The Nevada Wild Podcast

The Nevada Department of Wildlife is rolling out the second year of its Nevada Knockout program. Thirty-two animals who call Nevada home have been chosen to compete in a single elimination tournament. Kind of like March Madness, but with animals! The program encourages not only students to learn about wildlife, but the entire public. This year more than 3,000 students across the state will complete the program. The general public can also take part in Nevada Knockout by filling out a bracket, which has been posted on NDOW's Facebook page. The first battles will be posted on September 30th, with more battles to follow every Monday.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez sit down with NDOW Wildlife Educator Julie Watson to explain the program, its purpose and its success and growth since it started last year!

Nevada's waterfowl season is kicking off this weekend in part of the state, and quickly approaching in others.

In this week's Nevada Wild NDOW's Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez sit down with NDOW Waterfowl Biologist Russell Woolstenhulme and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 8 Waterfowl Biologist Chris Nicolai to talk about the work the agencies do to understand and manage waterfowl populations in the state. They also talk about what hunters can expect for the season, and go over tips and great spots for waterfowl hunting.

Buy your hunting license today at ndowlicensing.com. Find season dates and information here: http://www.eregulations.com/nevada/small-game/

National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation's largest single-day volunteer effort. It celebrates the connection between people and green space in their community, inspires environmental stewardship, and encourages use of open space for education, recreation, and general health. While the event is officially recognized this year on September 28, a number of events and volunteer opportunities will be hosted by different agencies on that date and in the week leading up to it.

In this week's Nevada Wild, NDOW's Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller talk to Gabby Lukins with the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM)Winnemucca District and Walker River State Recreation Area Park Supervisor Randy Denter about events and volunteer opportunities happening around the state. These include the Walker River State Recreation Area's One-Year Anniversary Celebration and multiple community clean-ups organized by BLM.

Very few people are willing to sacrifice so much of their personal time for wildlife as Brett K. Jefferson, who has made a second career for himself by volunteering his time for conserving wildlife. He has a long and productive history of working with numerous bighorn sheep non-governmental organizations including the Wild Sheep Foundation, Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited (NBU) – Reno, Fallon – NBU, NBU – Midas, and Elko Bighorns Unlimited. His work coordinating partnerships and fundraising has made him a powerhouse in getting conservation projects done.

Jefferson's notable work and commitment to wildlife will be recognized during the September Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners meeting in Las Vegas, where he will receive the Commission’s 2018 Wayne E. Kirch Conservation Award.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Jefferson and NDOW's Wildlife Education Coordinator Julie Watson to talk about the award and the work Jefferson has done to earn this recognition. Jefferson also explains his passion how his passion and commitment to Nevada's wildlife all started!

Upland Game hunters... it's that time of year! September 1 (this Sunday!)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, population numbers for a variety of the major species and some tips that may help lead to a successful bird hunting trip for you, your family and friends.

A joint Nevada Department of Wildlife(NDOW) and Nevada Department of Transportation(NDOT) initiative to install wildlife safety crossings in northeastern Nevada has received the Federal Highway Administration 2019 Environmental Excellence Award. The award recognizes nine crossings on I-80 between Wells and Wendover and US-93 between Wells and Jackpot.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down

with NDOT wildlife biologist Nova Simpson and NDOW Wildlife Staff Sepcialist Mike Cox to talk about the award, how the crossings are benefiting drivers and wildlife, and how they hope to see more projects like this in the future.

NDOW's Wildlife Educators are rolling out a brand new program in classrooms across the state. The program, Know Your Nevada, is aimed at educating 4th grade students on state symbols and the importance of conservation in the state.

In this week's Nevada Wild Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Wildlife Educators Julie Watson and Jess Heitt to talk about the program, how it benefits students and how classes can get involved. The hosts are also quizzed on how well they know their Nevada!

This summer we've seen videos of swarms of grasshoppers all over the news and social media. This is also the time of year people are spending more time outside and more likely to get a bug bite!

In this week's Nevada Wild, Aaron Keller and Ashley Sanchez sit down with Southern Nevada Wildlife Diversity Biologist Christy Klinger to talk about how these pesty insects impact wildlife, including bats and the yellow-billed cuckoo. The also address how these species keep insect populations in check!

The state of Nevada has passed a new law in its ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a nervous system disease that affects deer, moose, elk and reindeer. Senate Bill 85 restricts hunters who have harvested specific game species in other states from bringing certain parts of the carcass into Nevada. CWD has not been detected in Nevada, but biologists continue to monitor our mule deer and elk populations.

In this week’s Nevada Wild Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Game Division Administrator Brian Wakeling and NDOW Veterinarian Peregrine Wolff to talk about the disease, prevention efforts including Senate Bill 85, how hunters can do their part to prevent the spread of CWD, and why their help is so important.

Chief Game Warden Tyler Turnipseed has been at service with NDOW since 1992. Last week was bittersweet for NDOW staff after Tyler announced he will retire from the agency in early August.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Tyler to take a look back at his nearly 30 years with NDOW, the legacy he's leaving behind, and what's in store for his future. He also gives some great advice to those looking to follow in his footsteps as a game warden.