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Clark County Wetlands Park
preserves and enhances natural and cultural resources and provides educational, recreational, and research opportunities for the public.
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Thank you for subscribing to Wetlands Park Footprints newsletter. Share with your friends and let us know what you think at wetlands@clarkcountynv.gov.
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 The WHO team leaders making a difference.
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 Volunteers play "How long will it last?, an environmental game.
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 Volunteers guess how long different trash items take to decompose.
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 Volunteers hard at work removing trash at Sunrise Trailhead.
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Public volunteers, along with Wetlands Park staff & volunteers, Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP), and Get Outdoors Nevada, did a wonderful job cleaning up Sunrise Trailhead on Saturday, January 8, 2022. Approximately two dumpsters were filled with tires, glass, furniture, and other unwanted items dumped in the desert at Sunrise Trailhead. Mark your calendars and come join us for the next Wetlands: Hands On! event on February 12, 2022 at Wells Trailhead. For more information and to register, visit volunteer.ccwetlandspark.com.
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 Image from 2021's Temporary Art Installation "PLAY": Invasive Flowers by Shoshana Zeldner.
Discover art in the Park this spring. Local artists will install 10 temporary sculptures along trails in the Nature Preserve, on display from March 4th through April 4th. The artwork will be based on the theme of migration, aligning with the Park’s celebration of World Migratory Bird Day on March 19.
Learn exciting new creative techniques from Las Vegas artists. On the first Saturday of each month, a guest artist will offer a creative workshop at the Wetlands Park. College of Southern Nevada (CSN) professor Anne Hoff will kick things off with a colored pencil drawing workshop on Saturday, February 5. The fee for guest artist workshops is $20; visit programs.ccwetlandspark.com for more information and to register .
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 Come meet our Park ambassadors, such as this California kingsnake, on Saturday, January 29 at 11:00 am in the Exhibit Gallery and learn all about reptiles in Wetlands Park. Free, walk in.
Winter brings WP Art Programs, Discovery Walks, and kids' programs like Wetlands Explorers Club, Nature Tales, & Sunday Storytime. View our January Program flyer. To learn more about all our winter programs and to register, visit programs.ccwetlandspark.com.
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 The Wetlands Park maze after the fire.
Here is a peek into what is happening at the Park.
Recent fires: You may have seen on the news that there were two fires at Wetlands Park. The first one occurring on Wednesday evening, Dec. 29, 2021 and the second one on Saturday, January 8, 2022. Thanks to Clark County Fire Department and the Wildland Fire Team, which consists of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF), they were able to protect the building and sensitive habitat in both incidents. The fires encompassed about 12.5 total acres. The December fire engulfed about nine acres of reeds immediately to the southeast of the Nature Center, including the maze. Both areas will be replanted with less combustible native vegetation. The Park is open and the Nature Preserve trails are not affected by the fire. The Exhibit Gallery, Lizard Lounge, and Auditorium are temporarily closed for remediation. The Nature Store is open for business and is temporarily located in the Information Kiosk until the Exhibit Gallery reopens.
Maintenance on the North Loop Trail: Maintenance has occurred on the Wetlands North Loop Trail in December. Repairs included filling large cracks in the paved trail surface mostly between miles 3 and 6, ensuring a safer ride for bicyclists.
Wayfinding signage and interpretive panels: 20 wayfinding signs and 30 interpretive panels for the Nature Preserve are in the final stages of the project. These signs will help visitors to navigate through the Park as well as enhance their understanding and experience of Wetlands Park. Look for them in the coming months.
Clearing vegetation in channels: You may have seen some workers in the Park south of the Cottonwood Grove and between the Boardwalk & West Lower Pond recently. Nevada Conservation crews have been clearing a few of the streams in the Nature Preserve by removing debris, silt, trees, shrubs, and beaver dams so that the streams flow easily. Reducing blockages will lessen the possibilities of flooding and clearing out dead debris will also help reduce wildfire risk.
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 Two male mallards at Wetlands by Philip Martini
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 Pied-billed grebe photo by Philip Martini
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Flora and Fauna Forecast for Winter
Winter brings shorter days, longer nights, and colder weather. It is a time of rest or dormancy for numerous plants and animals. Many animals develop adaptations and different behaviors to survive the winter. Some migrate, some hibernate, some store food, and a few even change color or thickness of fur or plumage. A handful of plants let their upper part go dormant, but their roots are still protected underground. Plants that bloom in the winter are scarce.
Here is a sampling of what you may encounter in the Park this time of year:
FLORA
Look for plants that transition from brown to dormant, such as the marsh fleabane, iodine bush, honey mesquite, and desert willow. Look for brown seed pods on the screwbean mesquite and quailbush. Within the mesquite trees, look for the female desert mistletoe plant to produce white to red berries to be eaten by the phainopepla.
FAUNA
Look to the ground for Gambel’s quail, great-tailed grackle, and northern flicker. Look to the water for American coot, common gallinule, mallard, ring-necked duck, great egret, and American wigeon. Look to the trees and the sky for northern mockingbird, phainopepla, loggerhead shrike, white-crowned sparrow, northern harrier, and red-tailed Hawk.
Top 5 Winter Spottings in Wetlands Park: American coot, ring-necked duck, mallard, pied-billed grebe, and northern harrier.
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 Desert cottontail at Wetlands Park. November "Look & Listen" photo challenge submitted by Llana Levine.
Have you taken a photo in Wetlands Park that you would like to share? Want to see your Wetlands Park photo featured in an upcoming newsletter?
The January photo challenge subject is "New Year, New View".
Submit your high resolution photo(s) to: wetlands@clarkcountynv.gov by 5pm on February 28th, 2022 to be considered. Include your name, date, and location of the photo.
Post about it on Social media!
#CCWetlandsPark
#CallforWPphotos
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 Join Wetlands Walkers
You're invited, open to all! Whether you are a current Wetlands Walker or just interested in the program, please join us! Register for 'Discovery Walk: Wetlands Walkers Kick-Off' on Sunday, January 23, 2022 from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm. Learn about Wetlands Park and Wetlands Walkers. To sign up, please visit our website, programs.ccwetlandspark.com.
Walking is good for one's physical and mental health, and a walk in nature is even better! Wetlands Walkers, a group of health and nature-oriented individuals, track their miles whenever they walk Park trails and earn rewards at various milestones.
As a group, their mileage is tallied to reach a yearly goal matching the migration distance of one of the Park's visiting species. In 2022 the Walkers are recognizing the Peregrine Falcon and have a collective goal of trekking 6,800 miles.
Can we collectively reach 6,800 miles by the end of the year? Join Wetlands Walkers to make it happen.
To learn more about the Wetlands Walkers program, the peregrine falcon, to sign up, or to log your miles, please visit our website, walkers.ccwetlandspark.com. Wetlands Park Discovery Walks make it easy and fun to earn miles. Please visit programs.ccwetlandspark.com to sign up for a guided walk.
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