About Us
OUR MISSION:
The Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (NDCNR) is a broad and multifaceted department committed to:
- Protecting Nevada’s natural, cultural, and recreational resources
- Preserving Nevada’s unique historic and cultural heritage
- Enhancing Nevada’s outdoor recreation, quality of life, environmental stewardship, and recreation economy
- Leading efforts to address impacts of climate change throughout Nevada
- Fostering partnerships to advance innovative solutions and strategies to protect natural resources for the benefit of all Nevadans
NDCNR includes 8 divisions and 4 standalone programs:
- Nevada Division of Environmental Protection - Protects Nevada’s land, water, and air from contamination to provide Nevadans with a clean and healthy state, and contribute to a vibrant economy.
- Nevada Division of Forestry - Manages healthy and resilient landscapes in urban, rural, and wildland areas by providing professional natural resource and wildland fire management services across Nevada’s forests, rangelands, and watersheds.
- Nevada Division of State Parks - Develops, maintains, and operates Nevada’s 27 State Parks, State Recreation Areas, and State Historic Sites for the use and enjoyment of residents and visitors, and administers grant funds for the Recreational Trails Program, which provides and maintains motorized and non-motorized recreational trails within Nevada, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which funds local park and recreation projects.
- Nevada Division of State Lands - Holds title and manages real property transactions on behalf the State, and leads the Nevada Tahoe Resource Team in protecting and restoring the Lake Tahoe Basin.
- Nevada Division of Water Resources - Manages Nevada’s ground and surface water resources and is responsible for quantifying existing water rights, monitoring water use, distributing water in accordance with court decrees, reviewing water availability for new development, reviewing the construction and operation of dams, appropriating geothermal water, licensing and regulating well drillers and water rights surveyors, reviewing flood control projects, monitoring water resource data and records, and providing technical assistance to the public and government agencies.
- Nevada State Historic Preservation Office - Encourages the preservation, documentation, and use of Nevada’s cultural resources, and educates the public about the importance of Nevada’s cultural heritage, so Nevada’s historic and archaeological properties are preserved, interpreted, and reused for their economic, educational, and intrinsic values.
- Nevada Division of Natural Heritage - Develops and maintains an inventory of the locations, biology, and status of all threatened, endangered, rare, and at-risk plants and animals in Nevada.
- Nevada Division of Outdoor Recreation - NDCNR’s newest division, advances outdoor recreation opportunities, recognizes the impact and importance of outdoor recreation on the quality of life and the future prosperity of Nevada, promotes environmental stewardship, and encourages outdoor recreation as an important tool for public health.
- Nevada Conservation Districts Program - Supports Nevada’s 28 community based conservation districts, which work with private landowners and land users to manage the State’s natural resources by providing technical, financial, and educational resources in rural and urban Nevada for the conservation of soil, water, and related resources.
- Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem Program - A collaborative, multidisciplinary, interagency program established to protect and enhance Nevada's sagebrush landscape for the plants, animals and people that depend upon it.
- Nevada Off-Highway Vehicles Program - Promotes safe and responsible off-road recreation, and funds projects for OHV trail improvements, mapping, education, and restoration across Nevada.
- Conserve Nevada - Supports the conservation and enhancement of Nevada’s natural, cultural, and recreational resources with funding awards to public and private projects that benefit all Nevadans.
The Department also provides staff support to the Nevada Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and has responsibility for numerous boards and commissions: