Nebraskaland

58 Nebraskaland • July 2021 MIXED BAG In conservation, nothing gets done alone. The long list of partnerships formed among state and federal agencies, private landowners, natural resources districts and others are reasons why we have places to hunt, fish, and participate in so many other outdoor adventures. But you can't have those partnerships without developing that culture in the first place. For the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Director Jim Douglas has been a stalwart supporter of this culture his entire tenure with the agency. "When I became the wildlife division supervisor in 1993," Douglas said, "I created a new section of that division — the partners section — because we were only going to be able to be successful if we formed a lot of partnerships." These partnerships, Douglas said, have been established on car rides and around bonfires. For example, Clayton Stalling, a former private lands biologist for the Commission, would organize "stump speeches" around the bonfire during conferences, where everyone was required to talk about the challenges their organizations were facing on various conservation fronts. Now, the Commission's culture is so focused on these partnerships that it's become the very fabric of everything it does. Kristal Stoner, executive director for Audubon Nebraska and former wildlife diversity program manager with the Commission, saw it firsthand. "Douglas recognized that the conservation field in Nebraska is relatively small compared to the needs we had, so he understood we couldn't do this work alone," she said. Stoner's work focused on a plan to conserve at-risk species in the state, so she, Douglas, and their colleagues would reach out to the people doing the work and ask what their needs were. "By partnering, you could capitalize on the strengths of other conservation organizations, and you're transparent and concerned with what works best for everyone. "We all have our limitations and strengths," Stoner continued. "Some work in the field, some have robust education platforms, some speak to decision makers. Not every organization has everything. If we just combine forces and capitalize on who has what, the work moves forward, and we're able to help wildlife." This same concept works in education as well. Monica Macoubrie, wildlife education specialist with the Commission, said partnerships are "just what we do." She and her colleagues work with grade school teachers and students, representatives from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, the Nature Conservancy, and zoos to name a few. "We help them, and they help us," Macoubrie said, a theme throughout the agency statewide. "If it helps you do your job, go do it." And partnerships do just that. "We want to work with as many different people as possible," Douglas said, and he wants to establish personal relationships with each of them. "If you have a personal relationship, you can dream together." And once you start dreaming together, you start forming a plan to make those dreams a reality. DREAMING TOGETHER By Jeff Kurrus Nebraska Game and Parks Commission partners with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Entomology Department to monitor the population of Salt Creek tiger beetles. Many groups, including the Saline Wetlands Conservation Partnership, Lower Platte South Natural Resources District, City of Lincoln, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Lincoln Children's Zoo, Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center, volunteers and others are involved in conserving Salt Creek tiger beetles, and partnerships like these are the foundation of the Commission. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND DIRECTOR JIM DOUGLAS

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