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Contents Anti-thistle army takes fight to Mt Rose Wilderness invaders The Zappos Family and KEEN Footwear helping Mt Charleston Wilderness A better Lye Creek campground experience Twived and Received! Thank You! Making some room to roam on the Sheldon Refuge Girl Scouts meet old Wild Nevada calendars You are invited to Desert Conference XXVI Upcoming events and volunteer projects Your online donation is secure and helps protect wild lands all across Nevada. |
June 29, 2012 Awesome volunteers, thats what! These last weeks, Friends of Nevada Wilderness volunteers have been rockin the state, making things better for native critters and recreating people across Nevada. Here are some of their stories. Anti-thistle army takes fight to Mt Rose Wilderness invaders
Friends of Nevada Wilderness Stewardship Technician Renee Aldrich led the charge against invasive musk thistle in the Mt. Rose Wilderness this June. During the first battle, eight volunteers joined her in the Hunter Creek drainage, and the team removed about 8,000 thistle plants, clearing 99% of the project site of the noxious weed. In late June, Renee led another four volunteers up the Hunter Creek trail above the waterfall to remove another 8,000 thistles. 16,000 thistles in one month - wow! Way to hustle volunteers! Thanks to Renees keen eye during a pre-project scouting trip, the volunteers were also able to remove two patches of the noxious perennial pepperweed from the area. Pulling weeds makes it easier for native plants to grow and provide forage for wildlife.
A single musk thistle flower head can produce over 1,000 seeds for the wind to disperse. Musk thistle seeds can germinate up to a decade after they have fallen from the flower head, making them a particularly difficult species to eradicate. Friends of Nevada Wilderness has worked with the Forest Service since 2007 to remove invasive weeds from the Mt. Rose Wilderness. Email Renee for future opportunities to join her anti-thistle army on Mt. Rose this season. The Zappos Family and KEEN Footwear helping Mt Charleston Wilderness
The Zappos Family and KEEN Footwear teamed up with Friends of Nevada Wilderness and the US Forest Service for the third annual Mt. Charleston clean-up on Wednesday, June 20. One hundred volunteers tackled heavily-used recreation sites in Lee Canyon, about 40 minutes northwest of Las Vegas. Teams painted 53 picnic-table-and-bench sets, cleaned out 45 public barbecue grills, and removed 15 cubic yards of trash. They also scattered illegal fire rings and cleaned up five miles of trail. Not bad for a day's work! Kurt Kuznicki, Southern Nevada Program Director for Friends of Nevada Wilderness, led the project, sponsored by the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership. Its our belief that if folks come out and see a freshly painted table and a beautiful picnic area, theyll leave it that way.
Its a great break-up to the work week you get out of the office and get to help out, said Temple, who works with Zappos Development, Inc. in content. Im super excited to come back next year! The Zappos Family also presented Friends with a check for $5,000 to support our wilderness stewardship work.
We believe wholeheartedly in everyone being engaged, and doing things for the greater good, and this is our opportunity to do it! said Shannon Roy, Happiness Hippie for the Zappos Family. Chris Enlow, who manages KEEN Footwears care and community programs at the companys Portland headquarters, joined the volunteers. He had some great news for Friends of Nevada Wilderness as well: each year, clean-up volunteers are treated to a new pair of KEENs and a commemorative KEEN shirt. This year, over 30 volunteers choose to forgo new shoes and instead donate the value to Friends of Nevada Wilderness, allowing us to put those soles to work keeping Nevada wild. A big "THANK YOU" goes out to the volunteers and management teams of both Zappos and KEEN Footwear. You have so much fun while making big things happen!
A better Lye Creek campground experience
Volunteers joined Friends of Nevada Wilderness in the Santa Rosa Range to prep Lye Creek campground for Nevada Outdoor Schools kid-oriented Summer Adventure Camp II next week.
The team sanded and prepped 14 picnic tables, which 6th-8th grade Adventure Camp participants will paint between July 9th and 14th. The Adventure Camp aims to build kids confidence by introducing them to outdoor recreation opportunities and skills.
Volunteers also constructed 50 feet and cleaned up one mile of the fence encircling Lye Creek campground, protecting campers from grazing cattle and sheep.
This project was necessary to prepare the area for the [Adventure Camp students] to do their stewardship project, said Brenna Archibald, an AmeriCorps volunteer with Friends and NOS who led the project. Friends of Nevada Wilderness and Nevada Outdoor School have teamed up to bring stewardship and education opportunities to northern Nevada youth since 2005. Taking safety seriously
Before the start of every project, Friends of Nevada Wilderness' team leader makes sure all volunteers are versed in tool safety and how to keep themselves and others safe on the job. All photos used in this story are (c) Graham Stafford. Twived and Received! Thank You! Folks showed their love of wild Nevada hiking trails on June 14 during Twive and Receive, a 24-hour, nationwide giving competition. Your donations, which totaled over $2,000, placed Friends of Nevada Wilderness at 40th nationwide and number 1 in Nevada. The money will go directly towards wild-country, trail-maintenance, stewardship projects with our seasonal crew on the Toiyabe Crest National Recreation Trail and training for our volunteers. Stay tuned for class dates and opportunities to build your stewardship skills. Thank you, everyone, for your donations to improve wildland recreation opportunities in Nevada. Making some room to roam on the Sheldon Refuge
And if you havent yet seen it, check out Associate Director Brian Befforts story about Friends crew pulling barbed-wire fence to help wildlife on the Sheldon Refuge. It appeared in the June 21 issue of the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Kids get wilderness education This spring, with the help of our awesome SCA Interns, Friends took wilderness education programs to 7 schools in the Clark County School District. We visited 23 classrooms and taught 803 students! In these programs we focus on: What is wilderness? Why is it important? We also introduced the students to the wilderness areas in their own backyard. Everybody had lots of fun.
On June 9th, we, along with about 100 kids and their families, participated in the REI Family Adventure Program Kick-Off in Henderson. At this event, we had the pleasure of meeting Marie Quezada, a local CCSD student and Junior Girl Scout. Marie, having learned about Gold Butte during a school activity earlier this year, was inspired . . . to research the area for her 5th grade capstone project. She brought her project to the REI event to show off what a special place Gold Butte is. Great job Marie! Kids like her remind us of how bright the future is. And . . . coming up this summer Friends of Nevada Wilderness will partner with the Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada for a 3-day day-camp focusing on wilderness in southern Nevada. Girl Scouts meet old Wild Nevada calendars Girls from across northern Nevada descended on Reno's Rancho San Rafael for the Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada Round Up, a 100-year anniversary celebration of the organization. Friends joined the party on June 23 to teach the Girl Scouts an environmentally-friendly craft: how to make repurposed greeting cards and envelopes from outdated calendars. The scouts created, and took home, lots of brand new greeting cards with envelopes. Friends also provided instructions and templates to scout leaders and teachers so their troops can start off 2013 the green way by repurposing their old calendars. You are invited to Desert Conference XXVI Education, Inspiration, and Collaboration for Deserts of the Great Basin and Beyond When: September 20-22, 2012 You are invited to join the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) and fellow conservation organizations for the 26th Desert Conference. ONDA and Friends of Nevada Wilderness are proud to bring back this important event, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Sierra Club. Since 1978, Desert Conference has served to bring together, inspire and educate those who care about the high desert of the Great Basin and beyond. The conference provides a forum for land-managers, conservation organizations, academics and advocates alike to educate and inspire one another, and collaborate on critical desert issues. Panel topics include: Sage-grouse management and conservation, beaver recovery and stream restoration, public lands stewardship, renewable energy and habitat conservation, and much more. Desert Conference XXVI will take place where the sagebrush sea meets the mountains in idyllic Bend, Oregon. The Wild and Scenic Film Festival will kick off the conference on the evening of September 20th and panels will run September 21st and 22nd. This years conference features honored poet Ursula K. Le Guin, acclaimed author and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Kathleen Dean Moore, music by local bluegrass band Truck Stop Gravy, plus panels on topics covering a variety of desert issues. Click here for more information and to REGISTER. We hope you will join us for this informative and fun-filled event! |
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You are invited: events and wilderness volunteer projects Friends of Nevada Wilderness offers up lots of fun opportunities to help your Nevada wildlands heal and prosper. July 4 Bonanza Extravaganza (Mt. Charleston Wilderness - just west of Las Vegas) - email Jose to RSVP or call (702) 203-1720. July 5 - 7 Pahute Peak Wilderness backpack and spring monitoring (Black Rock NCA - 3 hours north of Reno. HIGH ELEVATION and STRENUOUS) - email Brian to RSVP or call (775) 324-7667. July 13 - 15 Lye Creek campground project #2 (Santa Rosa Ranger District - 1 hour north of Winnemucca. FAMILY FRIENDLY) - email Brenna to RSVP or call (775) 623-5656. July 13 - 15 Summer of Sheldon volunteer trip (Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge - 4 hours north of Reno. All fitness levels) - email Pat to RSVP or call (775) 815-5598. July 20 - 22 North Twin trail maintenance (backpack) (Arc Dome Wilderness - 3 hours east of Reno) - email Wes to RSVP or call (775) 762-6730. July 20 - 22 Culvert work and route rehab (Little High Rock Canyon - Black Rock NCA - 4 hours north of Reno) - email Pat to RSVP or call (775) 815-5598. August 3 - 5 Hike Arc Dome and do a little trail work, too (Arc Dome Wilderness - 3 hours east of Reno) - email Wes to RSVP or call (775) 762-6730. August 10 - 12 Summit Twin Springs Fence Removal (Black Rock NCA - 4 hours north of Reno. STRENUOUS / LABOR INTENSIVE) - email Pat to RSVP or call (775) 815-5598. New projects will be announced in later emails. See also the stewardship events page. |
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