Fellow NBU Members:

Our 33rd Annual Fundraising Banquet is just around the corner on April 5th, 2013 at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino. We will have a great show including auctioning off two Heritage Bighorn Sheep Tags, one for a California Bighorn Sheep and one for a Desert (Nelson) Bighorn Sheep. We will have a fantastic taxidermy competition, along with tremendous general and silent auction items. Our famous "Wall of 100 Guns" raffle will return, along with raffle guns for youth to win. Our raffle items will include a fully guided Elk landowner tag hunt in area 078, along with card games, ladies raffle, special raffles and more! Rounded out by our wall of heads, our general store for NBU merchandise, and amazing taxidermy with habitat this event will be monumental.

So monumental, in fact, that this year's banquet is virtually sold out! I look forward to seeing all 2,000+ of you on April 5th. We have more Rocky Mountain Bighorn in the Nevada! A successful trap and transplant operation occurred February 11- 14, resulting in 17 ewes and 3 rams caught in Alberta, Canada being released in the East Humboldt range. This fabulous effort was coordinated by the Nevada Department of Wildlife along with the Alberta Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Department, in conjunction with volunteers from NBU and Elko NBU. Our hope is this seed stock will develop into a viable herd over the years, replacing the sheep lost during the devastating die-off (see page 7 for additional photography).

The Wild Sheep Foundation's 2013 convention was a big success, not only for the WSF but for NBU as well. The unbelievable participation from NBU volunteers for move-in, move-out, feeding the volunteers, participation with the Youth Outdoor Conservation Experience, and working at the NBU booth to inform the public about NBU's mission was phenomenal. NBU was proud to have four winners of national awards for exceptional volunteerism: Steve Kellers for the Eastman Grassroots Award; Judi Caron and Dianna Belding won the Outstanding Achievement Award for their work on the Nevada Dream Tags Program; and Micki Jefferson won the Artemis Award for being an outstanding woman conservationist and hunter. NBU volunteers are world-class! To top it off, Mel Belding and I were offered the opportunity to raise funds for a Guzzler project, and the Thursday night crowd, along with funding from the WSF, pledged $25,000 for a guzzler build. Nevada's wildlife and habitat were the true winners from this great event.

Speaking of the Nevada Dream Tags program, NBU was successful in obtaining an $8,700 award for an emergency guzzler build in the Monte Cristo Range. Thanks to the Community Foundation of Western Nevada and the Dream Tags Committee for their consideration of our funding request and the skilled administration of this wonderful program. Be sure to buy your Dream Tag tickets to continue to make this program successful, as yet again Nevada's wildlife and habitat are the beneficiaries.

The resignation of NDOW Director Ken Mayer resulted in a loss to NDOW, and Ken's efforts as director were truly appreciated by NBU. NBU wishes Ken the very best in his future endeavors, and we know we can count on him to continue to contribute to the benefit of Nevada's wildlife resources. Interim Director George Tsukamoto will do a wonderful job until a new director is hired. George's wildlife biology and administrative background, along with his strong support of NBU will be most helpful during the transition. Guzzler season is upon us; keep an eye out for the e-mail messages to our volunteers and by checking the website and our Facebook page. We have a very aggressive guzzler season coming up; hope to see you on site!

Proudly representing the greatest group of wildlife volunteers and wildlife supporters in the nation,

Dennis R. Wilson, DVM
President
Nevada Bighorns Unlimited