The Nevada hunting and fishing community is sharing its top 10 conservation priorities for 2023 with Gov. Joe Lombardo's office, as they seek to "ensure the continued conservation," of species and diverse habitats in the state.

The priorities range from supporting science based management techniques to conserving big game corridors and seasonal habitats.

Larry Johnson, president of the Coalition for Nevada's Wildlife, said wildfires present "the greatest adverse impacts," to wildlife populations in Nevada. He added in a bad wildfire year, the state can burn over a million acres.

"Unfortunately, at our lower elevations and everything but our very high elevations, those wildfires, we destroy the native vegetation, and it is taken over by invasive species such as cheatgrass," Johnson explained.

Johnson pointed out cheatgrass is not only poor wildlife forage, it is fuel for wildfires.

According to Johnson's group and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, nearly one quarter of the approximately 20 million acres of priority and greater sage-grouse habitat in Nevada has burned in the last 30 years. Greater sage-grouse numbers have also significantly dropped by almost 80% in the Great Basin since 1960.

Johnson argued most human activity has an effect on wildlife. His group supports developing a statewide plan for siting energy projects. He added both traditional and renewable energy projects, transmission lines and other energy infrastructure can have negative effects on wildlife if not located and operated responsibly.

Johnson emphasized highways and fences pose negative impacts to big game. Despite the challenges, Johnson remains optimistic policymakers will listen.

"Things need to be done very carefully with our existing wildlife resources in mind," Johnson contended. "And it can be done. We just have to be smart about it, that is all."

Johnson hopes the priorities will be heard and considered as people are relocating to Nevada for its vast public lands and traditional love for the sporting heritage.


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Correction: An earlier version of this story attributed a quote to Rep. Zinke which was made by Alex Blackmer. (5:05 p.m MST., May 12, 2025)

Montana lawmakers this session voted down a bill supporting the transfer of federal public lands to states but a similar conversation is growing on the national stage.

Last year, Utah sued the United States, claiming the state is deprived of "sovereign powers" because the federal government owns public lands there. Rep. Tom Millett, R-Marion, brought a resolution to fellow lawmakers in support of Utah. It failed 66-34 and received no public comments in support.

Alex Blackmer, senior communications manager for the advocacy group Wild Montana, said such efforts point to a larger trend.

"All of this really goes hand-in-hand with what we're seeing at the federal level," Blackmer observed. "Which is this attempt to dismantle regulations, to dismantle the agencies, dismantle all of these things that have been the foundation of our way of life."

In Congress, the House Committee on Natural Resources has passed a Republican budget package including an amendment to authorize the sale of thousands of acres of public land in Nevada and Utah. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., chair of the committee, said the package would "save billions and deliver American energy dominance." Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., called it "breathtakingly reckless."

Also last week, Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., and more than a dozen other lawmakers launched the bipartisan Congressional Public Lands Caucus to help conserve and maintain access to public lands.

Blackmer noted Zinke has been "pretty outspoken" in support of public lands.

"We certainly appreciate any efforts of elected officials to take a stand to keep public lands in public hands," Blackmer acknowledged. "But I think time will tell how that actually shakes out."

Zinke served as U.S. Interior Secretary during the first Trump administration before stepping down amid allegations of misconduct. At a news conference launching the caucus, Zinke said land sales should not be in the federal reconciliation bill.


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The Mississippi River is the drinking water source for 20 million people and its starting point in northern Minnesota has new protections following completion of a deal to preserve several thousand acres of forested land.

The Conservation Fund and Northern Waters Land Trust said the deal, years in the making, covers more 8,200 acres across nine counties between Walker and Duluth.

Emilee Nelson, associate Minnesota state director for The Conservation Fund, said her group purchased a larger chunk of land in 2020 and since then, the Land Trust worked to secure state funding for the acreage in the deal. She pointed out downstream, the river has seen surrounding land converted to other uses, which takes away key buffers.

"The importance of leaving forests on the landscape really helps to soak up water that hits the landscape like a sponge," Nelson explained. "It helps to filter any sort of debris before it hits the Mississippi River."

Separate plans are being finalized with county governments to ensure permanent management and public access to the lands. Nelson emphasized it should benefit hunters and anglers, while protecting wildlife habitat. She added the timing is important with political pressure on the landscapes for possible industrial uses. Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., is part of the push, citing the need for jobs.

Nelson pointed out with such a deal, local timber companies can still benefit from effective forest management, including the need to clear out dying trees.

"When we own it, we would contract with local loggers to help do prescribed thinnings, and to then deliver lumber to local mills, like in Bemidji," Nelson noted.

Organizations involved in the deal said it will protect jobs in the outdoor recreation and tourism sector.

Access to the beloved Pacific Crest Trail may soon be limited - due to a drop in federal grants and big layoffs proposed for federal public lands agencies.

In the next two weeks, the Trump administration is expected to release the reduction-in-force targets for the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Megan Wargo, chief executive officer of the Pacific Crest Trail Association, said federal grant money dried up last October, so they've had to cancel 56 weeks of crew maintenance work on the trails.

"If large sections of the trails are forced to be closed because of this lack of maintenance and care, that's devastating that folks won't be able to access their public lands because of these cuts," she explained.

Volunteers help keep the trails clear of debris and repair erosion from storm damage. The Pacific Crest Trail runs more than 2,600 hundred miles from Mexico to Canada and includes landscapes from Anza Borrego in the South, to Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Lake Tahoe in the Sierras, and points north.

Wargo said the National Trails System Act calls for a public-private partnership to manage the national scenic trails. The Pacific Crest Trail Association normally gets between $667 million per year in federal funding - about a quarter of what it needs to help maintain the PCT.

"Typically, that breakdown is about 25% value that's coming from the federal government, while the other 75% is coming through private donations and that volunteer service hour value," she continued.

Wargo added that cuts to the federal workforce hobble agencies' abilities to make grants and approve volunteer projects. And that means less brush gets cleared, raising the risk of wildfires in California.