I met Tom Beard, 66, a wildlife volunteer with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, at Bruno’s restaurant in Gerlach, about 3 hours north of Reno.
Over a club sandwich and a beer, we talked about Tom’s job, which I had driven out there to document as part of a look into the interesting work that volunteers do with the NDOW. Tom is a sage grouse counter. The NDOW has identified several leks, or mating areas, where the male grouse returns to each year to basically show off and try to attract a mate. How they find these places, I don’t know since it took us several hours of driving on a rugged dirt road, and then about 1/2 hour carefully picking our way through with no road at all to find the spot.
Tom, however, knew this lek well. It is one of several he has been returning to each year at dawn, to count the number of male grouse strutting and calling for mates. The NDOW hopes that over time, they can build a reliable picture of the health of the Nevada sage grouse population by counting the birds on these leks around the state each year.
Tom has been doing this since 2001. “I moved here in 2000 and read a blurb in the newspaper asking for sage grouse volunteers. I had never seen a sage grouse before and thought that would be a great way to see one.” After an initial training program, Tom has been doing it ever since.
It takes a special kind of person to do volunteer work for the NDOW. The places you go are remote. You are often alone, sometimes for days without seeing another person, but the experience of absolute solitude and the close encounters with nature are worth it for many.
“Volunteers are vially important to the NDOW,” said Kim Toulouse, Volunteer Program Manager for NDOW. “With more than 1,500 known leks scattered throughout the state, it is virtually impossible for us to count them with our staff.”
Toulouse said the NDOW needs volunteers in many facets of the agency but are most in demand for education programs such as hunter education, angler education and wildlife education. Toulouse had this to say about reasons to volunteer with NDOW:
1. When you stay home you get too many telemarketing calls.
2. Your family could use a break from you.
3. You might need help yourself some day.
4. It’s hard to win a game of solitaire.
5. Soap operas all sound alike.
6. If you don’t go out each day, you get old.
7. Why let your boss or husband have all the fun in life?
8. The car needs a workout.
9. Your mom would be proud of you.
10. Who cares about money?
The reality is people volunteer for a variety of reasons. Some volunteer to become known in the agency, in other words they want to work for us. Others want to spend time with wildlife. Still others just want a new challenge and something “cool” to do. Many are altruistic and want to share what they know. It really boils down to the individual and their own motivations.
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Tom Beard searches the landscape for signs of a Sage Grouse Lek , or mating area, in the Black Rock desert north of Gerlach, that he will be counting in the morning. The Nevada Department of Wildlife needs volunteers who like the outdoors and are sometimes required to drive and camp for several days in the most remote corners of Nevada.
Tom Beard relaxes by his car after arriving near the Sage Grouse Lek, or mating area in the Black Rock desert north of Gerlach, that he will be counting in the morning. The Nevada Department of Wildlife needs volunteers who like the outdoors and are sometimes required to drive and camp for several days in the most remote corners of Nevada.
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Phlox grows from a dead gnarled stump near our camp in the Black Rock desert north of Gerlach, NV.
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Sunset falls after we reach camp. Tom and I will be up before dawn, carefully approaching the lek as close as we can without disturbing the birds, and counting them.
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The sun starts to rise and it is time to go to work. Tom Beard counts Sage Grouse at their Lek , or mating area, in the Black Rock desert north of Gerlach. The Nevada Department of Wildlife needs volunteers who like the outdoors and are sometimes required to drive and camp for several days in the most remote corners of Nevada.
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Tom Beard takes notes during a count at his Sage Grouse Lek, or mating area, in the Black Rock desert north of Gerlach. The Nevada Department of Wildlife needs volunteers who like the outdoors and are sometimes required to drive and camp for several days in the most remote corners of Nevada.
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Male sage grouse strut and call for mates during the breeding season on this lek, or mating ground, in the Black Rock desert north of Gerlach. Sage Grouse return to the same remote areas each year to prance and strut and try to attract a mate for a few weeks each spring. The Nevada Department of Wildlife needs volunteers to reach these remote locations and observe and count the grouse at each site to try and get a handle on how healthy the Sage Grouse population in Nevada really is.
Male sage grouse strut and call for mates during the breeding season on this lek, or mating ground, in the Black Rock desert north of Gerlach. Sage Grouse return to the same remote areas each year to prance and strut and try to attract a mate for a few weeks each spring. The Nevada Department of Wildlife needs volunteers to reach these remote locations and observe and count the grouse at each site to try and get a handle on how healthy the Sage Grouse population in Nevada really is.
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Male sage grouse strut and call for mates as Tom Beard counds them in the background during the breeding season on this lek, or mating ground, in the Black Rock desert north of Gerlach. Sage Grouse return to the same remote areas each year to prance and strut and try to attract a mate for a few weeks each spring. The Nevada Department of Wildlife needs volunteers to reach these remote locations and observe and count the grouse at each site to try and get a handle on how healthy the Sage Grouse population in Nevada really is.