Fort Robinson State Park guests again will celebrate Native American culture during one of the High Plains’ premier powwows. The 17th annual Intertribal Gathering is moving to a traditional powwow format and will be June 18-19, a week later than its usual date. Featuring traditional dancing, drumming and singing in a family-friendly environment, the event annually attracts hundreds of dancers and spectators. An array of activities will complement the dancing, including a 5k run. Vendors selling Native American crafts, food …

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has confirmed that the bighorn sheep ram harvested by Lincoln hunter Terry Bogle in December 2015 is a new state record. The final net score for the ram’s horns is 190 5/8 on the Boone and Crockett Club scale – just over the 189 it measured prior to a mandatory drying period. The previous record of 185 7/8 was set in 1998, the first year of the Commission’s bighorn hunt. The ram, one of …

It’s been fun witnessing the excitement about one of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s latest fisheries projects – tiger trout stockings. I’ve noticed an increased number of Nebraskans posting photos of the beautiful species on social media, and have even had a photo or two arrive via text message from excited anglers who have caught the species for the first time. The species is bringing out the child in a lot of us. During his visit to Chadron last …

Carp aren’t at the top of the list of fish species that get me excited, but they did just that as I was lured to the Sandhills to watch the region’s newest effort to combat an old problem. A crew of six commercial fishermen from Minnesota, led by Jeff Riedemann and Tim Adams, brought their operation to Clear Lake on the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge in late March. Outdoor Channel junkies may recognize those names as stars of Bottom Feeders, …

A fish species that has been a rare catch in Nebraska is becoming more common thanks to the work of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Thousands of tiger trout, a hybrid of brown trout and brook trout, have been raised at the Rock Creek State Fish Hatchery near Parks, Nebraska, and are being stocked at locations throughout the state for the first time. The colorful species has characteristics of both brookies and browns and is easily identified by the …

Overnight visitors to Fort Robinson State Park may notice a special touch to their rooms this summer. The park, with its historical lodging facilities that once housed Cavalry soldiers and officers, has begun a new project to feature the work of quilters from Nebraska and the surrounding region. The park is seeking at least 30 quilts to be placed on beds in two of its officers’ quarters — the big brick buildings at the west end of its horseshoe drive …

Hunters looking to be successful at bagging a turkey this spring will have the opportunity to learn how to do it Tuesday, March 22, in Chadron. Justin Powell of Alliance, a Nebraska Game and Parks Commission wildlife biologist and avid hunter, will deliver a presentation about hunting gobblers as part of the Commission’s Turkey Hunting Workshop series. The event will be 6-8:30 p.m. in room 231 of the Burkhiser Complex at Chadron State College. The workshop is open to all …

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has completed the third year of a five-year aerial survey of mule deer in the Pine Ridge of northwestern Nebraska. The survey, which covers eight subunits with the most suitable mule deer habitat within the Pine Ridge deer management unit, indicated a decrease in the overall mule deer population, but an increase in the number of the species’ fawns. Commission employees counted 636 mule deer compared to 758 in 2015 and 862 in 2014. …

The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking comment regarding an environmental assessment document for the dam at Box Butte State Recreation Area north of Hemingford. Engineers have identified problems with sedimentation through the dam’s toe drain – a perforated pipe that runs along the base of the earthen dam to collect water from the reservoir’s seepage and move it to the downstream side of the embankment. The bureau prepared the draft to evaluate environmental consequences of undertaking corrective actions to the …

Wild turkeys from Nebraska received a one-way trip to Montana last week, courtesy of the states’ wildlife management officials. Montana wildlife officials were in Crawford on Friday to retrieve 125 wild turkeys that were captured in Nebraska’s Pine Ridge. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission employees caught the birds Thursday in netted enclosures on private property near Whiteclay. Unlike the birds’ new home, the turkey population in the area of the capture is especially high and landowners were contented to part …