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Assembly bill would let Nevada Department of Wildlife manage native bees, butterflies to prevent federal listings
Summary
Assemblymember Howard Watts introduced AB 85 to add designated non‑pest invertebrates (principally native bees and butterflies listed in Nevada’s state wildlife action plan) to the statutory definition of wildlife so NDOW can manage and conserve them.
Assemblymember Howard Watts introduced Assembly Bill 85 to allow the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) to manage designated non‑pest invertebrate species listed as species of greatest conservation need in the state wildlife action plan. The committee held a hearing, received broad support from conservation organizations and scientists, and heard agency officials note outstanding coordination and technical questions; no committee vote was recorded at the session.
Watts said the bill seeks to close a management gap: under current Nevada law many invertebrates are not defined as ‘‘wildlife,’’ limiting NDOW’s regulatory and management authority for pollinators and other at‑risk insects. He told the committee the list in the state wildlife action plan currently contains roughly 66 invertebrate species (the sponsor and witnesses said about 42 of those are butterflies and the remainder mostly native bees) and that the change would allow NDOW to undertake conservation actions and seek funding to recover vulnerable populations before federal Endangered Species Act listings become necessary.
Kevin Burrows of the Xerces Society, who presented for the bill, described Nevada’s invertebrate diversity and the ecological and economic role pollinators play. “Nevada boasts over 1,000 species of native bees including 20 species of bumblebees,” Burrows said, and he highlighted declines in several butterflies and bumblebee taxa. He also told the committee that monarch overwintering counts in the western population were among the lowest on record this past winter, and he cited University of Nevada, Reno research showing declines among many butterfly species over recent decades.
The bill’s language would explicitly exclude pest invertebrates under the authority of the Department of Agriculture, and it would apply only to species identified in the state wildlife action plan as species of greatest conservation need. Watts and witnesses emphasized that the bill does not impose new permitting or fees on agriculture, does not designate any species as endangered, and does not change existing beekeeping statutes for honeybees.
NDOW biodiversity administrator Jasmine Klyber said the department already collaborates with partners on invertebrate monitoring and that distribution maps are available or can be generated from existing data. Jamie McClinton, administrator of the Division of Natural Heritage, told the committee the division maintains biodiversity data and has compiled a list of about 4,700 terrestrial insect species known from Nevada; she and NDOW said invertebrates are understudied and that the state would become eligible for additional federal grant funding if NDOW had statutory authority to manage invertebrates.
Department of Agriculture leadership said they were neutral on the bill but asked to continue interagency coordination, particularly on distinguishing pest management (Agriculture’s domain) from conservation management (NDOW’s role). Members asked whether pest abatement (for Mormon crickets and similar agricultural pests) could be impeded if invertebrates are included; sponsors and witnesses said the intent is not to impede pest control and that further technical coordination with Agriculture will continue.
Supporters at the hearing included the Xerces Society, the Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club’s Toiyabe Chapter, the Nevada Conservation League, Clark County, university researchers and several local conservation groups and scientists who described ecological declines and the benefits of proactive, state‑level conservation. Kevin Burrows and multiple scientists told the committee that allowing NDOW to manage designated invertebrates would improve Nevada’s ability to secure federal conservation funds, implement habitat restoration and avoid new federal listings that can impose costly regulatory processes.
The committee closed the hearing on AB 85 after receiving testimony; no committee vote was recorded during the meeting.
