NEBRASKAland Articles

Keeping kids entertained on family camping trips can sometimes be a challenge. Instead of packing extra things for them to do, create a fun craft—and souvenir from the trip—using materials gathered at the campsite. Make a dream catcher with only a few small items from home, and send the kids on a scavenger hunt for the remaining materials. A Native American tradition, dreamcatchers were made to hang over you while you slept, in order to filter nightmares from dreams. The …

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has completed the second year of an annual mule deer survey in portions of the Pine Ridge management unit in northwestern Nebraska. On Feb. 6-9, Commission employees used a contracted helicopter to repeat the 2014 mule deer survey. Commission staff counted 758 deer in 429 square miles of the unit compared to 862 in the same areas in 2014. The data will be compared to mule deer numbers in other areas of the state …

Dave Kinnamon, park superintendent at Lewis and Clark Lake State Recreation Area (SRA), has had his share of experience with fire. Before accepting his current position at the SRA near Crofton in late 2013, Kinnamon served as park superintendent at Chadron State Park in western Nebraska, where he helped to combat the forest fires of 2012. Prior to leaving Chadron, Kinnamon helped the park obtain a surplus fire truck from the City of Seward Fire and Rescue to allow park …

Any long time resident of Nebraska knows there is no such thing as a “normal” spring*.  This spring provides more evidence.  The bitter cold snap of late February extended into the first days of March and today (16 March) the afternoon temperatures are going to be bumping 90.   Long time resident birders and birdwatchers know that weather in late winter/early spring will affect the progression (e.g., arrival) of the first waves of migrant birds.  The bitter late winter cold snap, which …

Conservation officers Alexandra Frohberg and Tom Zimmer made a surprise visit to Covington Elementary in South Sioux City recently. As part of a class assignment, third grade student Kevin Castro wrote to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to invite staff to visit his class and to read. “The students love to have guest readers come in, and I love to show how reading is a part of life, even after school,” said Castro’s third grade teacher Sara Friedrichsen. “So …

Fort Hartsuff State Historical Park, one of America’s best preserved frontier forts, will soon host dozens of military and civilian living historians and reenactors. On April 18-19, step back in time to 1865 to experience a day in the life of soldiers and civilians living on an army post on the Great Plains. Events will take place 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday. Members of the Great Plains Garrison, a coalition of regional reenactors and …

The spring migration has begun when the unique and primeval call of the sandhill crane is heard; it is one that captures our attention and curiosity. Standing four-foot tall these prehistoric birds travel through Nebraska as part of their migration from summering areas in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico to their nesting areas in the upper United States, Canada and as far North as Siberia. In the Central Flyway, Nebraska is one of the few places left for the 500,000-plus …

Breaking records is something we have become accustomed to since Bald Eagles started nesting in the state after a long absence. Last year was no exception, as the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and our partners surveyed 146 Bald Eagle nests in 2014 and determined 111 of them to be active. Even though a record numbers of nests is a regular occurrence, and it is human nature to be lulled by the routine, it is worth taking a few moments to consider …

CHADRON — In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Nebraska reintroduced wild turkeys from other states to its landscape after the big birds had been extirpated decades earlier during the nation’s westward expansion. The reintroduction was so successful that turkeys have again become common border-to-border and Nebraska is now able to return the favor to another state. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission led an effort this week to trap wild turkeys on a ranch near Whiteclay in northern Sheridan …

Clear Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA) offers a great public area to hunt – located near Lewellen the WMA is a short travel distance for those in central and southwest Nebraska and a go-to destination for others. The area is owned by Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District and encompasses more than 6,200 acres of land and water depending on lake elevation. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) leases this area for wildlife management and public use access. …