October 2022

Hurricane Ian smashed Florida in late September, significantly affecting human lives and well-being. While anecdotal reports of alligators, sharks, and other wildlife in unusual places have been in the news, the impacts of Ian on habitat, animals, recreational access, invasive species, and the fishing industry are still being assessed. Florida’s native wildlife species are well adapted to hurricanes, and species have all kinds of strategies for staying safe or rebounding quickly, but the magnitude of this storm surely had impacts.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) recently developed an action plan to expand engagement with the Hispanic community and young adults in their state. The goal of the plan is to increase the relevancy of conservation for those groups. During a two-day workshop, a cross-section of 15 staff from all NDOW divisions and regions explored results of an internal assessment of the agency’s readiness to increase relevancy with new constituencies, input from interviews with Hispanic and young adult stakeholders conducted by Dr. Cindi Jacobson with Innovative Outcomes, and data from a statewide survey of Nevada residents conducted by Responsive Management, Inc.