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Today we have with us Jane Gustafson from the Nebraska game and parks. Her job at the game of parks is described by her husband is quote, a pimp for the whole outdoors. Unquote.
Oh!
(Laughing)
Welcome to the podcast.
Welcome.
How do you - how do you go beyond a description like that? I love when I hear him tell people that and I'm just like, wait a minute, let me let me you know....
Explain!
...A little bit more description there.
Well, Sheila and I met Jane at the Tourism Conference. And after hearing you speak there, we can really attest to your passion about all that Nebraska has to offer in the great outdoors. So for our listeners that don't know, what are kind of the main goals of the Nebraska Game and Parks?
Well, we're a broad agency that does a lot of different things. But basically, the easiest way to put it is that our goal is to make sure people in Nebraska and people coming through Nebraska know what the outdoors in Nebraska has to offer. We are fortunate because we have wonderful outdoor resources in Nebraska, we have an incredible state park system. We have lots of wildlife species, we have lots of opportunity. And we've got it border to border 365 days a year. No matter where you're at in the state, there's always something unique that you can do. And so our goal is to hook people up, we want to let them know again, this is a marketing person in me. We want to let them know what they can do outdoors and how they can do it and help them find a place to do it and encourage them to get outdoors and take advantage of it.
I grew up fishing, I still adore fishing. My dad was a big hunter, he was actually a guide part time at Merritt Reservoir there. And so Nebraska Game and Parks is known mostly about the big three right? Fishing, hunting...
Yep...
...and visiting state parks. But you know, there's so much more that you offer in Nebraska. And so tell us about that.
There is a lot of different things to do. And so you're right, we are known for kind of the big three: hunting, fishing and state parks. But there's so many more activities that you can do. And a lot of those you can do in our state park areas. But there are also other places like wildlife management areas, there's other public land, there are a realm of different things that are natural resource districts and our D locations. You know, other public waters, city parks, national parks, things like that. And there's just all kinds of stuff that you can do for wildlife viewing. I mean, obviously, the cranes in Nebraska are something that is incredible and drawn a ton of different people. But we have a ton of bird species in the state. And those can be seen throughout the year we've got birding trails that you can go and enjoy it. We've got a ton of different trails for equestrian trails and water trails, kayaking, biking, things like that cross country skiing in the winter, and we've got a lot of water based experiences boating, water skiing, kayaking, jetskiing swimming, lots of different things like that. And there's lots of camping opportunities. And so no matter what you like to do in the outdoors, if it's trapping, if it (things) weird things like ice climbing, we offer that. If you'd like to go mushroom hunting in the spring, we just have a realm of different activities and you can primitive camp or you can glamp camp and have all the amenities of home just in a different setting. So there's just a ton of different things to do in the outdoors. And again, our goal is to help people discover those things find out where to do it how to do it safely and get them out there trying those things.
Okay, I want to revisit a lot of those topics...
(Laughing)
...but I was sitting here debating, whether I should tell, Jane, whether I should tell you and Marcie, about I love birds and I put out bird feed all over and (I am) this morning I look out the window and my favorite cat has caught one and he's just torturing the thing to death. And I'm like, all I could think of when you're talking about the birding was well, we lost that one.
(laughing)
...that happens.
Yeah it does.
Once in a while.
I would really love to go see the prairie chickens. I have not gotten to seen that. And that's something I would really love to get to see.
I encourage you to do that. We offer a great opportunity at Niobrara State Park and there are several other viewing opportunities throughout the state. I think there were some down by McCook where you can find a lek and that is one of those really unique species in Nebraska, to see that people don't realize how colorful they are, what the sound is like, and that you can sit there and watch it and watch their little dancing.
Their dancing, yeah. (laughing)
It's really interesting to see that so it's, it's these things that we have that people I think take for granted. I mean, even the backyard birds and I will confess that I have the same issue with lots of backyard bird feeders and lots of outside cats that like to try to take advantage of that. But still simple things that you know, they engage people in the outdoors, they start thinking about, well, if I enjoy doing this, how can I do more of it?
I love it. So I also grew up camping, tent camping. And when I met Clark, he's no...he's just not into that.
Or not either.
And, So I'm like, Well, what about camper? Okay, so we have a camper, which I think is deluxe camping. That is, it's very nice. So I told him, Hey, we should try glamping he's like, I have zero interest in glamping. I was just at a scrapbook retreat. And my friend was scrapbooking pictures of her and her husband glamping. So I'm sending him pictures. And like, just so you know, you and I are going glamping
(laughing)
and it was in Nebraska. And so I'm really looking forward to I mean, if he doesn't want to go, I'll just take...you guys can go.
Well, it is nice and in. That's kind of the nice thing about opportunities in Nebraska is no matter what you like to do, you can go it's primitive, and just tent camp and backpack in somewhere where you can rent a cabin or a lodge area. Or if you have a nice RV, you can pull it in. There are just lots of opportunities. And whatever you can see this camping to do in the state, you can find a way to do it. And if you want to go and have people set up the tent for you, we've got some opportunities with a partner called Tenter that are across the state. I think they're in our areas. They're also in some NRD areas, they set up a wonderful tent, a soft, cushy, padded mattress for you, you have a heater in your room, you have your own little private toilet outside, that is interesting to use. You have a fire pit, they set everything up for you, you show up and have fun. And when you're done, you walk away and they take care of it all for you.
Wow.
So even if you're someone who doesn't like roughing it, and I will confess I like to tent camp, but I like my modern bathrooms. There are places you can find to do things like that. And sometimes going glamping shows people that there are perceived differences from what they think it's going to be like, and they're a little more open to well, you know, I really enjoyed having smores over the fire. And you know, that mattress was pretty nice. And that tent was pretty good. So there's all kinds of opportunities, and you can always find somebody to make it work the way you want it to work.
Well, I'm gonna do it. So, I'll report back.
Yeah, that is...that is so interesting...
There you go!
...so I didn't even know that was an option. So that's wonderful.
It is. It's a pretty nice option.
So as COVID started in everything, did you see a big increase in people really accessing the Nebraska outdoors more?
We did, we saw a lot of you know, a lot of people that hadn't ever tried things outdoors, or maybe they had done it, but their, you know, their family life got busy. And they stopped doing it because they had a lot of other things going on. And they came back to it. And so the challenge for us now is you know, keeping those people engaged in having them remember what it is that they liked to do when they had more time to do it. And making sure that they make time in their schedule to do it. Because it's a really great way to maybe have time to slow down a little bit and reconnect with your family or you know, spend some time with friends that you don't get to see and just slow down a little bit and do things you wouldn't normally do. And there was an increased demand for that after COVID. And it has continued...
Good!
...and we're happy to continue.
Yeah, that's wonderful.
Jane, one of the things you shared when we were out at that tourism conference was the collaberation between your agency and small towns throughout Nebraska, so could you share maybe a few examples of that?
Mmm hmm, Sure. We do a lot of collaboration with communities across Nebraska, primarily because our park areas are often in areas where the only community is a small town next to that particular park area. And so we try to work with the other tourism attractions and the communities there to have them view us as a partner in terms of this is a way to get people to come to your community. And maybe they're going to go out to say Ponca State Park or Danish Alps in the northeast part of the state and they need a place to stop and get their permit and get their ice and get their gas for their boat or their camper or whatever and stock up on goodies and go stay there and they're going to camp for a week but after a couple days they're like you know, tired of eating roasted hot dogs. I want to go somewhere local. Where can I go to eat out or work in my family go to do something or What else is there to do in the area. And so we love to have those communities work with us to say, hey, we want to know about these so if a guest in the park area asks us what they can do, we have some things to recommend to them. And we also want to draw people in that maybe come to a community for other attractions, and get them out to the park, maybe for a day, maybe they're staying in someplace, and they're doing western Nebraska and they're driving by Chadron. State Park, we want to get them off the road to come in and at least see what the park has to offer. And maybe keep them in the area day. So they you know, even if they aren't staying with us, they're staying in a local area, they're staying at a hotel or a motel and spending some dollars and really spending some time in Nebraska. And we also do a lot of partnering with communities in terms of other projects, too. Like we just recently did a project at Niobrara State Park with the local high school there where they had some industrial education kids who needed some projects to do. And we had some projects that we needed done. And it was a really good partnership where they learned how to make forms and pour cement and do some construction things that were part of their curriculum anyway. And now they can go back to the park and look at it and point at it and say, Wow, that's something I built with my class and my classmates. And so it's a win win for the community. And it's certainly a win win for us.
Absolutely. That's always wonderful when they can take ownership of you know, part of what they have going on there. That's a great.
We've got a lot of good things like that, that we do in terms of working with high school kids too. If we have events going on in maybe we have a big Outdoor Expo and we need some extra help. Trying to find a way to maybe make it a win for some of the sponsor dollars can go to the school to the group for a funding thing for them. But we get the help that we need during the event. So I mean, it can look like anything a partnership. I grew up in a in a small town, and I love to see stuff like this.
Yeah that's wonderful. So you have a new campaign called Beneath Nebraska Skies. Can you tell us what that's about? And what are three outdoor activities that you would encourage Nebraskans to get out and try,
We do have something new that we're doing this year with the Beneath Nebraska Skies. And it's a little bit of a unique thing for us because it isn't specifically targeted on any one type of activity is really trying to build awareness, as we talked about of all these things that you can do in the state of Nebraska all the year round. And so we've kind of pulled it all together in trying to promote these things in saying these are things you can do beneath Nebraska skies. And so if it's in the spring, again, you can go out and go mushroom hunting, go out and see the red buds down in Indian Cave and see the trees there go out in the fall maybe and do some leaf peeping or have some trails that you walk when it's a little bit cooler, and there's less people and less mosquitoes. In the winter, you can go out and go. No, she's skiing. I love to go out when the snow has fallen to a park area and look for animal tracks and just see what type of critters are out in the area that I might not know about and then try to figure out okay, is that a raccoon? Is it a possum? You know, is it a coyote? What is it exactly. I also love to go out and do like stargazing, which is something you can do at any time of the year. And I pay a lot of attention to when a lot of meteor showers go on. And so that's another activity that you can do at a different time of year. And it's just something fun and different to do. And you know a park area is a perfect way to kind of get away from the lights of whatever community you might be in, go do something there. We have a lot of educational centers that have programming that goes on year round. And it's nice to get out. And they'll talk about what can you expect to see at this time of year. You know what different things are going on in the outdoors. And when you see this type of a tree, you know maybe what's going on with that tree, when are you going to expect it to bud out what types of animals make your home in those trees. So there's a lot of different things like that that you can do. And we tried to pull it all together to just say these are all the things that happened beneath Nebraska skies, get outdoors and experience it for yourself.
I love the stargazing. It's something I got from my dad, you know, when those events are happening, we'll let each other know and we're the family members that set our alarms for whatever three in the morning or four in the morning. And then I have an older sister Debbie, she's she'll she'll text me she'll be like, Are you up? Are you looking? And so one of the things that I just super love to do.
Something really cool in Nebraska we have one of the first dark skies locations in the state that we're in the nation out by Valentine and it's because the the skies are so incredible there that it's wonderful for anyone with an interest in astronomy to go out and be able to avoid light pollution and really see a lot of those celestial events happen. So it's kind of a cool feather in Nebraska's cap to have that.
Yeah, it sure is.
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Well, since we have you with us, we have a variety of different age of listeners, and we wanted to get your expert opinion on activities that like certain sections of Nebraskans could do. So I'm gonna start with couples with young children. Can you give us a couple of ideas of what would be fun things for them to do?
We have a ton of things that are fun for your family members and groups that have young children with them. We've got a lot of trails that can be walked if you have a kid that has a lot of energy, and you want to kind of burn some of it off. We have tremendous trail systems in our park areas that you can go out and walk and usually there's a map at the park that will show you what the trail is and give you an idea if it's a strenuous trail, or how long of the trail it is. And frequently you find those around some of our educational centers like we have one at Schramm Park, we have a wonderful educational center there. We have a great one out at Wildcat Hills in the western part of the state that you can go down and then there's some interpretive things you can do inside like they will show you a lot of educational and interpretive type exhibits to help you understand the wildlife that's there maybe the unique the unique rock exhibits or unique trees or unique characteristics of the area. So it's got a little bit of an education that you can sneak in there. If you go to Scramm Education Center, they have a lot of aquarium exhibits there. And you can see the largest snapping turtle that we know of in existence with Snap Daddy and kind of look at him and say, Wow, that's kind of scary to think that could be swimming in the pond that I'm in, in the summer. But it's really a fun, nice thing to do with little kids. And they have some interpretive programming that they do that is specifically for young children to help them learn about the natural world and learn about things that might trip their trigger for future interests.
Yeah, so about the snapping turtle. I have so many stories, Jane. So the snapping turtle thing...my grandparents loved to fish and they were out on a boat, and my grandma had her foot hanging over the boat...
Oh no...
Oh.
...into the water and a snapping turtle that maybe one of her toes was a worm...anyway grabbed the toe and would not let go for anything. So, but my grandpa took care of that. I don't know if I should divulge the rest of that story...
(laughing)
I can guess how that ended.
Yes.
That is one of those things that you sometimes you have to be careful in aquatic situation like that. But we have several varieties of turtle but snapping turtles are one of the ones you may not want to meet with any of your fingers or toes.
I adore turtles still, and so did she, and so yeah. That Yeah. And the other thing you were talking about the maps when you do the trails, I would recommend that. I one time was camping with the kiddos at Ponca State Park and I'm like, Let's go hiking. I didn't tell anybody we were doing that it was before we had phones that were really working very well. I didn't really use a map. Well, yeah, we were in there for hours, hours.
Oh no...
And we came out we hugged...hugged that old...is it the old oak tree?
Yeah, the old oak tree...
...we, I have pictures of the three of us hugging that.
Oh....
Oh, so happy to see it again.
...to see it!
And my car was there. So...
goodness...
Well, and one thing at Ponca, too, is a lot of those trails may go down to the river. So you may start off on a trail you think is pretty easy. And the next thing you know you're headed straight down, going down to the Missouri so...
Oh goodness...
But my kids will always, always remember that.
Yeah, I'm sure they will.
Yeah, it is it is interesting. And Fort Robinson is another one that just has a tremendous trail system. And you can have something that is as easy or as hard as you want. Or as short or as long as you want. There are a lot of options.
So Jane, what about like, seniors, maybe they aren't able to do the trails are there other things that they can do to enjoy those state parks and the outdoors?
Yes, we do. Like I said, we try to usually let people know if a trail is an easier trail or a harder trail. We try to have some interpretive signage on it. Occasionally we'll have something that will maybe be a trail through a pollinator garden or something. And they can walk around and look at the different plantings that we have there in the history of it. I know we've done some of that at Fort Atkinson State Historical Park has a nice area that's flat, but you can kind of walk around and get a little bit of information on the vegetation that grows around there. And maybe how did the people who settled in the area or the Native Americans use that as a medicinal type purpose or different things like that, we try to also offer a lot of programming at some of our education centers, for example, again, at Schramm, that is geared towards seniors, it's maybe something that is geared towards somebody who's a lifelong learner and wants to learn a little bit more about the natural world but doesn't maybe want to do it at the same time that you have a good We're about two and three year olds there. So we offer programming like that. And we also offer a lot of interpretive signage as you may walk on a short path that will tell you more about the area and the history of the area, and maybe how it was settled, or the types of wildlife that you find in there. In particular, I always encourage anyone who's a senior, to check out our historical parks, because a lot of times, it takes a certain age in life to appreciate the history of Nebraska and appreciate the people that came before us and the things that it took to settle this area. And we have a lot of interpretive information in those was areas that you can walk down on a level surface and get to really easily and so those are always I think, a good bet for our seniors. We have seven historical parks across the state. And those are nice options for something different to do on a on a weekend.
Oh great! We have talked about birdwatchers, as far as the cranes and the prairie chickens, but if somebody who just wants to take out there binoculars and head out to try to find different varieties of birds, where would you suggest for them to go?
There's actually a place if you go to our website, outdoornebraska.gov. And you Google birding trails or you search for birding trails, you can find more information, and it actually will take you to some of the Birding trails in the state. And it will give you an idea of what species you will spot there. And we also have some ID information that will help you ID the birds that you are looking for the birds that you're spotting so that you understand what you've seen there. And those are geared toward what we call our biologically unique landscapes. So what you see in say the southwestern part of the state might be different than what you see in the southeastern part of the states. And it helps you look for those different species and figure out where could I go on a walking tour through a park area, or a wildlife management area to find these opportunities where it's quiet and away from people. And there's a lot of the habitat for the birds to come into very nice. And so if you're, if you're a bird, or Nebraska really is for the birds, and I say that, but we've got a lot of species here in the East in the West that, for example, if you're coming from the eastern part of the US, this might be the western most place that you find that species and it might crossover with being the eastern North location for something that is an Eastern species or a Western species. It crosses over a lot of different bird species that are hard to find in other areas. And we're in the heart of the central flyway. So we've got a lot of migration happening in the spring in the fall, with warblers, with hummingbirds with our shorebirds and our waterfowl.
Alright, well, I feel like we could just talk to you for days about all of this...
We'll have to have you come back on again...
...but we do Jane, we have one final question that we always like to ask our guests. And that is, what do you love about living in small town Nebraska?
I'm fortunate in that I live out in the country outside of a small town. And so I have a lot of opportunities to interact with nature. But the thing that I really love about growing up in a small town and living in a different small town, is the fact that your neighbors appreciate that too. Even if they live in town, and they've never lived anywhere, but a small town, I think they really appreciate the outdoors. And they appreciate the opportunities that they have to go out and see things that change with the season, see how you know the trees dropped their leaves, the birds come through migrate different things that go on. And so I always appreciate that in the fact that I think there's a lot of like minded people in communities that really do appreciate the outdoors and just sometimes even just appreciate the peace and quiet of being able to watch nature do what she does every day.
Yeah, it is. It's a wonderful thing. Well, we thank you so much, Jane, for being on with us today. And we really appreciate it. And we are going to be encouraging everybody to get out Beneath the Nebraska Skies and share some stories with us about what they do over the next few months. So thank you for being on.
Well, thank you for the opportunity. Like I said, I can always talk and talk and talk. And obviously it's something that we're all at at gaming park for enthusiastic about. So thank you for the opportunity. And I hope that people do have these experiences and share with us as well.
That sounds wonderful.
Thank you guys.
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