A Message from the President!
After several years of hiatus of our newsletter, The Flyer, we are working to reinstate this important vehicle for communication with our members. During the past year and a half, we have added a couple of new, younger Board Members who are energetic and enthusiastic about our mission, and who have the technical skills to help publish our newsletter. We are pleased to move forward with this means of communication with you, our Members and Supporters.
Fundraising
On August 19th, 2023 we held one of our most successful fundraising dinners at the Peppermill Hotel-Casino. This success was due to many factors, the most important of these being the generosity of our many Donors. Of particular note was the involvement of Chad Belding of The Fowl Life, who also served as the Master of Ceremonies for the dinner. So, I offer sincere thanks to Chad for his significant role in our fundraising dinner. I also wish to recognize and thank our Reno Dinner Committee chaired by our Vice-President Daryl Harwell along with Board Members Dave Stanley, Jim Giudici, Tom Wilson, Jim Sedinger, Marc Frias and Travis O’Donnell, and our Business Manager Susan Merideth.
Carson Lake & Pasture Wildlife Management Area
While we have a keen focus on the wetlands of Lahontan Valley, we have a long-standing passionate interest in the welfare and management of the Carson Lake & Pasture wetland habitat as well. We have pushed hard for over 20 years for the transfer of this area to the Nevada Department of Wildlife. This transfer was finally completed in 2021 and NDOW announced its intent to develop a comprehensive management plan for the area. We held meetings with NDOW personnel to discuss this management plan, and we provided substantive verbal and written comments about our areas of interest and concern. It seems that this planning effort is moving slowly, which has certainly been exacerbated by the flooding conditions on the area from the extreme winter of 2022-2023. The area has essentially been one big lake from the Spring of 2023 to the present time. We plan to keep close coordination with NDOW concerning this plan and the future management of Carson Lake & Pasture now known as the Carson Lake Wildlife Management Area.
Wetland and Waterfowl Consortium
This past summer, California Waterfowl Association approached our Board as well as similar organizations in Utah and Oregon to explore establishing a four-state Wetland and Waterfowl Consortium to coordinate positions on wetland and waterfowl management issue. The idea was that these four states (California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah) share direct linkages when it comes to waterfowl migration and production. The group has been organized with the intent to make our first coordinated effort to review and comment on the Pintail harvest model under the Adaptive Harvest Management initiative of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. We are still waiting on the model to be released by USFWS.
Wetland Habitat Conditions
While wetland habitat conditions were very poor at the Carson Lake WMA this season because of flooding, habitat conditions at the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge were very good, although water depths on some areas were above most desirable lands. The Stillwater NWR suggested large numbers of waterfowl and other wetland birds throughout the Fall, including some 30,000 Canvasback ducks.
Dr Ken Taber in Memoriam
During the past summer we lost one of our original and long-time Board Members, Dr. Ken Taber. Ken had designated some of his estate through his will to NWA. We will certainly miss Ken, who was a stalwart supporter of waterfowl and wetlands and we are grateful for his thoughtful designation of NWA in his will. Norm Saake provided an appropriate remembrance of Ken at our August Fundraising Dinner.
Stay tuned!
In the coming weeks, we will be sending various new articles of The Flyer Spring 2024 to your inbox. Keep a look out for exciting and informative content.
As we move forward with this new adaptation, we welcome member input and the inclusion of articles or information that you might care to share through this platform.
I wish all you a happy and productive year, and thank you for your continued support of NWA.
William A Molini, President