Ndow Presents The Nevada Wild Podcast

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 jbless@ndow.org.

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/

In this week’s Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with Wildlife Education Coordinator Julie Bless and Conservation Education Division Administrator Chris Vasey to talk about the Nevada Department of Wildlife's "Conserve Wildlife" license plate, which is available at any Nevada Department of Motor Vehicle office. They explain how proceeds from the sale of this license plate featuring a mule deer, sage-grouse, and cutthroat trout against a classic Nevada landscape, benefits different NDOW education and volunteer programs. To Learn more about ordering a "Conserve Wildlife" license plate, check out the Charitable & Collegiate Plates section of the Nevada DMV website: https://dmv.nv.gov/platescharitable.htm

Nevada's Free Fishing Day is tomorrow, Saturday, June 11. This is the one day of the year you can fish any public water in the state without a fishing license. If you have never been fishing, Free Fishing Day is the day to get out and try it! In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Angler Educators Jan Nemec, Julie Gabrielson, and Abbey Czarnecki to talk about all of the fun Free Fishing Day events happening across the state, the annual Free Fishing Day Poster Contest, fishing conditions, and what to do next if you get hooked on fishing! Find a Free Fishing Day event near you here: https://www.ndow.org/blog/nevada-free-fishing-day/ Find fishing reports, stocking updates, the FishNV tool, and more resources here: https://www.ndow.org/get-outside/fishing/fishing-stocking-reports/

Boating season is here! We encourage you to prepare before you head out on the water, so you can be sure to have a safe and fun boating experience with your friends and family. In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW's Statewide Boating Education Coordinator Aaron Meier to talk about the steps to take to prepare your boat and stay safe while boating or paddling, and they highlight some of the great waters to explore! Find boating education courses on ndow.org here: https://www.ndow.org/learn-discover/outdoor-education/ Now is also a good time to make sure your boat registration is up-to-date. Register your vessels today at ndowlicensing.com.

This week's Nevada Wild is shell-e-brating Wild Turtle Week! Hosts Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller talk to NDOW Wildlife Diversity Biologist Matt Flores and clear up some confusion around the difference between turtles and tortoises. He gives us an overview of Nevada species, and explains the threats they face. We're also joined by Christian Daniels, the creator of the Desert Balloon Project, a Facebook page that encourages everyone to do their part to clean up balloons and litter in the desert to protect desert tortoises and other wildlife. He talks about how he started this project and what you can do to help.

In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Educators Zac Campbell, Jan Nemec, and Abbey Czarnecki to talk about carp fishing in Nevada! Abbey recaps the recent annual Carp Rodeo at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, and Jan fills us in on the Kids Carp Derby on Saturday June 4, at Lahontan Reservoir, along with other western Nevada Carp Derbies this summer. Find information on the June 4 Kids Carp Derby here:https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/182658?fbclid=IwAR2F6eYWU6Rcl9y9XmISxq-CFWnNOyxHc58E3qrPngaYs9MUzGLm6aeLqbQ Keep an eye out for other upcoming events on ndow.org here: https://www.ndow.org/calendar/

Nevada's big game tag application period deadline is quickly approaching! In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller are joined by NDOW Conservation Educators Martin Olson and Julie Gabrielson to talk about frequently asked questions they've received about the application period, tools like NDOW's Big Game Application Seminar, and tips to follow when preparing to apply. Watch the Big Game Application Seminar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOVfvcn7CI4 Apply for tags until 11 p.m. May 10 at ndowlicensing.com.

This week's Nevada Wild goes on the road at Walker River State Recreation Area! Ashley Sanchez and Bobby Jones are joined by Nevada Division of Natural Heritage Botanist Janel Johnson as she leads a tour at the state recreation area to show NatureServe CEO and President Sean O'Brien around. This is one stop on Sean's journey across the country to visit with natural heritage agencies in different states to learn how we can all work together to achieve great outcomes for conservation. As discussed in this podcast, NatureServe works with a network of more than 60 organizations and over 1,000 conservation scientists to collect and analyze standardized information on imperiled species and ecosystems. The NatureServe Network includes the Nevada Division of Natural Heritage as the entity tracking rare species and ecosystems in Nevada. Janel and Sean explain the importance of their work, the role it plays in conservation, and much more! Sean also shares his trip highlights and what he found most unique about Nevada

NDOW has released a new hunt planning tool for hunters to use during Nevada's big game application period, which is now open at ndowlicensing.com. The tool, HuntNV, includes an interactive hunt unit map, harvest data, draw data, and bonus point data. The map can be filtered by many different hunt options. In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with HuntNV creator, NDOW's Mitch Gritts and NDOW Big Game Biologist Cody McKee. They walk us through HuntNV, explain its value to hunters, and how to use the data provided not only to apply for tags but to plan out your hunt. Explore the tool to start planning your adventure here: https://www.hunt.wildlifenv.com

For the opening week of Nevada's big game application period, and the conclusion of our Women's Month podcasts, we thought it was the perfect time to introduce two of our eastern Nevada game biologists. In this week's Nevada Wild, Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Game Biologists Sarah Hale and Samantha Fino. The two explain how they recently became biologists at NDOW, their backgrounds and goals, and give encouraging advice to women entering this field.

In this week's Nevada Wild, we continue our Women's Month celebration with guest Cynthia Scholl. Cynthia is the Education Coordinator at University of Nevada, Reno's Museum of Natural History, and the Associate Director of Nevada Bugs and Butterflies. Cynthia fills NDOW's Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller in on both of her positions, her passion for bugs (especially butterflies!) and natural history, and explains how the two fields intertwine. She also talks about how she loves inspiring future generations of women to enter these career fields.

In this week’s Nevada Wild, we celebrate women who fish for Women’s Month! Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller sit down with NDOW Angler Educator Abbey Czarnecki and avid bass angler Ryan Pendarvis. Ryan explains her love of bass fishing, and how she got started with fishing and tournaments. Abbey fills us in on fishing hotspots in southern Nevada. They explain how to get started with fishing and find communities online who can support you in learning, and they encourage more women to get out there!