LINCOLN, Neb. – Tax season provides a unique opportunity for Nebraskans to contribute to wildlife and habitat conservation. Line 42 on the 2012 state income tax form (Form 1040N) allows individuals to donate all or a part of their tax refund to the Wildlife Conservation Fund, which is used to manage nongame and endangered species in the state. “The check-off is one of the principal sources of state funding used to conserve more than 95 percent of fish and wildlife …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The following is a listing of Nebraska Game and Parks Commission events and important dates in February: Feb. 1 – Conservation Jam, Center for Great Plains Studies, 1155 Q St., Lincoln, 5:30 p.m. Feb. 2-3 – White-fronted goose hunting season Feb. 2-3 – Super Bowl Lodging Special, Ponca State Park (SP), 402-755-2284 Feb. 8 – Dark goose hunting season closes in Platte River, Panhandle and Niobrara units Feb. 8 – Light goose hunting season closes Feb. 9 …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraskans enjoying the outdoors this winter should take precautions to avoid hypothermia. Hypothermia is a low body temperature most often is caused by exposure to cold weather or immersion in a cold body of water. Left untreated, hypothermia can lead to complete failure of the heart and respiratory system and to death. Primary treatments for hypothermia are methods to warm the body back to a normal temperature. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission suggests hunters, anglers and …

LINCOLN, Neb. – North Platte native Julie Geiser has joined the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission as a public information officer for west-central and southwest Nebraska. She began her duties, working out of the agency’s North Platte office, on Jan. 14. Geiser’s duties include community and media relations, public information, and photography and writing for NEBRASKAland Magazine and all agency media. Geiser, an avid outdoor enthusiast, has coordinated the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program for Game and Parks. The program introduces …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Justin Haag will join the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission as a public information officer for the Panhandle beginning Jan. 28. Haag’s duties include community and media relations, public information, and photography and writing for NEBRASKAland Magazine and all agency media. P> Haag, a lifetime resident of western Nebraska, comes to Game and Parks after 12 years at Chadron State College, where he was a communications coordinator for seven years and then media and public relations coordinator …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Jenny Nguyen has joined the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission as a public information officer for northeast Nebraska. She began her duties, working out of the agency’s Norfolk office, on Jan. 14. Nguyen’s duties include community and media relations, public information, and photography and writing for NEBRASKAland Magazine and all agency media. Nguyen was 2 years old when her family emigrated from Vietnam to Southern California, where she grew up in Garden Grove. She graduated from UCLA …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will certify youth fishing instructors at the Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium on March 2. Youth fishing instructors will receive training and tools to conduct fishing clinics. They will have access to Game and Parks’ loaner fishing equipment and educational materials, as well as receive program incentives. They also are encouraged to volunteer for such Game and Parks programs as Family Fishing Nights and the Outdoor Discovery Program. The training workshop is from 9 …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska’s resident mountain lion population has grown slightly, staff told the Nebraska Game and Parks Commissioners at their meeting Jan. 18 in Omaha. Sam Wilson, Game and Parks’ furbearer and carnivore program manager, estimated the reproducing population of mountain lions in the Pine Ridge of northwest Nebraska in 2012 was 22, compared to 19 in 2010. The estimates were derived from studies in which dogs were used to detect mountain lion scat, which were then analyzed through …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Pheasants and Quail Forever will host a prescribed burn workshop Jan. 23 in Beatrice for landowners who want to learn how prescribed burning can improve forage, control red cedars and improve wildlife habitat. The workshop will be from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Homestead National Monument, 8523 W. Nebraska Hwy. 4. Lunch is included in the $10 fee. Participants should register by Jan. 22. Visit NebraskaPF.com or call Bruce Sprague at …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Pheasants and Quail Forever will host a prescribed burn workshop Jan. 24 in Ithaca for landowners who want to learn how prescribed burning can improve forage, control red cedars and improve wildlife habitat. The workshop will be from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1071 County Road G. Lunch is included in the $10 fee. Participants should register by Jan. 22. Visit NebraskaPF.com …