PR: Wings and Wildlife Festival of Southern Nevada

Wings and Wildlife Festival of Southern Nevada
Thursday-Saturday, March 12-15, 2009
Laughlin, Nevada, on the Colorado River

Enjoy best weather birding/wildlife watching where Arizona, California, and Nevada meet.  Visitor-friendly and economical Laughlin serves as festival headquarters.  Situated along the west bank of one of America’s truly great rivers, the Colorado, Laughlin is the gateway to birds and other wildlife in this tri-state region.

Festival activities include:

• John Acorn, the Nature Nut
• Sharon Schafer, featured photographer
• Guided bird/nature walks – Big Bend of the Colorado River State Recreation Area, Colorado River Heritage Greenway Trail, Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, Hualapai Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Wee Thump Joshua Tree Forest
• Guided bird/nature trips by kayak – Black Canyon, Colorado River, Topock Gorge
• Nature art show, wine & art reception
• Live Animals – raptors, reptiles
• Booths, demonstrations, displays, workshops

Additional information at 702-298-2214 or www.LaughlinBirds.com

PR: Festival – Audubon Notice

Wings and Wildlife Festival of Southern Nevada
Thursday-Saturday, March 12-15, 2009
Laughlin, Nevada, on the Colorado River
Information/Registration: www.LaughlinBirds.com
Phone: 702-298-0630 (Jena Morga)

Enjoy best weather birding/wildlife watching in the tri-state area where Arizona, California, and Nevada meet.  Visitor friendly and economical Laughlin serves as festival headquarters.  Situated along the west bank of one of America’s truly great rivers, the Colorado, Laughlin is the gateway to birds and other wildlife in this tri-state region.  Southwestern, late winter, and early spring species await in chaparral/scrub oak, Colorado River, desert scrub, Gambel oak, Joshua tree, lake, mesquite, pinion pine, Ponderosa pine, riparian, and wetland habitats found among the numerous satellite wildlife viewing areas all around Laughlin.  All this, plus…

• John Acorn, the Nature Nut
• Sharon Schafer, featured photographer
• Guided bird/nature walks – Big Bend of the Colorado River State Recreation Area, Colorado River Heritage Greenway Trail, Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, Hualapai Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Wee Thump Joshua Tree Forest
• Guided bird/nature trips by kayak – Black Canyon, Colorado River, Topock Gorge
• Nature art show, wine & art reception
• Live Animals – raptors, reptiles
• Booths, demonstrations, displays, workshops

A Southern Nevada Birding and Wildlife Trails Partnership (www.SNBWTP.org) event: Desert River Outfitters, Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, Laughlin Tourism Committee, Laughlin Visitors Bureau, National Park Service, Nevada Commission on Tourism, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Nevada State Parks, Red Rock Audubon Society, Southern Nevada Water Authority, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

PR: Laughlin Goes Wild For New Event

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Jena Morga 702-298-0630
November 20, 2008

LAUGHLIN GOES WILD FOR NEW EVENT
Wings and Wildlife Festival of Southern Nevada
March 12-15, 2009

Along the surprisingly verdant banks of the Colorado River one can find a great number of interesting, unusual, and even endangered birds and wildlife.  Yuma clapper rails, southwestern willow flycatchers, vermilion flycatchers, golden eagles, big horn sheep and the desert tortoises all make their homes near this pristine river.  To showcase these desert wonders, Wings and Wildlife Festival of Southern Nevada is planned by for March 12-15, 2009 in Laughlin, Nevada.

The Southern Nevada Bird and Wildlife Trails Partnership (www.SNBWTP.org) organized the event, in partnership with Nevada Commission on Tourism, National Park Service, Nevada Department of Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife, Nevada State Parks, Desert River Outfitters, Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Red Rock Audubon Society, Laughlin Visitors Bureau, and Laughlin Tourism Committee.

The event will include:

• Guided hiking kayak tours for both beginning and advanced nature watchers
• Educational workshops and demonstrations including a unit on falconry
• An art in nature show with featured photographer Sharon Schafer
• Banquet with keynote speaker John Acorn, the Nature Nut
• Indoor display booths with an emphasis on nature, including live reptile and raptor displays

Registration cost is $20 and will include admission to the Wine and Art reception, educational seminars and several guided tours.  The evening banquet and remote adventures will be offered for an additional fee.

Information and registration forms are available on line at LaughlinBirds.com or by calling Jena Morga, a SNBWTP representative at 702-298-0630.

PR: Wildly Unexpected – NDOW

Birding and Wildlife Partnership is Wildly Unexpected

A new partnership of municipalities and agencies is drawing tourists to southern Nevada for the purposes of birding and wildlife watching.  The Southern Nevada Birding and Wildlife Trails Partnership is hoping that by providing important travel information on the area, many people will visit areas along the US 93/95 corridors to enjoy natural sites known for wildlife species.

Cherie Westbrook, with the Laughlin Visitors Bureau, spearheaded the Partnership with the assistance of Steve Weaver and Barbara Rhode of Cathedral Gorge State Park.  In an effort to increase visitation, Westbrook decided to capitalize on the natural attractions of this riverfront city.  Many people enjoy birding around the Laughlin area, where 297 species can be found, and by providing tourism information to this group, they can plan their visits and make use of the city’s other amenities.

Westbrook called together a variety of partners in order to apply for a grant from the Nevada Commission on Tourism.  The Commission hopes to garner visitorship to Nevada’s unique birding sites, tagging them “wildly unexpected.”  The grant will provide funds for maintaining a website and releasing brochures for area visitor centers.  Partners include the Laughlin Tourism Committee, Outside Las Vegas Foundation, Red Rock Audubon Society, Nevada State Parks, Nevada Department of Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program, Natural Resource Conservation Service and Southern Nevada Water Authority, as well as local business owners.  The group has decided to focus on the US Highway 93 and 95 corridors, from Laughlin to Ely, and Las Vegas to Tonopah, as these areas contain the best birding and wildlife viewing sites.  Sites include Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Clark County Wetlands Park, Overton Wildlife Management Area, Pahranaghat National Wildlife Refuge, Cathedral Gorge State Park, and Great Basin National Park.  The partnership intends to bring together two vital properties of Nevada, the beautiful open areas with a rich diversity of bird and wildlife species, and the economic forces of tourism and outdoor recreation.

The Southern Nevada Birding and Wildlife Trails Partnership project is in the pilot stages at this time, with a website available at www.snbwtp.org.  Brochures that advertise the area’s wildlife viewing opportunities are in development.  Future tasks include advertisement in more venues and educational information on species available on hiking trails, and a tie-in to the Las Vegas Valley Open Space Plan.  With relocation and visitation to southern Nevada at an all-time high, the partnership will serve the outdoor recreational needs of the public.

For more information on southern Nevada’s birding and wildlife watching opportunities, contact Cherie Westbrook at 702-892-0711 702-298-3022 or visit the Partnership’s website at www.snbwtp.org.

http://www.ndow.org/about/news/pr/073008_birding.shtm