Tomorrow, Saturday 24, is National Public Lands Day (NPLD), a celebration that brings out thousands of volunteers to help restore and improve public lands around the country.

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Bureau of Land Management Archaeologist Alicia Jensen, who fills us in on an NPLD cleanup volunteer opportunity at the Fernley Swales. This site a mile north of Fernley, is the only place where emigrant wagons and oxen left deep sand swales as they traversed the California Trail. Alicia fills us in on the history of the site, the cleanup event, other NPLD events, and how critical these events are in protecting Historic Preservation sites, like the Fernley Swales.

Find information on the Fernley Swales Cleanup here: https://www.neefusa.org/npld/fernley-swales/fernley-swales-cleanup

Find a map of all NPLD events here: https://www.neefusa.org/npld-event-search

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Nevada Department of Wildlife Veterinarian Nate LaHue to talk about Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a transmissible neurological disease that is always fatal to animals in the deer family. Currently, CWD is found in 34 states and provinces but not in Nevada. Nate explains the state's efforts to prevent the disease from entering Nevada, and explains what hunters can do to help.

Find more information and a list of the check stations mentioned in this podcast here: https://www.ndow.org/blog/chronic-wasting-disease/

With dove season opening yesterday, we thought it was the perfect time to sit down with NDOW Migratory Game Bird Staff Biologist Russell Woolstenhulme to get an update on populations and tips to be more successful.

In this week’s Nevada Wild, we cover everything you need to know if you’re interested in hunting dove. We switch gears and talk about banding projects, including the state's first ever band-tailed pigeon banding project and annual duck banding efforts, which help agencies across the nation track migratory birds. We also discuss what hunters should know about the avian influenza outbreak that has been detected across the nation since December 2021 in multiple wild bird species.

In this week’s Nevada Wild, we sit down with Miranda Crowell. As part of her PhD work for University of Nevada Reno, Miranda has been working on a collaborative project for over five years to learn more about pygmy rabbit populations in Nevada and how they are changing over time. She explains how she got involved in working with pygmy rabbits, the work she's doing for her study, and why it’s so important to learn about this species!

See the posts/photos we refer to in the podcast here: https://www.facebook.com/NvDOW/posts/pfbid037XrP3gWQNhfdTcX7VD46k3vopFG8UjxY9WdSmeE6CMGRmzTo3Mq6N4KfqMCmokn2l

NDOW's Conservation Education Division has a wide variety of educational programming free for classrooms, homeschoolers, after-school programs, and really anyone interested in learning more about Nevada's wildlife.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Statewide Wildlife Education Coordinator Julie Bless to talk about a variety of education programs available to teachers, students, and the public. She covers award winning classroom programs, like Nevada Kockout and Know Your Nevada, brand new programs available to teachers, and take home educational kits available to anyone for free!

If you interested in NDOW's Wildlife Education programs, learn more here: https://www.ndow.org/learn-discover/outdoor-education/

If you want to receive our educator newsletter email Julie Bless at [email protected].

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez sit down with NDOW Biologist Heather Reich to talk about bears! Heather corrects some common misconceptions surrounding Nevada’s black bear populations and explains some steps to take as bears get more active due to hyperphagia, the phase they go through to build up calories before spending the winter in their dens. She also tells us why these tips apply to anyone in Nevada, not just those who live or spend time in northern Nevada.

Find more resources on living with bears and other wildlife here: https://www.ndow.org/learn-discover/wildlife-discovery/living-with-wildlife/

Take your best guess! How much money do you think big game and upland game hunters spend on hunting in Nevada per year?

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez, Aaron Keller, and Bobby Jones dive into the dollars and cents details of hunting in Nevada with UNR Research Scientist Alec Bowman. Alec lets us know just how much Nevada hunters support our state’s economy using an in-depth report he worked on detailing Nevada hunting expenditures.

View the report: https://www.ndow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Nevada-Hunter-Expenditures-Summary-Report.pdf

Have you ever been interested in learning how to shoot a bow or rifle? NDOW offers learn-to shoot classes throughout the state to teach safe and responsible shooting practices to youth and adults.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW’s new Statewide Recreational Shooting Coordinator, Adam Kavanagh to talk about the shooting programs NDOW offers. Adam also explains his hopes of getting the National Archery in the Schools Program into more local schools to expand the opportunity to more kids.

Find a shooting range near you or sign up for an NDOW class at ndow.org.

As animals get more active in the late spring and early summer, NDOW sees an increase in phone calls from community members asking questions about wildlife they come across in their neighborhoods, whether they've found an injured animal or they have an unexpected visitor in their yard. Those are the calls that keep our Urban Wildlife Coordinators busy.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW’s new Urban Wildlife Coordinator Raquel Martinez and former Urban Wildlife Coordinator, now Wildlife Educator, Jess Wolff. They explain the urban wildlife and wildlife education positions, list the common calls NDOW receives this time of year, and explain the best steps to take if you come across wildlife in your neighborhood.

You can also find species-specific information on living with wildlife here: https://www.ndow.org/species-information/

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Wildlife Diversity Biologist Mackenzie Jeffress to talk about North America’s cutest mammal, the pika, and the new Nevada Pika Atlas. The atlas is a compilation of information from researchers across the west shows where pika can be found across the state! Mackenzie explains why this is important in helping us learn more about pika and protect the species. She also explains how she found her love of researching pika and how she hopes the Pika Atlas is used moving forward.

Learn more about these tiny, mountain dwelling animals and where you can spot one and view the Nevada Pika Atlas here: https://www.ndow.org/species/pika/