevada as possible!  

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller are joined by GBBO’s Ned Bohman, who fills us in on the history of the Bird-a-thon, how to participate, the new categories and how you can win prizes and more!

Learn more about the Bird-a-thon here: https://www.gbbo.org/birdathon-details

This week’s Nevada Wild highlights the brand-new Nevada Youth License Fund. This fund will allow members of the public and non-profit organizations to donate money to cover the cost of youth combination licenses for kids to remove a barrier to kids having FUN outdoors in Nevada!

Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW’s Outdoor Connection Coordinator Bobby Jones to talk about the fund, why it’s important to getting more kids outside, and explains how those applying for Nevada big game tags can donate to it!

Learn more about the fund here: https://www.ndow.org/blog/nevada-youth-license-fund/

We wrap up NDOW’s Women’s Month celebration by introducing you to our new Chief Game Warden Kristy Knight! Knight has almost 20 years of experience as a game warden for the agency. She has worked in various capacities throughout the state, including captain, supervising lieutenant, and statewide supervising game warden!

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Knight sits down with Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller to reflect on her time with the agency, share how it feels to represent women in a male dominated field, and explain her goals for NDOW’s Law Enforcement Division moving forward.

Guzzlers are man-made watering holes, built in areas where there is not enough water to support wildlife. While guzzlers are built to primarily benefit big game and upland bird species, they also provide a valuable source of water formany of Nevada's diverse wildlife species. Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) relies heavily on partners and volunteers to build guzzlers and has a number of opportunities coming up.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller are joined by NDOW Habitat Biologist Sam Hughes and Statewide Volunteer Coordinator Julie Bless to talk about NDOW’s guzzler program, upcoming guzzler builds across the state, and how you can get involved!

Find volunteer opportunities here: https://www.ndow.org/learn-discover/get-involved/

This year Nevada Outdoor School (NOS) celebrates 20 years! Through its outdoor programs NOS inspires the exploration of the natural world, responsible stewardship of our habitat and dedication to community. This women founded and led non-profit is the perfect organization to feature for NDOW’s Women’s Month celebration.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Nevada Outdoor School Executive Director Melanie Erquiaga to talk about the history of NOS, its open AmeriCorps opportunities, and all the great events and programs they have coming up!

Get involved with NOS here: https://www.nevadaoutdoorschool.org/home.aspx

NDOW funds improvements at shooting ranges across Nevada to make them safer and more accessible to the community. We're now accepting applications for these funds from anyone who would like to see upgrades at their local shooting range.

In this week's Nevada Wild, NDOW's Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller explain how this grant program works, how you can apply for grant-funded improvements at a shooting range near you, current projects, and the need for safe, accessible shooting ranges throughout the state.

Find the 2023 Shooting Range Grant Application form here: https://www.ndow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Shooting-Range-Grant-Application-2023.pdf

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller are joined by Eastern Nevada Conservation Education Supervisor Julie Gabrielson to talk about the long-awaited 6th annual Elko Sportsman’s Expo! The expo is back on Saturday, March 4 and Sunday, March 5 with two days of outdoor related activities and booths presented by NDOW and the Ruby Mountain Rios Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation. Julie explains what to expect at this FREE event, why it’s the perfect event to experience with your friends and family, and how it's a great way to connect with the Elko community.

Learn more here: https://fb.me/e/5epNeh6W5

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez are joined by Bighorn Sheep Staff Specialist Mike Cox at the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Sheep Show, where Mike was inducted into the Biologist Wall of Fame for the work he has put into bighorn sheep conservation across the west! Mike talks about the honor, his commitment to wildlife conservation, and dives into the status of Nevada’s bighorn sheep populations.

View the 2022 Bighorn Sheep Checkout Summaries he refers to in the podcast here: https://www.ndow.org/blog/hunt-statistics/

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller record from the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Sheep Show, with new NDOW Wildlife Education Coordinator Margaret Lord and Hunter Education Coordinator Logan Klonicke. Logan and Margaret took a break from running stations at the Sheep Show’s youth component, the Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience (YWCE). They fill us in on this year’s YWCE, how they’re adjusting to their new positions after working as Americorps for NDOW last year, and their goals for future programming to continue connecting kids to wildlife, nature, and outdoor recreation.

The public portion of YWCE takes place tomorrow (Saturday, January 14) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hall 4 and the F-Meeting rooms of the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. The event is FREE and parents who bring their kids can receive a voucher to get into the Sheep Show exhibit hall for free. Note: Do NOT go the Sheep Show registration and pay to get in, simply head to Hall 4.

Find more information on YWCE here: https://fb.me/e/26yl3StAV