Conservation

LINCOLN – The Farm Service Agency has several Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP) options available to Nebraska producers on a first-come, first-served basis. Agricultural producers can apply for CCRP anytime throughout the year, but the availability of CRP acres is somewhat limited as the national acreage cap set by the 2012 Farm Bill draws nearer. Interested producers can visit their local USDA Service Center to determine what options exist for their farm. With recent declines in commodity prices, CRP is …

Today is Halloween.  I feel obligated to do a Halloween blog. Fishing kayaks have become very popular in the past few years.  I have not purchased one yet.  I am waiting for the fishing pumpkins thing to take off. My kids carved several fish or wildlife-themed pumpkins over the years.  Here are some of the photos I could still find. I would go fishing tonight, but I am afraid of running into the devil mink, Or a scary fish with a …

A couple of weeks ago I shared a Cabela’s commercial that I really liked, The Feeling Never Ends.  This Friday I have another one, this one from Orvis: I post these videos not because I am promoting any company, business or product.  But, Cabela’s and Orvis both have some really good stuff and if you are like me, you already have a bunch of it, and find something new to buy at nearly every opportunity. No, I post these videos …

I had some meetings to attend “out west” a couple of weeks ago.  That gave me a chance to re-visit some places I do not get to nearly enough.  Fall is one of the prettiest times to be there.  I had to stop and catch my breath when I finally saw the end of the road. The view was just as pretty looking back from whence I had just come. Here is one of the cathedrals I visited. And looking …

Every season there is something going on if you are a fisheries biologist.  I would not say that there is any “down time”.  However, I would say that spring and then fall it is particularly busy.  Right now, Nebraska’s fisheries biologists are on the water sampling fish populations on a variety of waters across the state. Nebraska’s fisheries biologists conduct what we call “standard surveys”.  Those are fish population surveys that are carried out according to standardized, scientific methods in …

I am going to plagiarize myself in this blog post and repeat something I wrote a few years back, back before this whole blogging thing.  I will update some figures and so forth, and add some comments, but this originally ran in the January/February 1998 issue of NEBRASKAland magazine. Determining the value of a fish is difficult.  Some anglers see fish and fishing as an integral part of life and might consider fish priceless.  Others might set its value based …

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is seeking information about two cases involving the unlawful killing of big game animals in western and north-central Nebraska. One case involves the death of four buck pronghorns. The remains of the animals, minus three of the heads and some of the meat, were found Oct. 17 on private land south of Kimball. The other case involves the death of a cow elk believed to be shot either Oct. 14 or Oct. …

Want to mention another excellent Nebraska fishing organization, the Cornhusker Fly Fishers.  They meet monthly at our Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium south of Gretna.  If you check their calendar, you will see that this is a very active bunch of anglers doing fly-tying, fishing events, casting classes, meetings and a whole lot more.  Many of them are volunteer fishing instructors and also help with kid’s fishing events, family fishing nights, sport shows, and Expos.  If you are an angler, especially a fly angler, …

A few weeks ago a story ran in the Omaha World-Herald about a new comprehensive plan addressing stream habitat needs across the state.  Please take some time and read the Marjie Ducey story, Plan aims to preserve streams across Nebraska. I wanted to mention this in a blog post to fill in a few blanks.  First of all, if you are interested in details, if you want to see the actual 120-page plan, here it is, Cool Water Stream Management …

One of the most common questions I answer is who to call when some fish or game violation is observed while on the water or in the field.  I tell folks that those fish & wildlife belong to them, belong to me, and the poachers are stealing from all of us!  When we see something we should be upset about it.  However, it is not for us to do something directly, and the best thing we can do is observe as …