The Nevada Wild Podcast

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (H.R. 3742) is a federal bill that would provide states with $1.4 billion each year to more fully implement state wildlife action plans (SWAPs). If passed, Nevada would receive at least $23 million to put toward wildlife management and conservation, funding for law enforcement, conservation education, recreation, habitat restoration in addition to management of priority species, including mule deer, bighorn sheep, sage grouse, waterfowl, songbirds, reptiles, native fish and amphibians, and many mammals.

After this podcast episode was recorded the bill gained even more cosponsors. Currently, there are 162 bipartisan cosponsors on the bill, including Representatives Mark Amodei and Stephen Horsford of Nevada.

In this week's Nevada Wild Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW's Wildlife Diversity Division Administrator Jen Newmark to talk about what this bill could mean for wildlife not only in Nevada, but nationwide, and what you can do to support it.

National Audubon's Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is the nation's longest-running citizen science bird project. Over a century's worth of data has been collected since the project began, and now it's as much of a tradition for many friends and families as it is a massive scientific project.

In this week's Nevada Wild, NDOW's Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Lahontan Audubon Society's Jim Woods and Rob Lowry to talk about local bird counts, how you can get involved and the significance of the Christmas Bird Count to scientific research.

Find a CBC near you here: https://www.nevadaaudubon.org/

NDOW funds improvements at shooting ranges across Nevada to make them safer and more accessible to the community. This funding also allows for more facilities to host Hunter Education classes. Soon NDOW will be accepting applications from communities for grants that would go toward needed improvements at their local shooting range.

In this week's Nevada Wild, NDOW's Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Conservation Education Division Administrator Chris Vasey to talk about the importance of having safe, accessible shooting ranges in Nevada, NDOW's involvement in the funding process, and how communities can apply for a grant for a shooting range near them.

Nevada's state-owned Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are home to many resident and migratory birds and mammals. Found throughout the state and generally less than two hours from populated areas in Nevada, WMAs offer a variety of recreational opportunities including waterfowl and upland game hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing.

This week's Nevada Wild focuses on northern Nevada's Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area. Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Western Complex Wildlife Area Supervisor Isaac Metcalf and Wildlife Staff Specialist Mike Zahradka to talk about the recreational opportunities at Mason Valley, how NDOW manages these 18,000 acres of public land, and provide some tips to hunters headed out to Mason Valley this waterfowl and upland game season.

Black Friday weekend is almost here! That means soon people will rush to the stores to find the best deals on gifts for their family and friends. NDOW wanted to help you out with some gift ideas!

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Conservation Education Division Administrator Chris Vasey, and Nevada Wild regular Julie Watson to share gift ideas for hunters, anglers, and anyone who just enjoys spending time outside.

With many hunters bringing home their harvested game, and the holidays approaching, we thought it was the perfect time of year to share our favorite wild game recipes.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Engineer and 2019 Chili Cook-off Winner Bob Ragar. We share some creative recipes for both small game and big game. Bob also explains some easy recipes for those who are new to cooking, and we discuss ways to utilize all of the meat from your harvested animal.

The bighorn sheep herd in Nevada's Stillwater Range is so healthy, NDOW has relocated 51 wild sheep to establish a new herd in unoccupied habitat in the Mineral Mountains of Utah. Last week we captured the sheep in Nevada, and then transported them to Utah.

In this week's Nevada Wild Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez sit down with NDOW Staff Specialist Mike Cox to talk about the project, more capture and transplant projects coming up within Nevada, and shares how you can get involved.

We're celebrating Bat Week and Halloween in this week's spooky edition of Nevada Wild. Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Diversity Biologist Jason Williams to talk about his extensive work with bats roosting in caves and mines. Jason also explains some of the other findings he's made in his cave explorations over the years!

Fall is one of the best times of year for fishing across the state, and Nevada fisheries are thriving! Whether it's a stream or a lake, NDOW biologists are able to determine the health of fish populations in different bodies of water with a process called electroshocking.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez sit down with NDOW Fisheries Biologists Chris Crookshanks and Travis Hawks to talk about electroshocking. They explain how it works, where we do these projects and why, and how you can get involved.

Fall is well underway, which means bears have entered hyperphagia. This means they're trying to fatten up for the upcoming winter, ultimately needing up to 25,000 calories a day! Ensuring that the community is living responsibly in Bear Country is a team effort, and requires NDOW to work with different agencies to educate the public and locate problems spots, where attractants are bringing bears into urban areas.

One partner that has greatly helped NDOW in its mission is Douglas Disposal, Douglas County's refuse collection service. In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Bear Biologist Carl Lackey and Douglas Disposal's Boomer Schultz to talk about how they work together to help residents understand the importance of securing their trash, and what you can do to help us keep Nevada bears wild.