LAS VEGAS – Representatives of Friends of Nevada Wilderness (FONW) were in Washington last week to receive a prestigious Partners in Conservation Award from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. The Nevada group was one of 17 organizations recognized for their work in conservation across the United States.
Nominated for the award by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FONW earned the award for on-the-ground volunteer stewardship projects that helped wildlands and wildlife habitat on public lands administered by members of the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP). During fiscal year 2010, the organization completed eight stewardship projects on wildlands managed by the Department of the Interior. The projects were performed by 258 volunteers who provided 3,945 hours of in-kind labor valued at approximately $114,500.
In fiscal year 2011, FNW is continuing its extraordinary service to Nevada’s wild places through community education, stewardship and monitoring. Much of the work is accomplished through an agreement with SNAP.
“Our interagency partnership in Southern Nevada is a model for the entire country, and we are excited to be making a difference for wilderness," said Kurt Kuznicki, FONW’s Southern Nevada Director.
FONW Executive Director Shaaron Netherton was in Washington to accept the award.
“It was an honor to be recognized nationally for all the great work that our volunteers do in Nevada. This award is for all of them," Netherton said.
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.
