By Aaron Meier, Nevada Department of Wildlife

The Nevada Department of Wildlife is excited to be hosting this year’s ACI Conference, July 11-14. To show off a little bit we decided to host the conference at Lake Tahoe; one of the most beautiful destinations you will ever see.

Mark Twain once wrote, “To breathe the same air as the angels, you must go to Tahoe.” In a 2012 poll in USA Today, Lake Tahoe was named the “Best Lake in America.” Located in the Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe covers 121,000 surface acres or 192 square miles, making it the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth of 1,645 ft. puts it behind only Crater Lake (1,945 ft.) for the deepest in the United States. Do you really need more? To put it simply, Lake Tahoe is more beautiful and impressive than you could possibly imagine and pictures never do it justice. Do whatever it takes to get yourself to this year’s ACI Conference – you will not be sorry.

We recently finalized the contract with the hotel so we can announce that we will be staying at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, a four-star hotel and casino located in Stateline on the east shore of Lake Tahoe. Disclaimer: Because this is Nevada, gambling is available. You will see slot machines in the airport, convenience stores and even the grocery market. There is a very nice casino at Harrah’s and several casinos all around Stateline. If you would like to take a chance and have some fun, we wish you the best of luck. However, the Nevada Department of Wildlife takes no responsibility if you wind up losing your per diem or, heaven forbid, your kid’s college money.

Now that we have the hotel locked down, we are working feverishly to contact possible sponsors as well as speakers. Updates on speakers and topics should be forthcoming in the next month or so.

One piece of advice that we can give you before you visit the Silver State is this: the state is pronounced Ne-VA-Duh not, and I can’t stress this enough, not Ne-VAH-Duh. People here are a little touchy about how people say the name. To mispronounce the state is almost always going to be met with an instant correction and often a roll of the eyes.

Other than that, we look forward to seeing all of you in Nevada this July.