Program Impacts

4-H Youth Development

4-H in Lyon County ran ten clubs with 40 different projects and 25 volunteers. Our club enrollment increased to 182 members. Some of the highlights of our program this year include:

• We received an NRA grant worth $7,700. This helped us offer our first rifle project in over a decade. We have been able to attract 5 more adult leaders and have increased our enrollment because of this award. We had three youth travel to the National Shooting Sports competition and had a new youth accepted as a National Shooting Sports Ambassador. As a result of the continued expansion of our shooting sports program, we offered our first county-wide shooting sports competition that was open to youth across Lyon County.
• Our shooting sports youth participated in the national Guardians-4-Health study. This program studied the impact of training 4-H Shooting Sports Youth and families in ways to protect our communities with respect to access to firearms. The focus was how to prevent unsafe firearm situations, including potential suicides, potential school shooting incidents, and other potentially dangerous family and community situations involving firearms and gun violence. As a result of our county’s participation, we have two adults trained to offer this program in the future and received free materials to use for these trainings.
• We offered another successful camp at Lake Tahoe with increased enrollment. Participants enjoyed games, crafts, archery, science, hot air balloon activities and rides, along with some teamwork activities, and, of course, swimming. Lyon County 4-H started a Counselor-In-Training Program for the 4-H camp youth who plan to become camp counselors in the future. The program was successful, and we expect to continue this at the Northern/Central Area camp in future years.
• As part of our Nevada First-Gen micro grant, we installed the 220 Leadership program and started using the program with teens to help teach leadership, entrepreneurship, and high school readiness.
• We provided Quality Assurance Training in Yerington, Fernley, and Silver Springs. This program helps to train youth in raising their animals and using best practices in animal husbandry and care. Additionally, young people learn about their role in food production and how to speak publicly about their role in our food chain.
• We hosted successful recruitment and outreach events in Dayton, Fernley, Silver Springs, and Yerington to provide information about our 4-H programs, and raise awareness about 4-H, while offering activities to youth in attendance. As part of our outreach and educational efforts, Mason Valley 4-H partnered with the Yerington Library and held a 4-H Fun Day which included STEM activities, Art, and games. We also held a Fernley Youth Fun Day which offered activities representing several different 4-H projects available to youth in our county.
   
  The event produced additional club enrollments and new club leaders for Fernley. Mason Valley hosted a 4-H table at the local Trunk or Treat event offered by the City of Yerington, and Central Lyon hosted their annual Haunted House event which is both a community event and a fundraiser for that club. We participated in Riverview Elementary’s school-wide Farmer’s Market and offered STEM activities and 4-H information.
• Smith Valley now has a Community Club which has enrollments in livestock projects, a dog project, and service learning. The club is gaining enrollments, raising funds, and performing service learning. The plan is to expand the number of projects offered and to continue to expand the growth for that club.
• Our annual awards for the county included three teen youth earning their Gold Star and we achieved increased participation in completing record books and earning annual awards.
• Multiple clubs in our county performed community service including canned food drives, raising money to give to food banks, Christmas Angel Tree gifts for needy families, and Christmas wreaths for Veteran’s headstones at a local cemetery.
• Offered a Livestock Judging Clinic to prepare youth participating in a Livestock Judging competition in Fallon.
• Central Lyon 4-H Club hosted a teen leadership retreat in Silver Springs at Silver Stage Middle School.
• 4-H held another successful Lyon County Jr. Livestock Show open to all youth in our county who were eligible to participate. We increased the number of participants and livestock that entered the show.
• Fernley Little Critters 4-H hosted their annual Rabbit and Cavy Show.
• Increased participation in the Nevada 4-H Expo event in Fallon.
• We were able to hire a full-time AmeriCorps member who assisted with and ran day camps in Fernley at the Boys and Girls Club. Programming was offered in STEM areas, art, and outdoor education. Our AmeriCorps member also assisted at our residential camp and helped run various activities and events in Lyon County.

Outreach

The Lyon Extension office promoted and advertised a number of programs offered by UNR Extension including the Home Horticulture and Master Gardener program, Living With Fire, and    Radon. Flyers were distributed promoting and advertising webinars and educational series or workshops for topics such as Cultivating Healthy Plants, Certified Applicators Pesticide Safety Education, Hemp Education, Soil Health for Healthy Plants, Disrupting Aging, Beginner’s Guide to Landscaping with Native Plants, and many more. The office also prints and distributes Healthy Living While Aging newsletters.

The Lyon office continues to be a presence for those within the community where questions about topics such as crops, bugs, growing seasons, and home garden questions can be brought. The office provides resources for community members and arranges connections with specialists at the University of Nevada, Reno Extension. There are also several fact sheets and program flyers available in the office for community members.

Radon Education 

January is the officially recognized Radon Action Month by the University of Nevada, Reno Extension’s Radon Program, though that also extends into February. Radon is an odorless, tasteless, and colorless radioactive gas that, at high levels, raises the risk of lung cancer. A large portion of Lyon County has an elevated risk of radon, so it’s important to test homes, which is the first step in preventing radon caused illnesses. The Lyon Extension office provided free radon test kits during the months of January and February. There are also educational materials and testing kits available to the public in the Lyon office year-round.

Lyon County Master Gardeners 

The Home Horticulture Certificate and Master Gardener programs through the University of Nevada, Reno Extension are designed to teach research-based, Nevada specific gardening practices to those interested in learning more about Nevada landscapes, plants, and more. After completing the Home Horticulture portion of the program, those who are interested in volunteering and sharing what they’ve learned with their local communities can continue on and complete the Master Gardener portion of the program, of which Lyon County had two interns working to complete their program requirements this year.

Living With Fire 

The Living With Fire (LWF) program through the University of Nevada, Reno Extension aims to provide residents with recommendations to better prepare for the threat of wildfire to homes and communities. They provide resources and materials on improving defensible space, managing vegetation and preparing for evacuation. This program is a collaborative effort to help make homes and communities more likely to survive wildfires. 
LWF has developed a High School Wildfire Science Curriculum, where students learn about the role wildfire plays in local ecosystems and actions they can take to be more prepared for wildfire. These materials meet science course standards and were incorporated into the curriculum in one Lyon County school for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Nevada Economic Assessment Project (NEAP)

The Nevada Economic Assessment Project (NEAP) aims to provide county, state, and federal agencies, and their partners, with quantitative and qualitative baseline data and analyses to better understand trends in each county’s demographic, social, economic, fiscal and environmental characteristics. The data can be used for land-use and project planning, grant writing and overall policy assessment. This project is led by community economic development Extension specialists.

Beginning in early 2022, NEAP partnered with State Parks to conduct visitor use surveys across all State Park locations in Nevada. The survey gives an extensive look at the visitors’ experience at the park, preferences for future change, and spending on their travels. In Lyon County, this included the following State Parks: Dayton, Fort Churchill, Lahontan, and Walker River. The full Visitor Use Survey Data Profile: Nevada State Parks is available online, as well as park specific reports.

NEAP and Nevada Rural Housing have been working together since late 2022 with the goal to gather and analyze data to present the current housing situation in the counties and communities across the state. A statewide report will be available by the end of 2024.

NEAP and the Nevada Association of Counties (NACO) conducted a survey of public health infrastructure across Nevada’s rural and frontier counties. A national Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) framework describes the baseline level of services that should be offered through all governmental health departments. The survey asks participants to provide expertise, capacity, and implementation ratings for each of the Foundational Areas and Capabilities and provide free responses on services/programs they know about in each Area and Capability at the county, state, and community partner level. An in-person community review and verification workshop was held in Lyon County on January 9, 2024. A statewide report will be available by the end of 2024.

FISCAL YEAR 2023- 2024

To be posted at a later date.