OutdoorNebraska

3 | P a g e History of the Aqua c Habitat Program The primary mission of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) is stewardship of the state's fish, wildlife, park, and outdoor recrea on resources in the best long-term interest of the people and those resources. As such, fisheries managers must manage three interac ng components: the human users of the resources, the en re assemblage of aqua c organisms, and the aqua c habitat on which those organisms depend. The Aqua c Habitat Program was developed to affect the la er and ul mately enhance the fisheries and aqua c environment that the public and our anglers u lize. The Aqua c Habitat Program was ini ally developed with Legisla ve Bill 584, which was ul mately passed on February 23, 1996. Nebraska's first Aqua c Habitat Plan was approved by the Nebraska Legislature in 1997, which included 53 projects. Nebraska's second Aqua c Habitat Plan was developed in 2008. The need for a second itera on was evident based on the progress made on the ini al plan, knowledge gained through the projects completed, and the changing environments and rehabilita on needs. Six fisheries management districts submi ed a list of projects, which were reviewed by the Fisheries Administra on and Aqua c Habitat Program personnel. The dra was presented to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for review and then shared with the public through a series of adver sed mee ngs. The final plan was presented to the Commission for their approval in March 2008 and included a total of 72 projects. At its incep on, the goal of the Aqua c Habitat Program was to maintain, restore or enhance the capacity of a waterbody to produce and sustain spor ish. However, without an access component to the program, the improvements were difficult for anglers to u lize. In 2009, the Nebraska Unicameral passed legisla on increasing the price of an Aqua c Habitat Stamp from $7.50 to $10.00 and expanded the program by obliga ng up to 30% of program funds for improving access to public waters and the administra ve costs of the program. In January 2010, the Angler Access Program was developed with a list of 199 project sites, which included all the I-80 Interstate lakes and Aqua c Habitat projects. For the third Aqua c Habitat Plan, these two plans were combined, and the following goals were developed:

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