Tag Archives: habitat

Prescribed burns are planned this spring on many Nebraska Game and Parks Commission wildlife management areas, state parks and state recreation areas where weather allows. Historically, wildlife habitats were shaped by wildfires that occurred throughout the year. Burns can help set back undesirable plants that invade native woodlands and prairies, as well as other grass and wooded areas. Prescribed burning, if used with grazing, can set back smooth brome and Kentucky bluegrass, increase diversity in grasslands and improve habitat for …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is seeking public input on its updated draft pheasant management plan. The 2021 Berggren Plan is named after the late Lynn Berggren, who served as a Commissioner from 2007-2016. The plan seeks to improve the pheasant hunting experience in Nebraska over the next five years with a primary emphasis on improving habitat and increasing public access with several priority areas located throughout the state. The plan aims to build on past …

LINCOLN, Neb. — With the help of a $280,000 matching grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, working with partners, will be able to modernize wetland conservation resources for educators and the public. The three-year project is expected to result in a new online collection of educational materials, including fifth-grade curriculum and activity book; Platte Basin Timelapse short films and multimedia stories; a public-consumption Guide to Nebraska Wetlands; and an online wetland ESRI StoryMap. …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Students in kindergarten through 12th grade can discover the outdoors by participating in the second annual Nebraska Fish Art Contest. The 2021 contest, which is sponsored by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Wildlife Forever and Bass Pro Shops, is accepting entries through March 31, 2021. Enter at statefishart.org. This free international art and writing competition gives young people the opportunity to highlight their artistic talents while learning about fish, fishing and aquatic conservation. Participants can win …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Prescribed burns are planned in the upcoming months on some Nebraska Game and Parks Commission wildlife management areas if weather conditions allow. Burns during the summer and fall can help set back undesirable plants that invade native prairies and other grasslands. Eastern redcedar trees and undesirable deciduous shrubs have higher mortality during summer burns because of higher air temperatures and because they’ve expended much of their energy flowering and producing fruit. Green vegetation in summer and early …

LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission recently received a $250,000 award from the Nebraska Environmental Trust to help landowners complete grassland habitat improvements on 45,000 acres of private lands across Nebraska. Game and Parks and Pheasants Forever will co-lead the project known as the Grassland Enhancement Initiative, which will help landowners implement prescribed fire, tree removal, herbicide application, disking, grazing, or herbaceous seeding, among other habitat improvement practices. In doing so, the initiative will counter threats to …

What you may not know about me is that I am a lover of wildflowers. Seeing, smelling, identifying and just being amid native wildflowers are on my list of my favorite outdoor pursuits in Nebraska’s landscape. And you know what? Those wildflowers are more important than ever! No, scratch that. Indirectly, those native wildflowers are vital to all life on our planet Earth! Allow me to explain. For one out of every three bites of food you eat, you need to thank a bee, butterfly, beetle, ant, wasp, bat, bird or …

C-R-P, grassland conservation and early successional habitat. When those letters and words are brought up in a conversation, chances are the ring-necked pheasant will be mentioned in a sentence or two. Yes, CRP, grassland conservation and early successional habitat and pheasants all go together, but they also go with a lot of other wildlife. You see, our family farm is enrolled in the Unites States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Conservation Reserve Program or what is referred to as the CRP. …

LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission received the Land Stewardship Award from the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) on Feb. 16 during the 41st annual NWTF Convention and Sport Show in Nashville, Tenn. The award was presented to the Commission for promoting responsible forest management, wood procurement and manufacturing practices for the benefit of the nation’s forests, wildlife and people. The Commission and the NWTF have a long history of partnering to enhance wildlife habitats across Nebraska. …

Nebraska Game and Parks Commissioners and staff are in the midst of the Rooster Roundup — a quest to hunt pheasants on public land throughout Nebraska. The first stop on their journey is described below. The morning was a typical fall Nebraska morning as hunters hit the field at Sherman Reservoir Wildlife Management Area (WMA) for pheasant hunting. Pheasant and quail numbers are up this year providing upland game hunters with plenty of opportunities to get out and walk many …