OutdoorNebraska

36 2 0 2 1 – 2 0 2 5 S TAT E W I D E C O M P R E H E N S I V E O U T D O O R R E C R E AT I O N P L A N Providers of Outdoor Recreation Lands The descriptions below help illustrate the unique roles each provider plays in outdoor recreation and the overlap among the types of recreation they provide in Nebraska. • Federal: National forests, national wildlife refuges, national scenic and recreational rivers, national grasslands, national monuments, and lakes/reservoirs. • State: State parks, state recreation areas, state historical parks and sites, state recreational trails, state fish hatcheries, and state wildlife management areas; areas owned or managed by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC). • Natural Resource Districts: Recreational areas as part of reservoir projects and several regional trails. • Community: A variety of parks, trails, open lands and outdoor recreational facilities, managed by municipalities. • Schools: Playgrounds, athletic fields, walking tracks, and other facilities available for community use. It is difficult to quantify the number of outdoor recreational opportunities afforded to the citizens of Nebraska in regards to public and private school lands. The data in Figure 3.1 includes information from colleges across the state and some Nebraska public and private schools for primary/secondary education, but is not a complete picture of what is available. • Nonprofit: Youth camps; equestrian facilities; hunting, fishing and related areas; preserves and prairies that are selectively available to the public. • Open Fields and Waters (OFW): Privately owned areas that allow hunting, fishing, trapping and wildlife viewing and are maintained primarily for wildlife habitat and ecological restoration. Public Recreation Nebraska encompasses 49,506,368 acres, of which 1,221,555, or 2.5 percent, is open to the public for some form of outdoor recreation. Figure 3.1 shows the percentage of recreation offered by different public entities in Nebraska. It's important to note that this breakdown does not include public school property. Few schools keep track of the amount of acreage they offer for recreation; therefore, this information was left out of this data. However, within communities, school lands are often used for outdoor recreation, and at times, are some of the only options available to the public for recreation, so they do offer a great resource to communities. Many private and public entities provide opportunities to recreate in Nebraska. Baseball game in Tranquility Park in Omaha. (Douglas County)

• Cover