Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Habitat Restoration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
NDOW highlights habitat-restoration work: guzzlers, spring protection and concerns about wild-horse impacts
Summary
Nevada Department of Wildlife described habitat-restoration work that has treated more than 700,000 acres since 2017, spring protection and a volunteer-driven "guzzler" program whose in-kind match helps leverage federal funds; agency officials also warned about wild-horse and burro overpopulation affecting springs and native species.
At the joint legislative hearing, Nevada Department of Wildlife staff described a range of habitat-restoration activities including sagebrush restoration, spring protection and the department's water-development ("guzzler") program.
Director Alan Jene said the agency has completed more than 700,000 acres of restoration since February 2017 and described the role of habitat work in reducing invasive cheatgrass and fire risk. He said restoring perennial grasses and shrubs helps water infiltration, air purification and carbon sequestration.
Matt Maples, who manages water-development work, described the guzzler program as heavily reliant on volunteers and in-kind contributions. Maples said volunteers contribute "on the order of dollars $250,000 to $400,000 per year of in kind match, primarily through hours and miles," which the department uses as the nonfederal portion of a typical 1:3 federal match for projects. Director Jene said the department takes pride that the water-development program relies on essentially no state dollars and uses volunteer match to secure federal funds.
On wild-horse impacts, Jene said federal wild-horse and burro populations in Nevada have dramatically exceeded designated population levels and described the impacts to headwater springs. "Currently, we are within the state somewhere between 3400% over, designated population levels on federal lands," Jene said, adding that the Bureau of Land Management's long-term holding and feeding costs constrain federal capacity to address on-range populations.
Committee members asked about coordination with federal agencies on fencing and water-protection measures and about the relative contributions of volunteer labor and federal grant funds. NDOW staff said they work with private landowners, livestock permittees and BLM to fence and protect springs and to seek restoration funding where available.
