Nevada hunting curtailed as excessive snow, extreme drought diminish big game herds

The frustration is hard to hide on Cody Schroeder’s face as the wildlife biologist steers his pickup off Interstate 80 and into the Carson Range to monitor mule deer habitat. A once-bushy and tree-covered mountainside near Verdi is bisected by construction access roads, flat patches of dirt piled high with boulders that have been cleared out to level the steep slopes.