Nevada

Partners gather for final installation of Guzzlers on the Empire Project

By George C. Garcia, Wildlife, Fish & Rare Plants Program Manager, Plumas National Forest

On June 13th, a group of dedicated sportsmen gathered to install the last two wildlife guzzlers on the Empire Vegetation Management Project. Members of the Plumas County Chapter of the Mule Deer Foundation, the Plumas County Fish & Game Commission and the U.S. Forest Service joined forces once again to provide year round water sources for both upland and big game on the Mt. Hough Ranger District of the Plumas National Forest. With its largest showing to date, the Plumas County Chapter wrestled up 12 members for their second volunteer day of the year. Joining the Chapter volunteers was Plumas County Fish & Game Commissioner Scott Davis. 

All volunteers met Forest Service personnel at the Supervisor’s office at early dawn and headed into the field to start the work day. The first guzzler was put in by 9:00 am and quickly the group headed to the second site before the temperatures started to rise. The second guzzler was a little harder digging so the group finished it up by lunch time. Lunch was provided by the Plumas County Chapter of the Mule Deer Foundation and was prepared by Chapter Chair Frank Smith. Hickory smoked cheeseburgers, chips and soft drinks rounded out lunch with a volunteer recognition raffle conducted after lunch. A fun time was had by all partners. The two guzzlers will increase carrying capacity on approximately 1,200 acres of public land by providing a needed, reliable year round water source adjacent to good deer browse and forage. 

For photos and more info visit http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/plumas/partnerships/wfrp/empire_guzzlers_final/.