Desert National Wildlife Refuge no longer threatened by the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act
Good news in the fight to protect the Desert National Wildlife Refuge from a military takeover. Last night the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act were reconciled and eliminated the threat of transferring a vast portion of the Desert Refuge to the military. We now await the military to produce their Final report this fall. For more information about this issue, click here.
Tapas Night with Big Horn Olive Oil Company! Benefiting Friends of Nevada Wilderness
July 16, 2018 - Lovers of good food and the great outdoors are invited to The Grove on Friday, August 10, 2018, for a fun and flavor-filled evening benefiting Friends of Nevada Wilderness.
Friends of Nevada Wilderness Wraps Up First Half of 2018 Field Work; Volunteers generate nearly $150,000 in in-kind trail work
July 2, 2018 – Tens of thousands of weeds pulled, miles of trail cleared and repaired, bags of trash picked up, retaining walls built, boundaries marked, and campsites cleaned – all of that and more was accomplished in the first six months of the Friends Stewardship Program’s field season.
Deidre Wolownick, Over 60 and Wild
Deidre Wolownick climbed El Capitan in Yosemite’s Wilderness on October 31, 2017 at age 66, becoming the oldest woman on record to make that climb. She spoke about her preparation and the climb itself at an event at the Reno Patagonia outlet store on June 14, just days after her son Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell blasted the speed record on El Cap, June 5thclimbing the 3,000 Nose route in 2 hours, 1 minute and 53 seconds.
Friends of Nevada Wilderness Extends Call for 2019 Calendar Photos
Reno, Nevada (June 4, 2018) – Friends of Nevada Wilderness has extended the deadline for submitting photos for the 2019 Wild Nevada calendar to 5 pm on Friday, June 22. The popular calendar features stunning professional and amateur photos that showcase Nevada’s most wild and scenic places.
Celebrating National Trails Day 2018 Across Nevada
Each year, people all across the country set out on trails in celebration of National Trails Day. For National Trails Day 2018, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System, the trails community is uniting to improve 2,802 miles of trail – the distance across the US – in a single day! To celebrate National Trails Day, Friends of Nevada Wilderness will rally together on June 2nd to improve trails north and south. Lace up your hiking boots to join us in the effort to leave the trail better than we found it!
Happy Birthday, Desert Refuge….And Many More?
Sunday, May 20th, marks 82 years since Franklin D. Roosevelt designated the then Desert Game Range protecting 2.25 million acres of unique desert habitat just 25 miles north of Las Vegas. This stamped out a home for not only the desert bighorn but over 800 species of plants and animals who reside within the Refuge. Now called the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, it is still the largest roadless area in Nevada and the largest wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states. Yet today, more than ever, access to the Desert Refuge is being threatened and could be lost if we don’t take action.
Alternative Spring Break: A Wild Week in Nevada
College students look forward to Spring Break each year as a moment to take a break from the rigorous schedule of classes and campus activities. For some students, this time is spent travelling to places like Miami or Cancun in search of escaping normalcy and unwinding in the process. Others head home to see family and friends they've missed while away for school. For 22 Southern Nevada students, the allure of partying or heading to their hometown was not as enticing as a unique and Wild experience here in Nevada.
Nah'gah: Legend of the Mountain Sheep
The Desert National Wildlife Refuge is a sacred place to the Nuwu people. We asked Moapa Band of Paiutes Chairman, Greg Anderson to give us a glimpse into the Desert Refuge through the eyes of the people indigenous to the land we now call Southern Nevada. He explains what the nah'gah (desert bighron) and the land mean to Paiute people as only a member could. Please listen to his words.
Nevadans Tell Nellis "Don't Bomb The Bighorn!"
For the past few weeks, public hearings were held near the Nevada Testing and Training Range (NTTR) in the towns of Caliente, Alamo, Beatty, Tonopah and Las Vegas, Nevada regarding the Air Force's proposed land withdrawal from the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. These series of public hearings are part of the process of public acknowledgement and involvement in this withdrawal ask which ends in a vote by Congressional action sometime before 2021. The largest turnout occurred at the January 23rd meeting in Las Vegas as over 250 people packed into a meeting room located at the Aliante Casino + Hotel.
