Nevada wildlife agency outlines recovery work; bill would expand game warden authority and restrict import of deer fluids to curb chronic wasting disease

The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) gave the Assembly an overview of agency operations and field work, then presented Assembly Bill 59, a cleanup bill that would clarify that Nevada game wardens are category 1 peace officers and would add measures aimed at preventing chronic wasting disease (CWD). The committee held a hearing and took testimony but recorded no final vote.

NDOW Director Alan Janae framed the presentation around the agency mission “to protect, conserve, manage, and restore wildlife in its habitat for the benefit of the citizens of Nevada,” and outlined staffing and funding. He said NDOW employs about 278 full‑time staff, oversees 14 wildlife management areas and four hatcheries, and works with a nine‑member Board of Wildlife Commissioners. Janae told the committee NDOW receives roughly 2 percent of its funding from the state general fund, about 46 percent from federal sources tied to excise taxes and motorboat fuel tax, and about 52 percent from license and tag sales and other self‑generated revenue.

The director highlighted recent accomplishments, including the multi‑agency Cave Lake dam restoration and rewatering project, which the agency reported is close to full and will be stocked with trout this spring; a continuing sagebrush restoration program that NDOW said restored more than 700,000 acres from 2007–2017 and added roughly 84,000 acres last year; and NDOW’s urban wildlife and boating efforts. Janae said NDOW’s urban wildlife positions recorded about 5,000 calls in 2024, with about 13 percent related to coyotes, and that game wardens contacted 1,888 vessels and assisted 81 water rescues in 2024.

Assembly Bill 59, as presented by Janae, contains a set of ‘‘cleanup’’ changes. The bill would: (1) align statutory language so that NDOW game wardens are explicitly recognized as category 1 peace officers and can enforce generally applicable state laws beyond chapters specifically tied to wildlife or boating when public safety requires it; (2) expand prohibitions on intentional feeding to include species classified by the Commission as wild mammals and game birds (NDOW said the change would capture rabies vectors such as coyotes); (3) prohibit knowingly importing or possessing excrement or bodily fluids of listed ungulates to reduce the risk of introducing chronic wasting disease; (4) classify moose as a trophy big‑game mammal with increased civil penalties for unlawful killing; and (5) remove the alternative‑livestock permit program NDOW and the Department of Agriculture identified as a CWD risk.

“We’re trying to clean that up,” Janae said about the language clarifying wardens’ peace‑officer status, explaining NDOW wardens receive the same training as other category 1 officers and that the change aims to close gaps that could arise in emergency public‑safety situations. The bill cites relevant statutory authorities including NRS 501.337 and NRS 501.339 (as discussed in the hearing).

Committee members pressed NDOW on several practical points. Kristy Knight, NDOW’s law‑enforcement chief, said the department does not intend to expand routine enforcement powers for wardens; rather, the language is intended to make clear wardens are covered when they take emergency public‑safety actions outside of strictly wildlife or boating enforcement. “It is not expanding their authorities at all times; it’s more emergency‑type situations,” Knight said.

Members also sought assurances the expanded anti‑feeding rule would not criminalize benign backyard bird feeders or academic research. Janae and Knight said the bill is intended to target intentional feeding that creates hazardous attractants for rabies vectors or trophy‑attractant feeding, and that the enforcement approach would start with education and a warning for first offenses. Janae also said researchers handling wildlife would continue to operate under permit processes that NDOW already issues for handling wildlife; the ban focuses primarily on importation of fluids from out of state that could carry CWD.

Public testimony at the hearing was supportive. Kyle Davis of the Coalition for Nevada’s Wildlife urged passage, calling CWD “the biggest threat that our Nevada wildlife faces.” James Mortimer, vice president of the Nevada Police Union, said he spoke on behalf of represented NDOW wardens and urged support for the bill.

The committee closed the hearing on AB 59 after testimony; no committee action or vote was recorded during the session.