Volunteer Spotlight

Vern Bostick - Biologist
"When I first stumbled across the wetlands in the Las Vegas Wash in the 1960's, I thought to myself, 'Boy, I've got to explore this.'" And explore he did. Vern Bostick has since canoed, camped, hiked, driven, inner-tubed, toured and photographed the Las Vegas Wash. As a biologist, he has studied its birds, its beavers and its plants while writing extensively, and fighting relentlessly, for the preservation of the Las Vegas Wash and wetlands.

There is little about the Las Vegas Wash this 86 year old man does not know.
Vern Bostick was one of the first to propose the creation of the Clark County Wetlands Park along the Las Vegas Wash. In the 1960's, the park was for preservation and today, for restoration. The Las Vegas Wash has seen many changes over the last thirty years. The 2,000-acres of wetlands that once flourished in the Wash have dwindled to less than 300 acres.

Vern Bostick has served on numerous committees that have helped promote the creation of the Clark County Wetlands Park. Vern was part of the early Wash Development Committee and is currently an active member of the Friends of the Desert Wetlands Park. Throughout the years, Vern has given numerous tours and presentations to a wide variety of audiences ranging from professionals to environmental groups and interested members of the community. His documentation of the Las Vegas Wash through photographs, articles and personal experiences serve as a vivid history of the Wash and help provide an insight to the dynamic ecosystem of Las Vegas Wash and Wetlands.

Additionally, during the countless hours Vern has spent in the Wash, much of that time has been spent planting native species such as the Fremont cottonwood and Coyote willow. His experience and experimentation with planting in the Wash has provided valuable information for the development of a planting methodology for the Las Vegas Wash.

Vern Bostick was one of the first to propose the creation of a Wetlands Park, and with his energy and devotion he is finally seeing his wish become a reality through the construction of the Clark County Wetlands Park.