On Saturday January 21, SNAP Education staff participated in a Families in Nature event at Floyd Lamb City Park. The Families in Nature program takes families by bus, from the Winchester Cultural Center, out to a public lands site. The participants usually participate in three different activities in the morning, have pot luck lunch or grill out, and then in the afternoon enjoy the site with more education or a stewardship project. This Saturday, even though there were gusts up to 75 mph, there were 46 participants that attended the event. In the morning, the USFWS staff, Christianna Manville, John, Geri, Layloni, setup spotting scopes, handed out binoculars and talked to the families about the burrowing owl project. The participants were so excited to "meet a real scientist". The also went on a hike and learned how to use binoculars to spot wildlife. They saw some birds, two jackrabbits, and plenty of 'evidence' that animals live in the Mojave Desert. There was a burrowing owl that made an appearance! They actually got to see an owl in its burrow! The last activity was done in one of the historic buildings, thanks to Darren Copeland, City of Las Vegas. Who would have thought that dissecting owl pellets, which they thought was sooo gross when Ranger Amanda talked about it on the bus ride, would be sooo cool after they saw the owl and wanted to know what they would find in the pellets.  The group enjoyed their lunch in a group picnic site with some hot cocoa to stay warm. The volleyball net was set up and some participates played an intense 10 games of volleyball while others walked around Floyd Lamb enjoying the ponds, farmer's market, and other interesting areas of the park. Overall the owls and the Families in Nature families, did not mind the wind!

Captain Dave Leveille hung-up his badge on Dec. 30, 2011 after 34 years with the US Forest Service and 7 years as part of the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Law Enforcement Team. Captain Leveille, Thank-you for all you have done on behalf of Interagency partnering!