On a sunny, but muggy, morning last June, six Game and Parks Commission and Northern Prairies Land Trust biologists gathered at Indian Cave State Park. Our mission for the next two days: trek the park’s rugged, wooded hills in search of the elusive yellow lady’s-slipper orchid (Cypripedium parviflorum). A common and widespread North American species, the yellow lady’sslipper grows in coniferous and deciduous forests and wetlands across much of Canada and the U.S. Nebraska, however, supports only a handful of …

Who doesn’t enjoy seeing native wildflowers in good habitat on a farm, huh? I know I do! I am so wild about wildflowers (forbs) that I have planted a number of applicable varieties on our 148 year-old southeastern Nebraska farm in our Conservation Reserve Program acres. I am proud of the pollinator habitat we have established. Here it is at work! According to the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), pollinators play a crucial role in the reproduction of many plants, including many of …

LINCOLN – The following is a listing of Nebraska Game and Parks Commission events and important dates in June: June 1 – Living History, Fort Atkinson State Historical Park (SHP), Fort Calhoun, 402-468-5611 June 2, 16 – Pistol League, Platte River State Park (SP), Louisville, 402-471-5547 June 3 – Family Fishing Event, Skyview Lake, Norfolk, 6-8 p.m. June 3-Sept. 30 – JOAD Adult Archery Development Program, Nebraska Game and Parks Outdoor Education Center, 4703 N. 44th St., Lincoln, 402-471-6141 June 4 …

If you manage it, they will thrive! “ “We don’t always understand that you cannot plant wildlife habitat and let it go, it needs to be managed,” says Eric Zach, Agricultural Program Manager here at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. “A landowner must set the stage for better years regarding upland game bird nesting and brood-rearing cover,” he adds. Well put, Eric, well put! With that information in mind, we travel to our Wagner family farm in southeast Nebraska …