NGPC News

LINCOLN – Learn to teach youth and families the lifelong activity of fishing by becoming certified as a youth fishing instructor. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will conduct this free workshop Feb. 13 at Rock Creek Station State Historical Park near Fairbury from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Youth fishing instructors will receive training and tools to conduct fishing clinics. These volunteers will have access to the Commission’s loaner fishing equipment and educational materials for events, as well as …

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 …

LINCOLN – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission approved outdoor trail projects for 2016 federal funding through the Recreational Trail Program at its meeting Jan 14 in Lincoln. Funding is provided by legislative apportionment authorized under the Federal Highway Administration. The approved projects are: — City of Kearney, $250,000, to build a 5,400-foot-long, 8-foot-wide concrete Archway Trail with a 5-foot-wide crushed rock shoulder for use by pedestrians and bicyclists. — City of Genoa, $184,694, to build a 5,420-foot long, 8-foot …

LINCOLN – Bring the family to Eugene T. Mahoney State Park near Ashland for the Cold Day, Warm Hearts and Family Fun event on Jan. 23. This event from 3 – 6 p.m. at Owen Marina will include archery and ice fishing, if conditions allow. Learn how to build an outdoor shelter, as well as get information on outdoor survival. Children will make winter crafts and roast hot dogs and s’mores over a bonfire. Meals and s’mores kits will be …

LINCOLN – The Discover Ice Fishing on-ice clinic scheduled for Jan. 16 at Kearney’s Yanney Lake has been canceled because of a lack of safe ice. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will not reschedule the clinic. Still scheduled is the Nebraska Fish and Game Association’s classroom clinic at Yanney Heritage Park’s Environmental Resource Center, 2020 W. 11th St., from 8 a.m. – noon. Registration is requested. Email Harold Fankhauser at harold@nefga.org to sign up.

LINCOLN – Goose Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA), located southeast of Chambers in Holt County, is open to public access effective immediately. In September, the WMA was closed to all access because of a heavy infestation of Eurasian watermilfoil, an invasive aquatic plant at the lake. Eurasian watermilfoil can spread rapidly because a single fragment of stem or leaf can take root and form a new colony, and plants can grow up to 2 inches per day. Once established, the …

LINCOLN – Enjoy Valentine’s Day at a Nebraska state park this winter. Valentine’s dining specials are offered at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park (SP) on Feb. 12 – 14 and at Platte River SP on Feb. 13 – 14. In addition, Mahoney SP has a lodging discount on Feb. 11 and special Valentine’s packages available for those who reserve a cabin or lodge room between Feb. 11 and Feb. 14. Birds and Breakfast is the theme of the Valentine’s weekend …

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 …

With snow providing favorable conditions for prescribed burning, people in northwestern Nebraska may notice more plumes of smoke rising from forest areas in coming weeks. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is planning to incinerate tree piles at Chadron State Park and several wildlife management areas. Although an exact date for the park hasn’t been set, Superintendent Gregg Galbraith expects the burning to get underway sometime this week. Greg Schenbeck, an area manager for the Commission, said efforts to burn …

LINCOLN – Hunters and landowners are invited to discuss big game issues with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission at upcoming public informational meetings across the state. Commission biologists will explain issues and take questions on topics such as deer management, deer damage and depredation permits, antlerless harvest, trophy management, and diseases. Antelope and elk issues may be discussed at meetings located in areas where these species occur. All meetings begin at 7 p.m. The meeting schedule is: — Jan. …