Welcome to Nebraska Backcountry Hunters & Anglers May update!

Latest:

• The Nebraska Chapter of BHA held their annual Trashy Cat event May 2-4th at Two Rivers State Rec Area near Yutan, NE. Several Board members and several guests joined us for a weekend of camping, fishing, and trash cleanup. We were able to fill numerous trash bags with fishing line, bottles, cans, fishhooks, styrofoam, and plastic from the river banks and shorelines of this beautiful park. When we weren't picking up trash, we found time to enjoy the campsite, tried our luck at fishing, and told lots of stories over a campfire. This was the 4th year of our Trashy Cat event, aptly named for the trash picked up and the catfish pursued. The first 3 years were held at Medicine Creek Reservoir in southwest Nebraska. We decided to move the event east to give our more urban populations access to this wonderful event. Be on the lookout for this event next spring somewhere in the eastern half of the state. 

• Nebraska BHA joined in with Nebraska Game and Parks Remote Fishing Meetings.  In the southeast district meeting we requested improving vehicle access to Rockford Lake State Recreation Area.

Asphalt resurfacing has been completed on South 94th road, which leads to the SRA. However, E. Lilac/S 108th road is still in dire need of repair. Use caution if hauling your boat there as this is the road that leads to the boat ramp. The county is trying to secure recreation funds to help with the cost of replacing the blacktop on these roads. It's unlikely that they will be repaired anytime soon but stay tuned as we inquire further.

In the southwest district meeting we requested biological reasoning behind two WMAs (West Brady and East Hershey) being “catch and release fishing only”. (Many would like to use those areas for harvest.) According to the response, the creation of those areas being made “catch and release only” was dictated to the district. The biological reasoning given for West Brady is to prevent unwanted fish from being moved out of the lake and other reasoning for both areas is that they are great fisheries and fish harvest would hurt that.

Other News, Requests, and Reminders:

• NEXT EVENT! June 21^st! Help fight back the exotic trees and shrubs taking over the East Willow Island WMA. We'll be nicking the bark on exotic chinese elm and honeysuckle and squirting them with an herbicide. We'll also be cutting small invasive eastern red cedar. These woody plants are degrading the wildlife habitat at this management area and this restoration project will benefit deer, songbirds, and game birds in the region.

More Info and RSVP click HERE

• Update on Wapiti WMA access; the mile long minimum maintenance road had all the cedars removed greatly improving access. This road is the only direct public access into the area. Nebraska BHA thanked the Lincoln County roads department for getting that work done. Hopefully gravel will be acquired by NGPC this fall and then spread by the county, stay tuned! (For more details see the February newsletter.)

• Update on NCORPE, NE BHA visited with the general manager of NCORPE (see April newsletter). We volunteered for cleanup events, fence removal etc. We also inquired as to the possibility of opening up additional public land to hunting. But, that doesn’t appear to be on the list of their action items at this time.

• Interested in a few new posts on our public lands?

Read the article on widespread support of public lands https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/americans-want-more-public-lands-poll/  

Watch https://youtu.be/JRp4spoVFl8 for great economic public land arguments

Listen to https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-371-a-former-usfws-director-speaks-out/id1462051732?i=1000705238856 on the importance of the Department of Interior to hunters and anglers

• Finally, please spend a few minutes each time you’re out fishing, hunting, foraging, etc. on public lands to clean up the area a bit. ANY public lands (for example, NPPD canals, state wildlife areas, US Forest Service lands, US Fish and Wildlife Refuges) are good! We certainly would encourage you to do so and send us a photo of the trash pickup and its location. We will then use those photos in future social media and newsletters! Not only will this help the environment and improve the experience of future visitors but also help with how adjacent landowners view public land and the people that use them.

As always, “leave it better than you found it” and if you have any comments or concerns, such as access to particular public lands in our state, please reach out to the chapter at [email protected]