ATV Purchased with Funds Donated by USFWS, NWPA

[Bumpus]

NGPC news release, 2/21/08:
(c) NEBRASKAland Magazine/NGPC

A new ATV purchased with donations from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Nebraska Wildlife Protectors Association helps Conservation Officer Stacey Lewton and other officers patrol rugged terrain.

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has a new all- terrain vehicle (ATV) to help conservation officers patrol state areas in northern Lancaster County, thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Nebraska Wildlife Protectors Association (NWPA), the organization that sponsors and administers the Nebraska Wildlife Crimestoppers Program.

Conservation Officer Stacey Lewton said the Yamaha Grizzly 450, which sells for about $5,600, was purchased with money donated by USFWS and NWPA.

Lewton said several other organizations and individuals made donations to equip the ATV and the officers who use it. Among those donors were Home Services of Nebraska which includes: HOME Real Estate, Woods Bros. Realty, Capitol Title, HomeServices Lending, HomeServices Insurance and Larabee School of Real Estate; the Lincoln Chapter of Whitetails Unlimited, and the family of Bogumil (Bog) Spicha.

The ATV is a great asset because it allows officers to search large outdoor areas much faster, easier and more effectively than they can on foot, in a variety of weather conditions, and types of terrain.

Lewton said he already has used the new ATV to find deer a poacher had killed out-of-season. Lewton said the vehicle will be used for a number of activities, from finding people lost on state areas to patrolling areas for potential game law violations, from traffic control to collecting evidence if cases of game law violations. The new ATV joins a fleet of 11 others in use by conservation officers across the state.

[feathersnfish]

thats nice to know they can use them . and the public cant . i thought if you can not register a wheeler in the state of nebraska you can not use it on public fishing and hunting lands .
they have four wheel drive trucks with heaters that can go off road . as far as i know all the cars and trucks they own are registered . but yet they get to use the atvs any way .
i have not even seen a g&p co ...or been checked for that matter in 10 years . they dont have the gas to cut trails.. remove garbage or check my permit .
but they have gas money for a toy . my wife is disabled and i can not even cart her 100 yards on an atv to the duck blind with out getting a ticket . so she has givin up water fowling . we have tryed getting her such a permit from g&p but they say you can not use an atv for hunting in nebraska on public land .
now they will probably raise our permits for gas money for the new toy . i think they should have used the money for more g&p co"s to get gas for thier trucks to get out and check some permits at the local lakes this year .

[IsThisOneTaken?]

I think it is great the CO's have this as another tool. An ATV has its place getting them into places their pickup can't or shouldn't--and with less fuel than a pickup. The funds for the ATV were donated, and if I were a betting man, I would guess the donated funds were specified to be used for the ATV. It isn't like they used money that could have been spent on something else.

The CO's in this state are already overstretched, and few and far between. Don't be upset with them for that. Read the "Finally Got Checked for a License" thread in the fishing forum for some perspective (can't link, too new yet apparently).

Picking up garbage and cutting trails are not a law enforcement function, so that is an apple and organges comparison. Law enforcement also can sometimes do a few things that the general public can't do in order to effectively enforce the law. That's the way it works. Speed on I-80 to catch speeder, go through stop signs to get to emergencies, carry guns in prohibited areas, use ATV's on public lands, etc...

There are people who have been issued disability permits to operate ATVs on public lands, so maybe you aren't asking the right person, or meeting the criteria.

Again, I'm glad the CO's have another tool to use to do their difficult jobs. They need our support, not our criticism, if we want them to help protect the state's resources.

[Catfishsteve]

feathersnfish,

We have a some forum members who participate in SANDS (Sportsmen Assisting the Nation’s Disabled Sportsmen) here in Nebrasaks which is a group of disabled and other sportmen who's mission it is to help hunters and fishermen get out and enjoys their outdoor activities.

If you hit the link there I've provided and go through those posts and threads, I'm sure you'll find some contact information for some folks who can possibly get you better answers concerning getting your spouse to and from the duck blink than you've gotten up until now.

[Fish On]

Originally Posted by IsThisOneTaken?

The CO's in this state are already overstretched, and few and far between. Don't be upset with them for that. Read the "Finally Got Checked for a License" thread in the fishing forum for some perspective (can't link, too new yet apparently).

I posted in that thread, I was checked by Stacey, who was traveling around Branched Oak on the ATV in the news release. The use of the ATV allowed him to check the probably five or six groups of fishermen in a very short amount of time. Had he been on foot he would have been at it for a couple of hours I'm sure.