Nebraska Bird Partnership

Although it looks like a duck and swims like a duck, Pied-billed Grebe is not a duck.  It does not have webbed feet.  Each toe has lobes extending out on the sides that provide extra surface area for paddling.

Pied-billed Grebe is a Nebraska Bird Partnership priority species for conservation.  Visit the Pied-billed Grebe page to learn more about Pied-billed Grebe in Nebraska.

Coming soon!  The Nebraska Bird Library will be a new online resource with species profiles for ALL Nebraska birds.

Aug 4-5:  Project Learning Tree Advanced Workshop, Lincoln.

Aug 5:  Growing Up WILD Workshop, Hastings.

Aug 6-8:  Women's Wilderness Weekend, Harlan Reservoir.

Aug 12:  "Sandhill Cranes and Other Spring Birds", Dr. Paul Johnsgard, Lincoln.

Aug 17:  Central Loess Hills Summer Seminar Series, "Long-billed Curlew Satellite Tracking, Bald Eagle Nest Monitoring, and Other Avian Projects", Broken Bow.

Aug 19:  Rangeland Management Workshop, Broken Bow.

Aug 21:  Project WILD Workshop, Norfolk.

Aug 22:  Sunrise Visit to North Lake Basin, Lincoln.

Aug 28:  Homestead National Monument Campfire Program Series, "Butterflies of Nebraska", Beatrice.

Sep 9-11:  Nebraska Alliance for Conservation and Environment Education (NACEE) Annual Conference, "Coming into Focus: Conservation and Environment Education in Nebraska", Ashland.

Sep 14:  Quail Management, St. Paul.

What are Nebraska’s at-risk species?  Where can you see them?  You can find the answers to these questions and more in Nebraska’s At-Risk Wildlife, the latest effort of the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project.

The pocket field guide describes 85 at-risk animals and plants, including their biological life histories and distributions in Nebraska.  The book includes suggested conservation actions that could help prevent the extinction of the state’s native wildlife.

The field guides are now available at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Headquarters in Lincoln.  You will also be able to visit any of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission District Offices during regular business hours, starting August 16^th, to pick up your free personal copy.

This book was made available as a non-profit environmental education endeavor of the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project, supported by the Nebraska Environmental Trust. 

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman says he'll make a final decision on whether to allow drinking in state parks within the next month or so.

Heineman was at Ogallala and nearby Lake McConaughy on Friday to get opinions on the matter. Nebraska has banned drinking since 1995, after alcohol fueled rowdy parties and violence at Lake McConaughy.  Heineman met with people on both sides of the issue and said the majority was OK with lifting the ban if there was adequate law enforcement.  But most told him there's not currently enough law enforcement to lift the ban.

Read more about the proposed lift of the alcohol ban from the Omaha World-Herald.

A top-to-bottom reorganization of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is a step closer to reality.

Pending changes include, among other things, replacing three existing assistant directors with one deputy director and having conservation officers devote more time to fish, wildlife and educational programs.

Commissioners approved an internal study Thursday calling for Rex Amack, the commission director, to implement the changes.

Learn more about the Game and Parks reorganization from the Omaha World-Herald.

Nebraska’s 30,000 waterfowl hunters will be able to shoot more urban geese and start duck season a week earlier this fall under proposed changes drafted Thursday by Nebraska Game and Parks commissioners.

Duck hunters asked for more hunting days in October — when more birds are migrating and ponds are less likely to be frozen — rather than December.

Read more about the proposed waterfowl hunting changes from the Omaha World-Herald.

If you don't know much about Nebraska native fish, check out Daryl Bauer's Barbs and Backlashes for an interesting lesson about channel catfish on the Niobrara:  "River catfish"

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development has developed a Spanish language version of its latest brochure on the state's scenic byways.  The Spanish version of the brochure titled “Nebraska's Byways: An Unexpected Adventure” is available online at http://www.VisitNebraska.gov/espanol.

Construction of wind farms has fallen 71 percent nationwide this year.  Industry officials say the industry will continue its slowdown unless Congress enacts a national renewable-electricity mandate to reassure investors that there will be a market for additional wind power. A proposed mandate has been shelved in the Senate.

Read more about the wind farm construction slowdown from the Omaha World-Herald.

All 5 members of Nebraska's congressional delegation are addressing questions from constituents regarding the potential effect of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline on the Sandhills and Ogallala aquifer:

"Sand Hills pipeline a concern", Omaha World-Herald

"Nelson wants pipeline input", Omaha World-Herald

The U.S. Forest Service said Tuesday it was barring entry to a cave in the Nebraska National Forest in northwest Nebraska near Chadron because of white-nose syndrome, which has killed nearly a million bats in the eastern and southern U.S. and is spreading west.  The Nebraska cave is just one of many in several states being closed on USFS land.  The agency said it took the action to help prevent humans from inadvertently spreading the disease.

Learn more about the cave closings from the Lincoln Journal-Star.