Nevada Department of Wildlife requests $500,000 per year in general fund for public-safety support, presents $77.8M biennial budget

Director Alan Jene, director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife, told a joint legislative subcommittee in Carson City on March 20 that the department is proposing a biennial budget of about $77.8 million and that it remains largely self-funded. "We are 98% self derived funding, only 2% from the general fund," Jene said during his presentation.

Jene told the committees the department's revenue comes primarily from tags and license fees and dedicated federal excise taxes on guns, ammunition, fishing equipment, and motorboat fuel. He said those federal dollars are restricted to wildlife purposes and that using them for general public-safety duties can jeopardize the federal funding stream. To address that risk the department requested $500,000 in general-fund support in each year of the upcoming biennium for E275, the public-safety decision unit.

Chief Kristi Knight, the department's law-enforcement administrator, described the kinds of non-wildlife responses that draw on game-warden time and resources: motor-vehicle accidents in remote areas, search-and-rescue incidents on land and water, and occasional major incidents such as shootings or large wildfires. "We do have quite frequently first on seeing on motor vehicle accidents," Knight said. "A lot of that is because of the remoteness." She said smaller-scale public-safety responses occur frequently — often weekly — while larger-scale incidents occur every few months.

Deputy Director Jordan Goshert explained the funding constraint that motivates the general-fund ask: federal wildlife grants and excise taxes require that money be used only for wildlife-related activities. "At any point in time that we do [activity] other than that, like an accident or an active shooter, we should be asking the agencies that are asking us to assist to reimburse us to make that program whole, which doesn't always happen," Goshert said.

Committee members pressed the department on how often wardens respond to non-wildlife incidents and how the department documents and bills such responses. Jene and Knight said the department uses time-sheet coding and contact-tracking systems to record public-safety activity, and that they are pursuing memoranda of understanding with other enforcement agencies to formalize reimbursement where appropriate. Knight said the department has already used general funds to avoid drawing on restricted wildlife revenue this fiscal year and that the proposed $500,000 would help cover that exposure.

Lawmakers also questioned the department's ability to cover boating-enforcement needs and whether vessel-registration proceeds and other existing mechanisms could be adjusted. Goshert noted that some vessel-registration revenues are already dedicated elsewhere; the department suggested the committee consider the department's mix of funding when evaluating the request.

Public commenters at the hearing voiced support for the department's work. Jayna Moan of The Nature Conservancy said NDOW staff provide important expertise for habitat and species restoration. Kevin Burls of the Xerces Society urged continued funding of habitat-restoration programs that benefit invertebrates and broader ecosystems.

The committees did not take a formal vote during the hearing. Members asked for follow-up information, including more detail on the maintenance backlog and on the department's accounting of time and costs when wardens respond to non-wildlife incidents. Jene and staff said they would provide requested follow-up materials to the committees.