Expenditures for wildlife water developments, a report on the search for a new Wildlife Director, and season setting for waterfowl are among the agenda items that the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners will consider at their meeting Aug 4-5 in Winnemucca.

The commission will convene at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 4 in the Winnemucca Convention Center. Its first action item is the development of a process to recruit a new department Director/Commission Secretary for the Nevada Department of Wildlife; Terry Crawforth retired as director July 15.

Another action item is the approval of the expenditure of $213,140 from upland game stamp revenues to fund wildlife water developments.

Water developments capture and store water for wildlife to use during dry seasons.

"We plan to fund 10 new projects in southern Nevada, plus do maintenance on an estimated 15 existing water developments," said Dave Pulliam, Habitat Bureau Chief for the department. "We also plan to construct 16 new wildlife water developments in the Bilk Creek Range in northern Nevada."

Commissioners will also act on amendments to Nevada Administrative Code to allow a number of changes regarding swan tags. If adopted, the revisions would convert swan tags to permits; reduce the price of the documents; and eliminate the predator fee on the swan application. In addition the commission will hear a report on Predation Management.

When the meeting continues beginning at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 5, commissioners will review Commission Regulation 06-16, to establish hunting season dates and bag limits for waterfowl, snipe, falconry seasons for migratory game birds and special youth waterfowl hunt days for the 2006-2007 hunting seasons.

One change that is recommended is to increase the dark goose limit in Lincoln and Clark counties. The bag limit is currently two geese daily in the area, inconsistent with the limit of three in the remainder of the state. Department biologists have studied the impact on the resource of the proposal, and the increase has been endorsed by the Pacific Flyway Council.

"Goose populations are increasing throughout the continent, including Southern Nevada," said Craig Mortimore, a biologist with the department. "We've translocated 3,800 geese over the years to the Overton Wildlife Management Area, and the result is a small resident population there and transitory geese that move between Overton and the Las Vegas Valley. Our recommendation is that now is the time to take advantage of this resource."

Other agenda items for Saturday include consideration of procedures to more evenly distribute tags for the Youth Deer Hunt, the election of a Board of Wildlife Commissioner chair and vice chair for fiscal year 2007, a budget review, consideration of proposals to the 2007 session of the Nevada State Legislature, review of the status of elk damage arbitration panel memberships for various counties, review of a draft form for game trap and transport requests, and a discussion of applicants drawing more than one tag in a hunt year.

The meeting is open to the public and public comment periods will be held both days.

The meeting agenda may be viewed at all department offices and online at www.ndow.org.