OutdoorNebraska

OTHER ACCESS OPPORTUNITIES NEW FOR 2024 Nebraska Elk Hunter Access Program New for 2024, NGPC and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation developed a voluntary program available to landowners with elk hunting opportunities. The objective is to increase elk hunter opportunity while assisting and compensating landowners for coordinating hunters. Nebraska's elk population predominately resides on private land with limited opportunities on public properties. In recent years, elk hunting permit sales and demand for elk hunting access has increased. NGPC recognizes the opportunities private landowners offer to hunters while investing time and effort to do so. Hunters and landowners are encouraged to contact district offices (see page 3) for more information. NEW FOR 2024 Nebraska Community Access Partnership (NCAP) The Nebraska Community Access Partnership is a new initiative with Pheasants Forever, Inc., OnX Hunt, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and Keith County communities made possible through a grant awarded by the Nebraska Environmental Trust. The initiative will increase public access opportunities through the Open Fields and Waters (OFW) program in the Ogallala area and southern Nebraska Panhandle. NCAP provides bonus payments of $10 to $25 an acre to landowners willing to enroll in OFW for five years. The goal is to increase public hunting access by 25,000 acres within 60 miles of Ogallala. We are hopeful NCAP will demonstrate a successful community-based partnership to expand to other communities to boost rural economies in the future. Platte River Recreation Access (PRRA) Program The Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (PRRIP) has purchased and restored numerous tracts of land along the Central Platte River to provide habitat for threatened and endangered species. In 2011, PRRIP partnered with Game and Parks to develop the Platte River Recreation Access Program to provide limited, walk-in public access on select PRRIP lands through an online reservation system. Around 6,000 acres of land along the Platte River are available through the PRRA program. These properties have area- specific regulations for public use relating to hunting, fishing and other authorized activities. Given that access is limited to a specific number of users, PRRA lands are not displayed in this atlas. To learn more about PRRA, view available properties or make reservations, please visit PlatteAccess.org. Additional information is provided on page 115. Passing Along the Heritage (PATH) Program The PATH program is an online reservation-based program that provides resident and nonresident youth and their mentors access to hunt on private lands and selected public lands. Only youth under the age of 18 may hunt on this land. The mentor is there to help the youth and ensure a safe hunting experience. PATH is made possible by a partnership between Game and Parks and its valued partners (including Lower Platte North NRD, National Audubon Society and private landowners). Visit OutdoorNebraska.gov and search "PATH" for more information. Are Nebraska's "School Lands" Open to Public Access? In recent years, Game and Parks has received an increasing number of questions regarding access to properties owned by the Board of Educational Lands and Funds (BELF), which are often referred to as "school lands." Popular mapping software used by hunters often displays BELF lands as publicly accessible and also tends to label their ownership inconsistently. Unlike some surrounding states, Nebraska's BELF lands are not open to public access unless otherwise posted. State Refuges – These are established by statute and closed to hunting except as noted in the Small Game & Waterfowl Guide. These are private lands where landowner permission is required to hunt, and include: Garden (includes Clear Creek WMA Refuge), Dodge-Saunders, Boyd-Holt and Lincoln County Refuge. 6

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