OUTDOOR BRIEFS

PLENTY OF OPTIONS

September offers hunts for bird species

When the sun comes up Tuesday, many of Nevada's hunters will take part in the annual mourning dove hunt, long the unofficial beginning of the fall hunting season. As such, it attracts the attention of hunters eager to get back in the field after months away.

But dove hunting isn't the only opportunity available for Silver State wing shooters in the month of September. Often overlooked are the seasons for blue and ruffed grouse, Himalayan snowcock and the American crow. Each of these seasons shares its opening day with the dove season, and they run through Dec. 31, Nov. 30 and Nov. 17 respectively.

Blue and ruffed grouse are found in Nevada's high elevation mountain ranges where conifer trees can be found. These tasty birds will migrate up and down in elevation during the winter months to areas that support conifer trees. In the western part of the state, hunters will find grouse in the Carson and Sweetwater mountain ranges. In eastern Nevada, they are most plentiful in the Ruby and Jarbidge Mountains near Elko and the Schell Creek Range near Ely.

When grouse hunting, Nevada regulation requires that the head and one fully-feathered wing must remain attached to the carcass until it is delivered to the hunter's residence or to a commercial processing facility.

Hunters looking for a unique challenge may want to try their hand at hunting Himalayan snowcock. These birds are found among the high peaks and ridges of the Ruby and East Humboldt mountain ranges in Elko County.

Those hunters who have pursued the snowcock say the bird is very wary and often flees when a hunter approaches within several hundred yards. Persons interested in hunting snowcock must first obtain a free-use permit from the Nevada Department of Wildlife office.

The American crow provides another September hunting opportunity. The daily and possession limit is 10 birds, and all harvested crows must be removed from the field.

The daily and possession limits are three and six for blue and ruffed grouse; two and two for snowcock.

SCHOREDER RESERVOIR

Project brings $500,000 to county

For the first time in nearly 50 years, fish will be swimming through the Schroeder Reservoir in Beaver Dam State Park near Caliente. Schroeder Lake, a 15-acre reservoir built in the park in 1962, was topped by flooding in 2005 and the dam became unstable. The Nevada Department of Wildlife breached the dam and drained the reservoir for safety. Now, funding totaling $500,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Nevada's Question 1 Bond Funds will be used to restore the stream to a more natural state by the end of the year.

Natural sediment accumulation reduced the reservoir's capacity by half, causing water to top the dam during heavy storms in January 2005.

"Strict national dam safety standards along with the natural sedimentation problem made it unfeasible to repair the dam," said Lisa Schettler, NDOW's chief engineer.

The dam was breached and the reservoir drained for safety, but this left thousands of cubic yards of unstable silt and sediment along the stream in the old reservoir basin. Now, the dry bed of the reservoir and the stream will be stabilized and restored to natural conditions.

The project will bring economic stimulus to Lincoln County. FEMA is bringing three federal dollars to Nevada's one for the project. Wilkins Trucking, the local contractor awarded the project, will begin stabilizing thousands of tons of sandy silts and moving the remains of the earthen dam after Labor Day. Downstream properties such as the Mathews Ranch will benefit from reduced silt exposure.

According to Mark Beckstrand, NDOW's fisheries biologist in Lincoln County, this project also will improve habitat for trout and native fish species by reducing sediment loads in Beaver Dam Wash and removing barriers to fish movement left in the stream when the dam was breached.

Hunting access along the westerly rim of the park will be permitted as well, however hunting within the canyon and construction zones of the park is not allowed for safety reasons. The park access road will reopen as soon as spring weather allows.

BACK IN CIRCULATION

Groups help bring back coloring book

Color Nevada Wild, a popular A-Z coloring book about wildlife published by the Nevada Department of Wildlife and out of circulation since the mid 1990s, is back in the hands of Nevada's children after several of the state's sportsmen's groups stepped up to fund a reprint.

The project to update and reprint the coloring book was made possible through donations from Nevada Bighorns Unlimited, Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn, Mule Deer Foundation, Nevada Wildlife Federation, Wildlife and Habitat Improvement of Nevada and the Nevada Wildlife Record Book.

The alphabet style coloring book is meant to help teach elementary school students about the wildlife living in the Silver State.

The publication is aimed at children from kindergarten to third grade. Master copies, which can be used for duplication, will be sent to elementary schools around the state and will be available at all NDOW offices.

Any elementary teacher interested in using the coloring book may request one copy from the NDOW headquarters by calling (775) 688-1915.