28 2017 Annual Report
I N C R E A S I N G P U B L I C A C C E S S O P P O R T U N I T I E S
The Open Fields and Waters (OFW) Program represents our primary mechanism to increase
hunting, trapping and fi shing access to private lands in Nebraska. Through this program, fi nancial
incentives are off ered to landowners willing to allow public, walk-in access on their land. In 2017-
18, Game and Parks enrolled more than 254,000 acres of land and 42 miles of streams into the
OFW Program. Compared to 2016-17, this is a gain of more than 20,000 land acres. Of the total
land acres enrolled in 2017-18, 72 percent consisted of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
lands and other grassland habitat. Other habitat types enrolled include woodlands (7 percent),
cropland (11), tall wheat and milo stubble (10), and wetlands/ponds (1). The approval of the
Berggren Plan for pheasants in 2016 emphasized increasing public hunting opportunities within
eight priority areas. In 2017-18, OFW acres increased in six of these eight Focus on Pheasant and
Pheasant Opportunity Areas. Game and Parks staff enrolled more than 129,000 acres within the
priority areas – a gain of nearly 26,000 acres (25 percent increase) compared to 2016-17. In 2017-
18, staff enrolled 24,000 acres of tall wheat and milo stubble in western Nebraska, representing a
gain of more than 9,000 acres (58 percent increase) compared to 2016-17.
