Jerry Kane
Public Information Officer | jerry.kane@nebraska.gov | 402.471.5008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Boating Accident Claims One Life, Injury in Another

LINCOLN – A boating accident on the morning of June 29 in the tailwaters below Gavins Point Dam in Cedar County claimed the life of a 68-year-old Creighton woman.

Two boats collided at approximately 9:55 a.m. The victim was a passenger in one of the boats. She was transported to Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton, S.D., where she was pronounced dead.

Conservation officers with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nebraska State Patrol, Cedar County Sheriff’s Office and Cedar County Emergency Management, responded to the accident.

The investigation is ongoing. Alcohol does not appear to be a contributing factor in the accident. The Cedar County Attorney has ordered an autopsy on the victim. Both boats have been impounded.

A boating accident on the evening of June 28 at Whitney Lake in northwest Nebraska sent a woman to a hospital with serious arm and shoulder injuries.

A 40-year-old Crawford man was operating a boat on the Dawes County lake approximately 9 miles south of Crawford. The boat apparently struck a wake while making a turn, throwing the woman overboard. She was struck by the boat’s propeller. The victim was transported to Chadron Community Hospital and then later flown to a hospital in Fort Collins. Colo. The accident is under investigation.

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Meat Processors May Apply for Hunters Helping the Hungry

LINCOLN – Meat processors have until July 20 to apply for participation in the 2015 Hunters Helping the Hungry program, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. This program provides ground venison to Nebraskans in need.

 The application form and program guidelines are available at OutdoorNebraska.com/HHHunder Processors and Charitable Organizations. Game and Parks will accept applications for participation in any of the Nebraska 2015-2016 deer hunting seasons. Game and Parks will contact eligible applicants by Aug. 7, 2015.

 Contact Teresa Lombard at 402-471-5430 or teresa.lombard@nebraska.gov for more information.

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Habitat Project Planned on Bassway Strip WMA

LINCOLN – A habitat project will begin sometime this summer on Bassway Strip Wildlife Management Area in Buffalo County to benefit bobwhite quail, wild turkey, white-tailed deer and many other species.

The primary focus of the project will be to remove invasive cedar trees and smooth brome grass and to establish food plots and shrub thickets. This will provide nesting, brood-rearing and escape cover for quail and turkeys.

Cedar tree and limited deciduous tree removal will open up heavily timbered areas, promoting the growth of early successional browse plants to benefit deer and other wildlife species. Some of these openings will also be interseeded with legumes and forbs to produce a greater diversity of habitat that benefit many huntable wildlife species.

Biologists also will maintain some selected areas with heavy escape cover for deer that will not be affected.

Bassway Strip is located along the Platte River just southeast of Kearney.

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Commission to Consider Early Teal Season Dates

LINCOLN – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will consider 2015 early teal season dates at its meeting July 16 in Sidney. The commissioners will consider the following recommended season dates: Low Plains, Sept. 5-20; High Plains, Sept. 12-20.

The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. at the Hampton Inn, 635 Cabela’s Drive.

Teal hunting season dates are set to coincide with the teal migration through Nebraska, and the opening day is typically the Saturday following Labor Day. This year, because Labor Day is Sept. 7, an earlier opening day in the Low Plains is recommended to accommodate a 16-day season while avoiding conflicts with possible youth and regular duck season openers later in September and October. Regular duck and goose season dates will be considered at the August 28 Commission meeting in Burwell.

For the second year in a row, the teal season in the northern portion of Nebraska will be on an experimental basis. Continuation of the teal season each year will be dependent on hunters and their ability to distinguish teal from other duck species. During the early season experiment, Game and Parks will evaluate the rate at which nontarget species are shot at or taken. If the rate is considered unacceptable by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nebraska will lose its teal season, and most likely, never get it back. Those who take or attempt to take ducks other than teal also will be subject to prosecution.

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Women’s Rifle Series Held on Wednesdays in July

LINCOLN – Women interested in learning all aspects of rifle shooting are invited to attend a series of Beyond Becoming an Outdoors-Woman classes in July at various locations across southeast Nebraska.

The rifle series is held each Wednesday in July from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Each class is $5. Participants may attend as many classes as they desire. Equipment and ammunition can be provided.

The class schedule: July 8 – Introduction to .22 Rifles, Firearm Safety and Range Rules, Platte River State Park, Louisville; July 15 – High-Powered Rifles and Shooting Techniques, Eastern Nebraska Gun Club, Louisville; July 22 – High-Powered Rifles and Shooting Techniques, Weeping Water Gun Club, Weeping Water; July 29 – High-Powered Rifles and Shooting Techniques, Izaak Walton League, Bennett.

For more information, contact Christy Christiansen at 402-471-5547 or christy.christiansen@nebraska.gov.

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