Conservation

We are past the Memorial Day weekend and officially into “summer” now.  Often, by this time, I have posted a reminder about boating safety and especially wearing your life jackets.  I may be a little late with that reminder this year, but we certainly are in the middle of fishing and boating season now–still a good time to do it. I am betting most of you have life jackets in your boat like you are legally required.  But, I am …

Members of the public are invited to become citizen scientists during the Bioblitz, a 24-hour program at Oliver Reservoir west of Kimball on Friday and Saturday, June 17-18. Led by the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, the free family event will allow participants to discover and celebrate western Nebraska wildlife. A bioblitz is an event where members of the public become “citizen scientists” and work with biologists to survey a particular area, recording all plants and animals they can find. …

My buddies here at the Game & Parks Commission, Jeff Rawlinson and Aaron Hershberger have been taping some “how to” videos or “V blogs” or whatever you want to call them.  You can find them on YouTube under the title of “Nebraska Outdoors“. Aaron invited me over last week to talk fishing and they just got that video posted up today.  Might as well share it here on my blog too! Have a great weekend everyone.  Fish are biting, get …

I am all fishing, all the time, except when the turkeys are gobbling in the spring.  I just cannot get enough of hunting those big, beautiful Toms.  So, the past few weeks I have to admit to you that I have been fishing very little.  But, Nebraska’s spring turkey season 2016 is now in the rear-view mirror, and it is time to get back on the water!  This past weekend, a holiday weekend, was a great one to do that, …

I taught a “basic fishing” class last Thursday evening.  That class was planned to be in a classroom and I am afraid the participants had to listen to me ramble about fishing for a couple of hours.  I hope I did not bore them to tears.  One thing I mentioned to them that I want to “hit” again today is our Family Fishing events.  Yes, some of these events have already been held this late spring/early summer, but there is …

There are a couple, three, water-related, fishing, boating news items I want to mention, spread the word about, before this holiday weekend. Goose Lake WMA Open in Time for Memorial Day Weekend LINCOLN – Goose Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA), located southeast of Chambers in Holt County, will reopen to public access beginning May 28. The area had been closed earlier this spring while the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission treated the lake to suppress the growth and spread of …

I want to blog one more time about our spring turkey season.  Consider this to be my epilogue blog.  Ha. My kids and I had a great turkey season this spring.  I know I say that every spring, but I especially felt that way this spring.  Sure, we all punched tags with 2-year old, mature Toms, and believe me success is a big part of it, but I just felt like I got even more enjoyment out of this spring’s …

Got a basic fishing workshop coming up this week.  It will be held at the Outdoor Education Center on Superior Street here in Lincoln.  The workshop will be free, but space is available, the folks at the education center ask that you REGISTER. The workshop is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.  Now, I could talk for two days on “Basic Fishing”, so I know now there will not be enough time to cover everything.  However, what I try to …

LINCOLN – Many of Nebraska’s habitat programs will get a boost from recent Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) sign-ups. More than 76,000 acres in Nebraska were enrolled or re-enrolled in CRP during the sign-up period earlier this year. This will be the first year overall CRP enrollment in Nebraska will increase since 2007. These sign-ups, combined with land already enrolled in CRP, bring the state’s total acres enrolled in CRP to 773,203. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced enrollment figures …

LINCOLN – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will host seven free workshops about the power of pollinators and measures homeowners and others can take to protect them. Pollinators are insects and animals that transport pollen between plants, ensuring that those plants produce fruit or seeds. Common pollinators include bees and butterflies. Pollinators are critical to our environment, food supply and economy, but their numbers are in decline. By establishing backyard pollinator gardens as a source of food and shelter …