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Latest Features

Volunteer Spotlight – Fort Atkinson State Historical Park

Living history volunteer Bob Baker celebrates 30 years at Fort Atkinson State Historical Park  By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley Fort Atkinson State Historical Park is located in Fort Calhoun, Washington County. The original military post was active 1819-1827, and its main purpose was to protect the American fur trade by guarding the “gateway to the West.” At its height, Fort Atkinson housed nearly a quarter of the standing U.S. Army (approximately 1,200 soldiers) and roughly that many civilians lived just beyond the …

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The Last-Season Push for Largemouth

By Jeff Kurrus Angler Ryan Glatter coaches high school softball in Omaha. In Nebraska, softball season happens to be played during the fall, which doesn’t necessarily align with one of his favorite times of the year to fish. So, when he has a morning here, or a few afternoon hours there, he has to maximize time. The following are several ways Glatter fits in fishing during the dogs days of August afternoons to the cool mornings of late September. Rainouts …

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DIY Trail Camera Mount

By Ryan Sparks It is the time of year when hunters start thinking about deer and preparing for the upcoming season. A part of that process is placing trail cameras to take an inventory of the deer on the property you hunt. The right trail camera in the right spot can be the key to tagging the buck of a lifetime. But getting a trail camera placed just right is easier said than done. Trees rarely grow perfectly straight, and …

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Just a Little Salty – Nebraska’s Saline Wetlands

By Monica Macoubrie, Wildlife Education Specialist One would never guess looking at Nebraska’s prairies: A hundred million years ago, it was once a vast sea inhabited by shark-like marine reptiles, and when the sea finally retreated, it left behind remnants of salt, and quite a bit of it. The saline wetlands that surround our capital city, Lincoln, is still as salty as today’s oceans. Nebraska is far from any coastline, more than 1,000 miles to be specific, yet it is …

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The Scissors Grinder

An Annual Cicada Story and photos by Gerry Steinauer, Botanist During the dog days of late summer, the reverberating call of the scissors grinder cicada (Neotibicen pruinosus) begins late in the afternoon and continues into dusk. Emanating from high in the trees, individual calls initiate softly and build to a loud, shrill, “WHEE-oo WHEE-oo” crescendo lasting about 20 seconds. Sometimes, it’s a lone call; other times, it’s a cacophony, an apparent horde singing in a shrieking chorus. Some find the …

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Early Road Signs

By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska We take for granted that roads will be marked to show directions and hazards. That wasn’t always the case. Early highways were more of a do-it-yourself affair for private groups and local communities. Private organizations began promoting “automobile trails” in the 1910s and ’20s. A group would navigate a cross-country route along local farm roads and then promote this dirt-road path as a “highway.” Local communities eager to attract motorists then marked the route …

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The Ponca Powwow

Story and photos by Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley The 29th Annual Northern Ponca Tribe Powwow is Aug. 11-13, 2023, with grand entries — ceremonial entrances to the grounds by tribal dancers — at 7 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday. The powwow grounds are located 1 mile west of Niobrara on Highway 12: If coming from the east, turn left at the Ponca sign, located across Niobrara State Park, and follow the pavement. All dancers and …

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Canines of Nebraska

Monica Macoubrie, Wildlife Education Specialist From the Labrador retriever to the Chihuahua, from the coyote to the swift fox, it’s sometimes hard to see similarities between all these animals when they seem so vastly different. But the truth is, whether it’s a herding dog, lap dog or a wild “dog” you may see out in the prairie, all these canines, or canids, have a single common ancestor. Canids are mammals in the order Carnivora (carnivores) and the family Canidae, which …

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August Wildlife Viewing – Bats

By Olivia DaRugna Bats are usually in the spotlight only around Halloween and during Bat Appreciation Week. However, we are going to break the norm, because August is a great time to observe the world’s only true flying mammal.  So, before homework and school sports start back up, get outside in the early evening to look up at the sky for glimpses of these evening aerial acro-bats — pun intended — as they quickly dive and turn to catch their …

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Long Pine Creek

Work Improves a Unique Fishery in the Sandhills Story and photos by Eric Fowler Joel Klammer repeatedly casts a woolly bugger fly toward rock structures in Long Pine Creek and lets it drift through the deep holes below them. He thinks he sees a fish attempting to bite on one drift, but after 20 minutes, he decides his first choice of flies wasn’t going to cut it on this section of the creek on Pine Glen Wildlife Management Area. So, …

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