Nevada, Arizona and Texas Regional News
May/June 2008
Fawna Gregory, MDF Regional Director
News From Nevada
First off, I would like to Congratulate Ulrich (Oly) Flach for being appointed Nevada State Co-Chair in Southern Nevada. Oly has already proved he is serious in his duties in representing MDF. His first accomplishment was locating a new Chapter Chair and Co-Chair for the Winnemucca Chapter. Welcome Jessie and Larry Swanger. Oly has been busy using his network of friends and business contacts to locate people interested in starting a chapter in other areas of Nevada that have not had an MDF chapter. I look forward to working with Oly, and his enthusiasm should prove to be a valuable asset to the MDF Team.
In 2007, Nevada chapters earned almost $35,000 in chapter rewards. Not a penny will be left over. The Women of the Wilderness chapter earned $500 in chapter rewards from their first annual Ladies Luncheon. Those chapter rewards were spent to help the Fraternity of Desert Bighorn Sheep reprint the “A-Z of Nevada Wildlife” coloring books. The coloring books will be distributed amongst Nevada Kindergarten classes with the help of the Nevada Division of Wildlife. These books will be valuable tools in helping the youngsters learn about wildlife that lives around the areas where they are growing up.
Five chapters pooled together their chapter rewards to fund three projects on a grander scale. Reno, Gardnerville, Austin, Las Vegas and Winnemucca contributed more than $16,000 to BLM and NDOW. BLM is doing an Aspen and Juniper rehab project in the Hays Canyon area. By thinning the invasive juniper from the aspen stands, mahogany stands and bitterbrush, more desirable shrubs, grasses and forbs will be able to thrive. Existing roads will also be reinforced so they will better serve as fuel breaks during the wildfire season.
The second project is the Roberts Mountain Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Project about 30 miles northwest of Eureka, Nev. This project includes thinning of Juniper and Pinion from the Willow Creek and Dry Creek drainages. The encroachment of the Juniper and Pinion has decreased the quantity and quality of the wildlife found in this area. Once the project is complete, it will present an attractive panorama with the varying elevations, offering a colorful array of sage, grasses and forbs.
Project number three is the Shantytown Fire Rehab Project in the Ruby Valley. The area was planted with crested wheat grass after a fire in 1979. Since then the quality of mule deer has greatly declined. The area will be reseeded with native grasses, forbs and shrubs making it more suitable for the mule deer that use this area in the summer and winter months and as a transitional area. Funding from the Nevada State Project Fund also contributed to these projects.
Ely is currently working on locating a guzzler in the White Pine County area to use their nearly $5,000 in chapter rewards. The Elko chapter will use their $13,776 along with $7,000 in Conservation Partnership funds to once again help with the reseeding efforts in the Elko area. The area around Elko, known to hunters as area 06, has been nearly destroyed by wildfires in 2006 and 2007. As you drive West on Interstate 80 out of Elko, there isn’t much to see except miles and miles of rolling blackened hillside. The deer that once resided in this area were either killed by the fires or have been forced to search out food in other areas. Some deer were killed along the highway as a result of the fires.
News From Arizona
A big Welcome Aboard goes out to Kingman, Ariz. Bob Kay and his friends have started a chapter in Kingman, and their first banquet will be August 9. They are very enthusiastic, and the community is excited to have an MDF chapter in their area.
St. John’s, Ariz., earned $1,498 in chapter rewards and is working with the Navajo Nation on mule deer habitat projects. Chapter rewards were used to purchase chainsaws that the Navajo Nation will use to enhance mule deer habitat throughout the Reservation.
The chainsaws were presented to the Nation at the Second Annual Dinner on March 29.
Flagstaff will be hosting a Dinner and Auction in the late spring or early summer. Details will be posted on our Web site as they become available.
Mesa will be hosting their Fifth Annual Banquet on August 2. For more information or to get involved, contact Jon Mott at 480-797-3994.
News From Texas
Don't miss the July 26, 2008 banquet in Allen, Tex. For info, contact the Longhorn Chapter Chair Neil Clatterbuck at 214-383-5186.