OutdoorNebraska

9 Fishing on OFW Sites: Ponds, lakes, and streams enrolled in OFW are managed under statewide fishing regulations, with the exception of largemouth bass, which have a 21-inch minimum length limit and the daily bag limit may contain only one fish 21 inches or longer: • Panfish (bluegill, green sunfish, orangespotted sunfish, pumpkinseed, redear sunfish, all sunfish hybrids, rock bass, yellow perch, white crappie and black crappie) – Daily bag limit of 15 • Channel catfish – Daily bag limit of five in standing water and 10 in flowing water For other regulations, reference the current Nebraska Fishing Guide at OutdoorNebraska.gov/Guides-Maps. Recreation Liability Act Questions about potential liability for injury sometimes make landowners apprehensive about allowing public access to their property. Knowledge of Nebraska's Recreation Liability Act should relieve some anxieties. Statutes 37-729 through 37-736 of the Nebraska Game Laws state that unless users are charged a fee for access to the property, landowners are not responsible for ensuring the premises are safe for recreational use. The statutes specify: • A landowner who gives permission to use property for recreation is not extending any assurance that the property is safe, and no liability for injury or property damage can be sought from the landowner. • Payment to landowners from a government body, such as the arrangement that occurs through Open Fields and Waters, has been treated the same as if no payment were made. • If dangerous conditions are known to exist on the land, landowners are obligated to guard or warn users. • Recreational users of private lands are responsible for their own actions unless they pay the landowner for such use. Note: The above information is only a summary of guidelines for walk-in access on OFW lands. Additional Nebraska hunting, trapping and fishing regulations still apply. For more information, visit OutdoorNebraska.gov/Guides-Maps and select the guide(s) that applies to your intended activity. Wildlife Habitat Improvements Every year, numerous habitat projects occur on both publicly accessible and private lands across Nebraska. Many of these projects aid in restoring natural habitats and ecosystems and benefit game species as well. Federal programs, such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), play a key role in maintaining wildlife habitat on a landscape scale. Initiatives such as the Berggren Pheasant Plan target financial incentives for habitat work in specific regions of Nebraska. Additionally, the OFW program provides financial incentives to landowners willing to enhance habitat on enrolled acres. Game and Parks (and its partners) have private lands biologists throughout the state that provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners willing to improve wildlife/fishery habitat and address other resource concerns on their land. Contact your nearest district office (shown on page 3) to reach a Game and Parks biologist. These biologists utilize a wide variety of federal and state conservation programs to help accomplish both landowner and wildlife-related objectives. Projects include prescribed burning, grassland seeding, prescribed grazing, invasive tree removal, and much more. For additional information on these and other programs that improve habitat for wildlife in Nebraska, visit OutdoorNebraska.gov and search "Landowner programs."

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