Program Impacts
Master Gardeners
Our Master Gardener program took a big step this past year. We had three new volunteers join our program, which allowed us to greatly increase community outreach and participation compared to previous years.
In addition to overseeing the community garden, our Master Gardeners provided insight and expertise to the community through their monthly garden talks from May through September, two community presentations at Ace Hardware, and two additional presentations through the Greenhouse Project; one at their foothill garden location behind Carson Tahoe Health, and the other at their greenhouse next to Carson High School.
The Master Gardeners were also critical in providing expertise and support to improve our community garden, such as helping to install a full irrigation system to provide water directly to each garden bed.
We also held the first Master Gardener ran seed swap program at the Carriage House in January of 2026, welcoming more than 100 people to pick up seeds and learn about best horticulture practices from our team.
Additionally, several of our members also participated in community outreach events, such as Pollinator Palooza, including supporting community partners with their pollinator tours, and helping to run our booths at the Northern Nevada Giant Student Farmers Market.
4-H Youth Development
The Carson City 4-H youth development programs strive to impact youth in our counties with after-school clubs, festivals and day camps and in-school programming throughout the year. These programs reached 2,059 youth in 2025-2026. The goal of our programs aim to help youth find their spark, encourage others, build leadership abilities and form lifelong friendships within our county and others. Our volunteers push to help the youth develop the skills they wish to obtain by guiding the youth with positive direction. A total of 17 volunteers will make these education forms possible in our area.
- Total youth members in organized clubs: 90
- Total Active Clubs: 9
- Arrowhead Livestock
- Bouncing Bunnies
- Carson Cluckers
- Target Rippers
- Comstock HotShots
- 4 Paws Dog Club
- Capital City Critters
- Sewing Club
- Garden Club
Two youth participated in the annual Expo competition, and 10 competed at NJLS. We also held day camps at Fuji Park over summer break, where students learned about health and nutrition.
- Total youth participating in in-school programming:1,362
- Four separate lessons to all 2nd grade students at Fremont Elementary School
- Four separate lessons to all 4th, 5th and 6th grade students at Carson City Montessori
- Total number of Adult Volunteers: 10
- Total Number of youth volunteers: 7
- Total outreach opportunities: 8, and indirect contact with activities -550
- Total youth reached directly and indirectly: 2,059
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed)
During the 2025-2026 time period, the Health & Nutrition team developed and utilized:
Strong partnerships with youth-based organizations:
- Chartwells
- Carson City School District Nutrition Services
- Edith W. Fritsch Elementary School
- JC Fremont Elementary School
- Empire Elementary School (New)
- Go Wild w/ Fruits & Veggies! Youth programming curriculum was utilized this year for a series of 7 lessons for 8 classrooms:
- Fremont Elementary School (4th grade): 87 unique students reached.
- Fritsch Elementary School (4th grade): 91 unique students reached.
Totaling 1,133 repeat contacts for both school sites.
Pick a Better Snack Youth Programming curriculum was utilized for one time lessons for 3rd or 4th graders at other schools:
Empire Elementary School (7 3rd & 4th grade classrooms): 126 unique students reached, 126 contacts
PSE was eliminated during this fiscal year for SNAP-Ed programming to focus on direct education but a tasting tabling event and EOY nutrition and Physical activity reinforcer items were still provided to Fritsch and Fremont ES:
Tasting Tabling Events:
- Fritsch ES: 450 students reached during all lunch periods (K-5) with a sampling of strawberries with snap peas, plus an electronic newsletter on peas and strawberries for all parents.
- End of Year Nutrition/Physical Activity Reinforcer Item + Importance of Physical Activity for Kids handout for parents:
- Fritsch ES: jump ropes for all 381 students (K-5)
- Fremont ES: jump ropes for all 443 students (K-5)
- Empire ES: Water Bottles and Flying Discs for all 3rd and 4th graders: 126 in total
Community Outreach
UNR Extension participated in a variety of community events during this time period, including hosting booths at the Northern Nevada Giant Student Farmers Market at the Capitol Building, the Nevada Day Parade, the farmers market, Carson Tahoe Health Vehicles of Change, and Pollinator Palooza outside of the Nevada State Museum. These events provided us an opportunity to connect with the community, showcase a variety of our programs, and promote our needs assessment program to the public.
Living With Fire
During FY25-26, Living With Fire supported wildfire preparedness, planning, and community resilience efforts throughout Carson City through Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) development, stakeholder engagement, interagency coordination, public education, and professional training. Staff participated in meetings with regional fire and fuels collaboratives, including the Northern Nevada Fires Collaborative Alliance (NNFCA) and Lake Tahoe Regional Fire Collaborative Alliance (LTRFCA), helping coordinate wildfire resilience and fuels management efforts across jurisdictions.
Living With Fire supported development and implementation of the Carson City CWPP through stakeholder engagement, project identification, collaborative planning, and deployment of the Living CWPP platform. The planning process brought together local government, emergency management, fire agencies, federal partners, Tribal representatives, and community stakeholders to identify wildfire hazards, prioritize mitigation projects, and strengthen community wildfire resilience. Planning emphasized collaborative decision-making, integration of local knowledge and wildfire risk information, and development of locally driven mitigation strategies.
In addition to planning efforts, staff provided direct training and outreach within the community. Living With Fire facilitated a professional wildfire preparedness training for Carson City Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers, helping build local capacity to support wildfire preparedness and response activities. Staff also participated in the May 2026 Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting to provide information on wildfire preparedness, community wildfire risk reduction, and ongoing resilience initiatives. Additional engagement included support for the Washoe Tribe Community Assessment Team (CAT) Training held in Carson City on May 20, 2026, which strengthened Tribal and community capacity for wildfire preparedness and resilience. Carson City partners also participated in the CWPP Writing Workshop Series beginning September 29, 2025, providing opportunities for peer learning and technical assistance in wildfire planning.
Carson City Collaborators
- Carson City Fire Department
- Kimberly Fahey, Vanessa Alpers, Chris Mason
- Carson City Emergency Management
- Jon Bakkedahl
- Carson City Parks & Open Space
- Mareena Lovejoy, Lyndsey Boyer
- University of Nevada, Reno Extension
- Micaela Truslove, Megan Kay
- Federal Partners
- U.S. Forest Service, BLM, and other partners
Carson City Activities:
- July 2, 2025 NNFCA Regular Meeting, Carson City
- August 21, 2025 LTRFCA Full Meeting, Carson City
- April 1, 2026 NNFCA Full Meeting, Carson City
- April 22, 2026 CERT Training
- May 20, 2026 Washoe Tribe CAT Training, Carson City
- May 21, 2026 Carson City Board of Supervisors Meeting
Fiscal Summary
