REFORM
NEVADA'S
WILDLIFE COMMISSION
The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners has consistently upheld policies that run counter to the wishes of most Nevadans, are unscientific, and belong in the history books.
Recent examples include the failure to ban wildlife killing contests, maintaining a black bear hunt following habitat-devastating fires, and increasing sage grouse hunting even as the imperiled species declines in population. Huge amounts of pinyon-juniper woodlands have been clear cut specifically to create habitat for mule deer, the state’s most popular game animal. Non-native fish have been introduced in many places, sometimes driving native fish to extinction.
Commission doesn't represent Nevadans
State law requires that 5 members of the commission have held a hunting or fishing license for three of the last 4 years. But only about 5% of Nevadans hunt or fish.
Additionally, 2 commissioners represent agriculture – one for ranching, one for farming, yet less than 0.2% of Nevadans are farmers or ranchers.
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Of this 9 person board, 7 members are typically invested in propagating then killing game species. Non-game wildlife are deemed far less important. And some native species—especially carnivores—are almost always seen as a threat or nuisance.
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Urban and suburban Nevadans are egregiously underrepresented. Clark County and Washoe County comprise 87.6% of the population of Nevada, but can only be represented by a maximum of 5 out of the 9 seats (55.5%). Current state law allows for all 9 commissioners to come from the 9 lease populous counties in the state.
The commission looks nothing like the incredibly diverse population of Nevada.
The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners is rigidly constructed to make it institutionally biased toward hunting and killing animals.
The commission makeup disenfranchises the vast majority of Nevadans.
Conservation and General Public Representation
Of the total 70.2 million acres of land within Nevada's borders, 48 million acres fall under Bureau of Land Management (BLM) management, approximately 68.3% of Nevada's land. As a result, this land belongs to the general American public, as per the North American Public Trust Doctrine, and should be managed reflecting the general public's environmental management values.
Given that over 66% of respondents believe in prioritizing environmental protection over economic growth and 44% of respondents identify as Mutualists, the commission should be voting in line with these values.