LAS VEGAS – Botanist Bruce Lund was recently honored as the Interagency Volunteer of the Year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the other federal public land agencies in southern Nevada. Lund, a resident of Moapa, NV., was recognized by the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP) for his tireless efforts on behalf of wildlife conservation.

Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Desert Complex) Visitor Services Manager Angelina Yost, who nominated Lund for the award, pointed to the years he has dedicated to volunteering and the nearly 400 hours he donated to the Service in fiscal year 2011 alone. “Bruce is not your average volunteer,” said Yost. “As a scientist and former U.S. Forest Service botanist, Lund used his professional skills to train and mobilize a corps of “citizen scientists” to conduct surveys of dragonflies and damselflies on all four refuges in the Desert Complex.”

Lund has led the Muddy River Christmas Bird Count for the past 10 years, and he was among the first volunteers to help the Service open the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge to the public for the first time ever in 2009. He continues to provide excellent interpretive and educational programs for visitors to the Desert Complex wildlife refuges. Additionally, Lund serves as the secretary for the Friends of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

As if Lund’s support for the Service’s mission was not enough, he also provides extensive volunteer services to the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Currently, Lund is working with Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association and on science projects with students of the Clark County School District’s West Career and Technical Academy.

Lund received his Volunteer of the Year award at the 7th Annual Interagency Volunteer Program Breakfast Banquet on November 5, 2011.

SNAP is a partnership comprised of professionals from the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service. The agencies work together to coordinate activities that protect, conserve, and encourage enjoyment of public lands in southern Nevada. The four SNAP agencies manage more than 10 million acres in southern Nevada including national parks, national conservation and recreation areas, national wildlife refuges, national forests, and other public lands.

Bruce Lund (center) shows off the plaque he received as the 2011 Interagency Volunteer of the Year. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representatives flanking Lund are (left) Shaun Sanchez, Manager of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and (right) Angelina Yost, Visitor Services Manager for the Desert Complex.