Nebraskaland Magazine

Kenneth McLaughlin has been appointed to the position of Facilities Maintenance Specialist at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park effective January 14th. McLaughlin has several years prior experience in facility maintenance and has worked at Mahoney State Park as a temporary maintenance employee most recently.  McLaughlin, a carpenter, holds a Master’s Degree  in wood science and technology from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Mannheim Germany.

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is offering three- and five-year hunting, fishing and combination permits beginning this year. These permits provide a discount over purchasing annual permits for three or five years. The discount for three-year permits is 9-10 percent and the discount for five-year permits is 19-20 percent. The permits include all necessary state stamps as part of the price. The hunting and combination hunting/fishing permits come in two varieties: one includes just a habitat …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commissioners will consider funding recommendations for the 2013 Recreational Trails Grant Program at their Jan. 18 meeting in Omaha. The recommendations are: $246,000 for a trail bridge renovation by Lancaster County; $239,079 for trail construction by the City of Schuyler; $271,514 for trail construction by the City of Fremont; and $28,000 for purchase of a tractor to perform Cowboy Trail maintenance by Game and Parks. The meeting begins at 8 a.m. at …

If you have read the title of this blog post, there are several notions in your head about the theme of these particular ramblings of mine.  I am betting what I have to say is not what you think it will be.  You all know that I blog about a variety of things, usually related to fish and fishing in Nebraska, always related to the outdoors.  On occasion I have to “editorialize” and get some things off of my chest. …

I’ll be showing you a couple of the top spots to wet  fishing lines, camp and recreate this year near the Omaha-metro area on my Weekly  Outdoor Report airing LIVE Thursday evening during  the sports segment on the 6 p.m. newscast on Omaha’s WOWT-TV/Channel 6 and www.wowt.com Here’s a hint on one of them that has awfully big fish swimming around to catch, snap a pic of and then release! Don’t forget, if you’re unable to view the live broadcast …

Wanted to give you the lowdown on a fiesta taking place the evening of Tuesday,  January 15, at La Paloma Mexican Restaurant in Lincoln, as the Anglers of the Blue Moon raise the needed funds to construct special-needs fishing piers at Bowling Lake.  Nebraska’s very own Dick Turpin will be hosting the event with 15% of the dining proceeds going to the fishing pier project.  Other local celebrities will be on hand to bus tables, take orders and do who-knows-what-else.  …

We just wrapped up a five year project funded by Nebraska Game and Parks through two State Wildlife Grants.  During the project, we enhanced grassland habitat for a number of wildlife species through fire and grazing management, and then measured the impacts on plant diversity and butterflies – particularly regal fritillaries.  You can see a summary of what we learned, and link to the full report, if you like. http://prairieecologist.com/2013/01/08/lessons-from-a-project-to-improve-prairie-quality-part-1-patch-burn-grazing-plant-diversity-and-butterflies/

My family and I got out of town for an extended time over the New Year’s holiday.  We went “out west” to celebrate Christmas with family, and as I promised before we left, we spent as much time as possible enjoying Nebraska’s great outdoors!  Time to give you a report. . . . I have listened to plenty of negativity and complaining about pheasant numbers and pheasant hunting this year.  Believe me, I know there are not the number of …

It’s only an excuse for me to experience winter, watch wildlife, enjoy the scenery and shoot photos with a new camera … Really it is … I am referring to Nebraska’s Late Firearm Deer Hunting Season. I thoroughly enjoy it! The photos from my Saunders County expedition will sum up why. Of course, getting an antlerless deer (a whitetail doe) in the late firearm season is merely a bonus for me!

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will burn brush piles, as weather allows, at several sites across the state. Brush piles are created by the removal of invading trees in grassland or timber stands, or from trees damaged in wildfires. Removal of brush piles will open grasslands and timber for continued management, eliminate a wildfire fuel source and eliminate predator habitat. The following list includes scheduled prescribed burns by county: Custer – Pressey Wildlife Management Area (WMA); …