« All Events

NE Game and Parks Commission June 12-13th, 2025 Meeting

June 12 @ 1:00 pm - June 13 @ 5:00 pm

NE Game and Parks Commission June 12-13th, 2025 Meeting

NEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS COMMISSION, County Inn and Suites Chimney Rock Room 664,  Chase Blvd.,  Sidney, NE Friday, June 13, 2025

Sidney is presently located at the junction of U.S. Route 385 with I-80, and its location approximately halfway between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and North Platte, Nebraska,

Mountain lions are on the agenda for 8:15 am on 13th.  We don’t know the time zone for Sidney, but it might be MT

June 12-13, 2025
Agenda:

In accordance with Neb. Rev. Stat. 84-907, a public hearing will be conducted by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission on June 13, 2025, in the meeting room at the County Inn and Suites 664 Chase Blvd. Sidney, NE prior to consideration and/or enactment of the following: Pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 37-301, 37-304, 37-308, 37-308.01, 37-314, 37-228, 37-404, 37-405, 37-411, 37-426, 37-452, 37-473, 37-613, a public hearing will be held at 8:15 AM to consider amendments to Title 166 Chapter 20 (formerly Title 163 Chapter 4, Wildlife Regulations, Section 037), Mountain Lions to clarify unit boundaries and adjust harvest limits in the Niobrara and Wildcat Hills Management Units.

Copies of the proposed regulations and the Fiscal Impact Statement shall be available for public inspection at the Game and Parks Commission office and on-line at the Office of the Secretary of State’s website. All interested persons may attend and testify orally or by written submission at the public hearing. Interested persons or organizations may submit written comments prior to the hearing, which will be entered into the hearing record if they: 1) include a request to be included as part of the hearing record; 2) include the name and address of the person or organization submitting the comments; and 3) are received by 1:00 p.m. CT June 11, 2024 by Sheri Henderson at the Lincoln office, 2200 North 33rd Street, Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. Tim McCoy, Director

Proposed rule:

https://outdoornebraska.gov/about/notices/public-notices/rules-orders-regulations/

See note regarding NE G&P regs at the top of the page, then scroll to Game and Parks on the list.  Get to the Game and Parks section and scroll down towards the bottom of their section and look for line item that was posted in 05-09-2025, ”  – 166 – 20 -New Chapter 20 June 2025″  Click on that and end up at https://rules.nebraska.gov/docket

They are adjusting boundaries at Niobrara and Wildcat Hills and

  1. increasing the harvest limit at Niobrara – cougars both sex harvest limit changes from 4 to 6, & for  females  harvest increase from 2 to 3 and

2. reducing it at Wildcat Hills > cougars both sex harvest limit changes from 3 to 2 either sex and 2 to one for females.

Here is NE G&P Explanation of Mt Lion season proposed changes and population info.

https://phas-wsd.org/wp-content/uploads/Mountain-Lion-Booklet-June-2025-1.pdf

Link to PHAS 2025 comments on this season – https://phas-wsd.org/wp-content/uploads/nebraska-Mt-lion-comments2025.final_.pdf

We are asking for no season in 2025 at Wildcat Hills and smaller harvest caps at Pine Ridge and Niobrara units.

We have been told of a big threat to Mt lions living  near Scottsbluff in the “Wildcat Hills” – the population has been tanking ( 21 mortalities in just 17 months) with perhaps only 6 cougars left and NE G&P proposes a 2025 hunting season of 3 lions – half the remaining population,   Folks from NE should be objecting to the 2025 season at Wild Cat Hills (Scottsbluff)

 

We also want SD and NE lion populations to be sources of emigrating lions for natural recolonization of lion populations in the east and Canada.   We suspect no state will formally reintroduce them, so they have to recolonized by natural emigration.  While much of eastern North America is too developed with human housing to support lions, there are some areas rural and wild enough to support them with less conflicts with humans.

 

Comments are due on June 11th at 1 pm CT. I normally send them to Sheri  >  Ask Sheri  for details –

“Henderson, Sheri” <sheri.henderson@nebraska.gov>
Sheri Henderson
Administrative Programs Officer II
Agency Safety Program Manager
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
2200 North 33rd St.
Lincoln, NE 68503
Phone: 402-471-5539

Details

Start:
June 12 @ 1:00 pm
End:
June 13 @ 5:00 pm
Scroll to Top