This Is Nevada...

Falling water in Black Canyon (photo by Kurt Kuznicki)

Black Canyon Tamarisk Pull

The southern Nevada team and four volunteers headed out via canoe
to Black Canyon along the Colorado River to pull invasive Tamarisk.

Safety vests on and paddles ready!

Pulling that pesky Tamarisk!

Triumph!

And the long paddle back home...

La Madre Mountain Wilderness Route Restoration

What a great day! Every volunteer event is fun, but then there are always those that seem to stand a bit above the rest and this was one of those projects. It seemed like everyone was really energized and ready for some fun. We did a tough restoration on a hillside (a real ankle twister),but everyone pitched and in no time we were finished. We hiked in to the second route, but not before some PB&J's and an interesting game of Ninja Wars(???) After lunch Tom one of the Archeologist's talked about his work in the La Madre Mountain Wilderness and the importance of leaving what you find for future generations of Americans to enjoy. We then grab our Pulaskis and restored the second closed route in no time flat. It seemed that even when the trip was over no one wanted to go home so we just hung out and chatted for a while. I think we all felt that we made a difference and made some new friends along the way.

National Wildlife Refuge Week at the Pahranagat NWR

We've done some cool projects here in Wild Southern Nevada, but I think this project is one of my favorites. Although all these hardworking folks were from different backgrounds and places from around the world ( Kenya, Tanzania, Panama and of course the USA) we all share the same love and concern for the wild places and wildlife. We planted 600 native plants in an effort to control invasive weeds and got a very cool tour of the refuge by Refuge Manager Chivia Horton.

Special thanks to the awesome volunteers and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Pahranagat NWR Rocks!