The state’s Board of Wildlife Commissioners is currently seeking nominations for the 2017 Wayne E. Kirch Nevada Wildlife Conservation Award.

Youth hunts for upland game and migratory bird are opening Saturday.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will host a waterfowl hunting workshop Sept. 16, 2017 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Clark County Shooting Complex Education Center, 11357 N. Decatur Blvd. in Las Vegas.

This year the Nevada Department of Wildlife is combining the upland game, migratory bird, furbearer and turkey brochures into a new Small Game Hunting Guide. This all new Small Game Hunting Guide is a comprehensive guide that includes information on where to hunt, species distribution maps, game identification, possession limits, licenses, tags, stamp fees, legal hunting hours by species, sunrise-sunset tables, regulations and season dates.

Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies will be joining forces in an effort to remove drunken boaters from Lake Mead during an OUI Checkpoint scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 19.

With this year’s wildfires already destroying over 500 square miles of crucial winter range for antelope and mule deer herds in Elko County, on Saturday the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners endorsed several fire related emergency depredation hunts for both deer (doe) and antelope (horns shorter than ears) .

The Nevada Department of Wildlife is accepting applications for hunting reservations from those who want to hunt during the first two days of the 2017 duck and goose seasons (Oct. 28 and 30 ) at the Overton Wildlife Management Area or opening day (Oct. 14) at the Key Pittman WMA.

Pike Illegally Reintroduced to Comins, $10,000 Reward Offered With the discovery of illegally planted Northern pike in Comins Lake, the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the prosecution of the person(s) responsible. Conviction for this crime would be a misdemeanor, but the crime also carries hefty civil penalties that can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars. The reward money has been donated by several sportsmen’s groups, including Nevada Bighorns Unlimited and the Operation Game Thief Citizens Board. “We’ve invested tremendous time, money and resources in eliminating pike from this fishery. The person illegally planting fish is costing sportsmen money that could be better spent, and they are destroying one of Nevada’s most productive and heavily utilized fisheries,” said Chief Game Warden Tyler Turnipseed. “This is an ugly and damaging act, and we intend to find who did it.”  In 2015, NDOW spent more than $250,000 to remove illegally stocked northern pike that had decimated the trout fishery at Comins Lake. Since then, NDOW worked to rebuild the fishery with the introduction of trout and largemouth bass, all designed to benefit the sportsmen of White Pine County and visitors from all over the country. “This malicious and illegal act seriously endangers our effort to restore this important fishery for local anglers and those who travel to White Pine County to enjoy amazing fishing,” said NDOW Fisheries Chief Jon Sjoberg.  At its peak in 2004 Comins Lake reached 35,000 angler use days, an estimate of how many people fish a body of water per year based off angler questionnaires, making it the fourth most visited fishery in the state behind only Lake Mead, Lake Mohave and the Truckee River. With the introduction of pike, that number fell to around 2,000 angler use days by 2013. The money spent by anglers using Comins also dropped from over $2 million to around $73,000 during that same time frame. Northern Pike are not native to Nevada, and when introduced into certain waterways, this voracious predator consumes all the natural resources in a given waterway, destroying native fish first and eventually causing a collapse of the invasive pike as well. “There’s a reason why pike are considered an invasive species in Nevada,” said Sjoberg. “The people illegally introducing pike are destroying a fishery, not creating a new one.” Anyone with information on this illegal introduction of pike can call the OGT hotline at (800) 992-3030. Follow Turnipseed on Twitter for the most up to date information @Chief_GW_NV for up to the minute information on boating, wildlife and water safety in Northern Nevada. The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) protects, restores and manages fish and wildlife, and promotes fishing, hunting, and boating safety. NDOW’s wildlife and habitat conservation efforts are primarily funded by sportsmen’s license and conservation fees and a federal surcharge on hunting and fishing gear. Support wildlife and habitat conservation in Nevada by purchasing a hunting, fishing, or combination license. Find us on Facebook, Twitter or visit us at www.ndow.org.

NDOW and Wildlife Services will be hosting two “Living with Urban Coyotes” seminars, one in Reno and the other in Las Vegas.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), the City of Reno, Truckee River Foundation and One Truckee River Initiative opened two life jacket loaner stations July 19 to offer loaner life jackets to boaters, anglers and swimmers who use the Truckee River.