Giving Tuesday is November 28th!

Help Friends of Nevada Wilderness expand and mobilize grassroots support for the protection of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge!

All contributions, up to $10,000, will be matched dollar for dollar. Make your gift between now and the end of Tuesday, November 28, and every dollar donated will go twice as far to protect this amazing wild area.

The Desert National Wildlife Refuge, less than 10 miles from the Las Vegas city limits, is the largest wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states. At nearly 1.6 million acres, the Desert Refuge is home to one of Nevada’s largest desert bighorn sheep populations and encompasses seven life zones and six mountain ranges, including the magnificent Sheep Range Proposed Wilderness Complex – the largest roadless area in Nevada!

The US Military is currently trying to expand the Nevada Test and Training Range into the beloved Sheep Range Proposed Wilderness Complex, which is made up three distinct yet continuous areas: the Sheep Range Proposed Wilderness, the Gass Peak Proposed Wilderness, and the Las Vegas Range Proposed Wilderness. Altogether, this complex makes up approximately 638,000 acres of some of Nevada’s most pristine and wild lands. With the Military's latest attempts to gain primary jurisdiction over this area, we face the risk of losing access to these precious public lands.

Donations made to our #GivingTuesday campaign will directly support our efforts to protect the Desert Refuge and Sheep Range Proposed Wilderness Complex. We will expand and mobilize grassroots support for the protection of this wild area in the following ways:

Deliver 1000+ postcards to important decision makers and congressional staff during the public comment period - all signed by Nevadans like you who are in opposition to the Military's expansion.
Pack all five public meetings to be held in January 2018 concerning the military's expansion with hundreds of individuals who support protecting the Desert Refuge. (Visit our website to find out more about the public meetings)
Build awareness of the imminent threat to the Desert Refuge by amplifying our #DontBombTheBighorn message with social media posts, stickers, t-shirts, and postcards.

On #GivingTuesday, November 28th, take a stand and help us defend the Desert National Wildlife Refuge!

Take Action Over the Holidays

For those of you who live, recreate or care about Washoe County, please take a little time out of your busy schedule to take a survey (click the picture above to link to the survey) to help update the Truckee Meadows Regional Plan. The results will be helpful in crafting some of the Washoe County Public Lands Bill that is in the works. Please complete the survey by December 1.

The Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency (TRMPA) is embarking on an effort to update the Truckee Meadows Regional Plan. The Regional Plan Update gives us the chance to envision and shape the future of Truckee Meadows, which is expected to grow by approximately 120,000 new residents over the next 20 years. Everyone is invited to participate in the update to help decide the future of our Region!

Thank You to All our Corporate Sponsors

We would like to thank our corporate sponsors for their contributions to keeping Nevada Wild! All the on-the-ground stewardship work and Wilderness advocacy we accomplish throughout the year is made possible by the financial support we receive from the following businesses:

Aria Las Vegas
Barrick
Big Horn Olive Oil
Campervan North America
Great Basin Brewing Company
KEEN Footwear
Laughing Planet Cafe
Lush Cosmetics
NV Energy
Patagonia
R&D Events
REI
SH Architecture
Silver Sage Center for Family Medicine
Skye Canyon

Updates From the Field

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

We would like to thank everyone who came out for the 5th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival last Friday. It was an awesome night with Friends both new and old. A special thanks goes out to our event's sponsors, Barrick, SH Architecture, and Skye Canyon. We would also like to thank those who became a member during the event, we appreciate your active involvement in the conservation of wild Nevada. We hope everyone found the films inspiring and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Veterans Day Project

In celebration of Veteran's Day, Friends of Nevada Wilderness hosted a stewardship project alongside Team Red, White & Blue, a nonprofit that works to enrich the lives of America's veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity. On Saturday, November 11, a team of eight volunteers installed 41 posts and approximately 410 ft. of cable, creating a barrier along the western boundary of the South McCullough Wilderness.

We'd like to thank the veterans who participated in this project, as well as all those who have served or are serving. We deeply appreciate all that you've given to our country and hope that you had a wonderful Veteran's Day!

Introducing Pogonip!

We are happy to announce the name of our new stewardship truck, as decided by our truck naming contest. The winner is... Drum roll, please... Pogonip!

Pogonip: (pog-uh-nip) an ice fog that forms in the mountain valleys of the western U.S.

Thank you again to everyone who donated though Nevada's Big Give fundraiser last March, and to those who participated in our contest. We look forward to taking you out for a ride in Pogonip on our next stewardship adventure!

Save the Date: 11th Annual Wilderness Wingding

Congratulations to 2017's Special Awardees

Friends of Nevada Wilderness is set to host the conservation event of the season at the California Building in Idlewild Park on Friday, December 8 (RSVP here!). The eleventh annual Wilderness Wingding celebration will honor all the great work accomplished by our volunteers, activists, and supporters in 2017. This community event is open to the public, with a $10 suggested donation at the door. The evening will provide a light dinner and refreshments, live music, great raffle prizes, a silent auction, and plenty of joy and merriment. There will also be an awards ceremony honoring the exceptional contributions made by this year’s outstanding volunteers, agency partners, and business partners.

Join Friends of Nevada Wilderness as we congratulate our
2017 Special Awardees:
Northern Nevada Volunteer of the Year: Jeff Lock
Northern Nevada Youth Volunteer of the Year: Maylyn Bubula
Agency Team Player of the Year: Jen Rovanpera
Corporate Sponsor of the Year: Patagonia, Meghan Wolf
Marge Sill Wilderness Legacy Award: John and Hermi Hiatt
Field Advocacy Award: Larry Dwyer
Northern Nevada Regional All-Star: Sandi Gracia, Black Rock Desert - High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area

We'd also like to extend a big thank you to the individuals and businesses who make this event possible:
Big Horn Olive Oil
Black Rock Bicycles
Homage Bakery
Hub Coffee Roasters
J. Craig Demetras, Attorney at Law, & Judge Shelly O'neill
North American Embroidery
Reno Type
Sportif, Inc.

Upcoming Events

We hope to see you at one of our next events! You can find our full Calendar of Events here, and you can RSVP for individual events in the links found in the list below. If we don't have anything scheduled during your times of availability, respond to this e-mail or call our office in Northern Nevada at (775) 324-7667 or in Southern Nevada at (702) 515-5417 to be placed on a shortlist for future volunteer opportunities.

North

December 5: Wingding Volunteer Craft Night - Join us at our northern Nevada office for a night of pizza and crafts to help us get ready for our 11th annual Wilderness Wingding. Activities will include creating table decorations, building volunteer gift bags, organizing the raffle and silent auction items, and hanging out in our warehouse with our northern Nevada Stewardship staff and volunteers.

December 8: 11th Annual Wilderness Wingding - Join Friends of Nevada Wilderness at the California Building in Idlewild Park as we host our 11th annual Wilderness Wingding Volunteer celebration and awards ceremony! This community event is open to the public and will honor all the great work accomplished by our volunteers, activists, and supporters in 2017. Whether you volunteered on a project, signed a petition, or donated – this is our chance to say thank you for all the efforts made throughout the year to care for America’s public lands in Nevada.

South

December 2: Arrow Canyon Project - Arrow Canyon Wilderness is home to beautiful rock art, fossils, and draws geologists and rock climbers from far and wide. Help us install a post and cable barrier to keep Arrow Canyon protected and natural!

December 7: Wild Speaker Series: Join us as we welcome Fish & Wildlife Archaeologist, Spencer Lodge, for a presentation about Native American roasting pits in Southern Nevada. This monthly event will be held at REI Boca Park, doors open at 6:45 and the presentation begins at 7pm.

Follow us!

There's a lot going on in Wild Nevada and monthly e-newsletters aren't enough to keep up with it all. Head on over to our social media pages to get all the latest news, favorite photos from wild places, giveaways, and more.

Thanks for reading,