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From military service to public service, U.S. Air Force Veteran BreAnna Martinez shares her path to USDA

Imagine you are 18 years old, from a rural town, and figuring out your next steps. You want opportunities to learn, meet new people, and travel the world. This is exactly what BreAnna Martinez was experiencing when she enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 2003. What started as a way to pay for college, quickly turned into a lifelong mission of serving her country in the military and in public service.

BLM seeks public comment for March 2025 oil and gas lease sale in Nevada

— The Bureau of Land Management Nevada State Office opened a 30-day public comment period to receive public input on 12 oil and gas parcels totaling 23,202 acres that may be included in an upcoming lease sale in Nevada. The comment period ends Nov. 28, 2024. The BLM completed scoping on these parcels on August 2024 and is now seeking public comment on the parcels, potential deferrals, and the related environmental analysis.

Christian Daniels awarded Wayne E. Kirch Conservation Award

Christian Daniels, a high school senior and founder of the Desert Balloon Project, was selected as the 2023 recipient of the Wayne E. Kirch Nevada Wildlife Conservation Award. This honor is bestowed upon individuals or organizations who demonstrate significant achievements in the conservation, management, or enhancement of wildlife.

University, friends to rededicate classmate’s tribute and honor Gold Star families

One of Nevada’s most heralded World War II veterans who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor more than 80 years ago and saw the battleship guns blazing against the shores of Normandy died Sunday at his home in Mankato, Minnesota. Charles Sehe, 101, who served his entire military career during the second world war aboard the battleship USS Nevada (NN36), had been in declining health.

Bird Watching in Northern Nevada

Bird Watching in Northern Nevada

Firewood collection area open in forests around Elko

Pinyon pine and juniper trees were recently removed from the Overland Pass Habitat Improvement Project area on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest's Mountain City-Ruby Mountains-Jarbidge Ranger District. This initiative is in line with the USDA Forest Service's National Wildland Crisis Strategy, which aims to minimize the risk of hazardous fuels. As part of this effort, the public is permitted to gather dead and downed wood in the Big Wash-West area south of Cherry Spring Canyon and the Overland Pass area, all located in the southern portion of the Ruby Mountains.

New Nevada State Climatologist seeks to meet state’s needs

RENO – In July, the Nevada State Climate Office based in the Department of Geography at the University of Nevada, Reno hired a new state climatologist, Baker Perry. Perry came to the University from Appalachian State University where he worked for over a decade. Perry’s background is in climatology, and he is also a National Geographic Explorer. The former interim state climatologist, Tom Albright, is now the deputy state climatologist for the office.

$375M in public land sales to fund 36 recreation and restoration projects in Nevada and California

Federal funding generated from the sale of public land in Nevada will be used to finance 36 projects aimed at enhancing recreation and restoration projects across Nevada and the California side of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Nevadans vote to enshrine abortion rights in Constitution, but it needs approval in 2026

Nevadans have voted to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s Constitution, where they would be harder to undo, as they seek to further shore up access to abortion since the decision was returned back to the states with the overturning of Roe v. Wade two years ago. The approval of Question 6, which asked voters whether the Nevada Constitution should include a fundamental right to abortion, means that the Constitution will be amended if a majority of voters also approve it in 2026.

Conservation groups sue U.S. Dept.of Interior over Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine

The federal government is now facing a lawsuit challenging its approval of the first domestic lithium project authorized under the Biden Administration, which opponents say would threaten the survival of an endangered wildflower endemic to Nevada. In October, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued the final approval for Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron mine in Esmeralda County after a four-year federal permitting and environmental review process.

Nevada Republicans enter Election Day with a 42K vote edge over Democrats

Going into Election Day, Republicans had cast 42,238 more votes than Democrats in Nevada. Cumulative totals released by the Nevada Secretary of State’s office showed that of 1,089,092 votes, 37.7% of them had been cast by Republicans, 33.8% by Democrats, and 28.6% by nonpartisan and third party voters.

Trump wins Nevada, delivering Silver State to Republicans for first time in 20 years

Former President Donald Trump has won Nevada’s six electoral votes, becoming the first Republican to win the state in two decades and riding a wave of discontent over the economy and an embrace of voting methods that Nevada Republicans have previously eschewed. Nevada, with its six electoral votes, proved not to be a decider — Trump appears to have swept the seven swing states, with races called for him in all but Michigan and Arizona, where he currently leads.

Nevadans reject open primary, ranked-choice voting ballot measure

Nevada voters have rejected the most significant proposed change to the state’s election system since mail-in ballots were implemented in 2020. Question 3, which proposed to implement open primaries and ranked-choice voting, was behind by a substantial margin after the release of results from early voting and mail ballots received before Election Day. It’s a blow for proponents who had looked to the concept as a way to bolster centrism in politics and give a voice to a growing number of nonpartisans who can’t vote in marquee primary contests. It likely would have led to the state being a single-party state. Alaska, where a similar measure passed several years ago, is working to repeal it.

Nevadans back photo ID requirement for voting, question will return in 2026

Question 7, which would require Nevadans to present photo identification before voting in person saw a decisive victory. The proposal would also require voters list additional personal information on their mail ballots. Nevada voters will need to approve Question 7 again in the 2026 General Election before the photo ID requirement goes into effect.

Utah’s bid for control of federal land gets support from Elko commissioners

The Elko County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution supporting Utah in its quest to acquire more than 18 million acres of federally held public land. In a federal lawsuit filed in August by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Attorney General Sean Reyes, Utah asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the federal government can indefinitely hold unappropriated lands — land that is not managed as a national park, forest, conservation area or otherwise protected — within states, an issue that spans multiple Western states.