LINCOLN, Neb. – Join the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in a virtual discussion on fisheries management during meetings March 1-4.

These public informational sessions – one statewide overview and four others specific to each of Game and Parks’ districts – will provide local updates on the fishing outlook and special projects in respective areas. The informal, interactive gatherings will provide a chance for questions, dialogue and feedback.

The virtual meetings will take place on Zoom, a free app that can be downloaded to a web browser or mobile device. Participants are encouraged to submit questions using Zoom’s chat feature.

The statewide session will be March 1 at 2 p.m. Central time and feature an overview of Game and Parks’ Fisheries Division and highlight projects and activities around the state. District sessions will start at 7 p.m. Sessions will be held for the southeast March 1, northeast March 2, northwest March 3 and southwest March 4. All times are Central.

All sessions will be recorded and made available on Game and Parks’ YouTube channel for later viewing.

Registration is required and can be completed at outdoornebraska.gov/fishingevents.

New shelter constructed at Merritt Reservoir

VALENTINE, Neb. – Visitors to Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area have a new place to gather the shade.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission recently installed a new 988-square-foot shelter at the Cedar Bay area.

The $100,000 cost of the project was equally divided between the Game and Parks Capital Maintenance Fund and a grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Cedar Bay, which features 46 campsites, is one of eight campgrounds at the 2,900-acre reservoir.

The new shelter is the second significant improvement at the Sandhills attraction during the past two years. Last summer, the recreation area received a new concrete showerhouse at the Willow Cove Campground.

Merritt Reservoir is 26 miles southeast of Valentine on Nebraska Highway 97. For more information, and to obtain a Nebraska Park Entry Permit, visit outdoornebraska.org.

Anglers should get familiar with redesigned 2021 Fishing Guide

LINCOLN, Neb. – A newly designed 2021 Fishing Guide makes it easier for anglers to find regulations specific to a water body and for new anglers to identify their catch.

The recently released guide, published by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, is a summary of Nebraska’s regulations, orders and statutes pertaining to fishing. Regulation changes for 2021 can be found on page 7 of the guide.

Three main changes to the guide from the previous year include:

• new fish species length/bag/possession limit tables with color images;

• an enhanced Aquatic Invasive Species section, including information about zebra mussels, silver carp and bighead carp;

• a reorganized Public Fishing Areas section that lists waters in separate tables for lakes/reservoirs, coolwater streams, warmwater streams and the Missouri River;

The 2021 Fishing Guide may be found at outdoornebraska.gov/guides, at Game and Parks permitting offices, or wherever fishing permits are sold.

Deadline approaching for Nebraska Fish Art Contest

LINCOLN, Neb. – Students can show off their art and writing skills by participating in the second annual Nebraska Fish Art Contest.

The deadline for this contest for youth in kindergarten through 12th grade is March 31, 2021. Enter at statefishart.org.

This free art and writing competition, sponsored by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Wildlife Forever and Bass Pro Shops, gives young people the opportunity to highlight their artistic talents while learning about fish, fishing and aquatic conservation. Participants can win prizes and recognition in Nebraska and internationally.

Young artists create an original illustration of a species from the Official Fish List and also submit a one-page creative writing detailing their species habitat and efforts to conserve it. Entries are categorized in four grade levels: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Educators nationwide use Fish On!, the State-Fish Art Lesson Plan, integrating the disciplines of science and art. Judging will be held in April and winners announced in May.

For more information, contact Larry Pape at larry.pape@nebraska.gov.

Repairs completed on two boat ramps in northeast Nebraska parks

LINCOLN, Neb. – Boating prospects in northeast Nebraska are looking up with the completion of two state park area projects in 2020.

The completion of a second boat ramp at Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area’s Weigand Marina will alleviate long lines of boats waiting to put in or take out. The marina at the state’s second-largest lake has had two boat ramps, but this past season, one ramp has been out of service. The $390,000 project is funded by Capital Maintenance Fund dollars.

The replacement of the Ponca State Park boat ramp, which was washed out by the 2019 flood, was completed in 2020. Funding for this $250,000 project was from the Capital Maintenance Fund with an expected 50% Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement.

Another 2020 project at Ponca made several improvements, including the addition of cement parking lots to the new Aquatic Center and the recently completed 14 new two-bedroom cottages. Road breakups and erosion issues also were addressed in this $1.2 million project funded by the State Recreation Road Fund.

Campers at Summit Lake State Recreation Area, a popular fishing site in Burt County, will notice improvements. In 2020, 13 50-amp campsites with gravel pads were added to Muskrat Campground along with one Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant campsite. Funding for the $115,000 project came from the Capital Maintenance Fund and the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District.

Work continues on several projects in 2021. The ongoing Ponca park entrance project is a large landscape project initiated in 2019 to renovate and beautify the park’s entrance following the construction of the new Aquatic Center. At Fort Atkinson State Historical Park, a project to repair and replace logs on some of the fort walls is in the construction phase, and at Willow Creek State Recreation Area, work will start on repairing 2019 flood damage to the lake’s west causeway, rock jetties and hike/bike trail. Flood repairs to roadways, fishing accesses, and levees also will continue at Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area.

A park entry permit is required of each vehicle visiting a state park area. Buy one at OutdoorNebraska.org.

Nebraska’s third Upland Slam sees 144 finishers

LINCOLN, Neb. – The third year of the Nebraska Upland Slam gave more than 300 hunters a reason to take advantage of the state’s excellent mixed-bag hunting opportunities.

The Nebraska Upland Slam, a partnership between the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever of Nebraska, challenged hunters to harvest all four of Nebraska’s primary upland game bird species – ring-necked pheasant, northern bobwhite quail, sharp-tailed grouse, and greater prairie-chicken – during a single hunting season.

This season, 144 hunters completed the Slam, up from 122 in its last year; 123 of the finishers were from Nebraska, compared to 107 in 2019-2020. The remaining Slams were completed by hunters from 12 states. The finishers included seven female and four youth hunters.

In the Slam’s third season, 904 entries were submitted (256 pheasant harvests, 221 quail, 220 sharp-tailed grouse and 207 greater prairie-chicken). More than half of these harvests occurred on publicly accessible lands, and approximately 13% of them were first-time harvests (first time in a lifetime to harvest that upland species).

Hunters who completed the Slam received an official certificate and pin and were entered into an end-of-year grand prize drawing from Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever of Nebraska. Grand prize winner Craig Lowe of Webb City, Missouri, drew a Browning Maxus 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun; Shawn O’Connor of Greeley, Nebraska, won a Quail Forever Print of the Year; Andy Seelhoff of Syracuse, Nebraska, won a Ruff Land Kennel; and Faith Zimmer of Genoa, Nebraska, won a Youth Lifetime Hunt Permit, a new prize to the Upland Slam. The names of all hunters who successfully completed the Slam can be found at OutdoorNebraska.org/UplandSlamFinishers.

Participating hunters who harvested at least one species were entered into monthly drawings for prizes. Awareness of the Slam has grown nationwide over the past three seasons, with 27 different states represented by participating hunters.

The Upland Slam promotes Nebraska’s excellent mixed bag opportunities and growing availability of publicly accessible lands. The challenge motivates new hunters to participate, providing one more reason to go afield in pursuit of Nebraska’s upland game birds.

Photo contest winners featured in Nebraskaland available now

LINCOLN, Neb. – Winners of the 2020 Nebraskaland Magazine photo contest are featured in the March edition of the magazine now on newsstands.

More than 2,500 entries were submitted, a record for the annual contest that began in 2015.

This year’s Best of Show winner was “Young Buck” by Karen Kader of Omaha, a photograph captured at Chalco Hills Recreation Area. First-, second-, and third-place prizes also were awarded in four categories.

First-place winners were:

Wildlife: “Baby Opposum” by Eric Wellman, of Lincoln
Flora: “A Burst of Dandelion” by Derrill Grabenstein, of Lincoln
Scenic: “Brace Yourself” by Lindsey Keller, of Lincoln
Recreation: “Green Steel” by Joel Jones, of Lincoln

All photos had to be taken in Nebraska, and all submissions were judged by Nebraskaland staff.

Get a copy of the March edition at a retailer near you or order a single issue at magazine.outdoornebraska.gov/purchase-an-issue.