Nebraskaland

20 Nebraskaland • October 2021 Recruitment. Retention. Reactivation. What is known throughout the conservation world as R3 represents the efforts of conservation agencies and partners to increase participation in outdoor activities. And in the Cornhusker State, there hasn't been a more stalwart supporter and facilitator than Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Director Jim Douglas. "Our efforts in recruiting, retaining and reactivating current and future generations of sportspersons is one of the most important efforts Nebraska Game and Parks and other state fish and wildlife agencies are working on right now," said Douglas. "Nebraska has been very successful recruiting new participants, and retaining our other sportspersons, through partnerships, outreach, educational programming, passionate staff, and engaged hunters, anglers, and parkgoers." It's because of Douglas' attention to the issue that those successes have followed. "Jim will forever be known for developing plans to get things done," said Jeff Rawlinson, communications assistant division administrator, who has seen Douglas' R3 accomplishments firsthand. Jim led those efforts when Nebraska became one of the first states to develop an R3 plan nearly 25 years ago. The plan laid out strategies to introduce people to the outdoors, then developed programs and avenues to support them in pursing those activities. Included in those were ways to foster the growth of people's outdoors and shooting skills, but also ways to introduce participants to the outdoors for the first time. Take, for example, two outdoor exploration events, the annual Missouri River Outdoor Expo at Ponca State Park and the Fort Kearny Outdoor Expo, which regularly draw thousands of students from classrooms around the state, and thousands more guests from the public. Each is drawn to the opportunities to learn about camping, hiking, wildlife viewing, outdoor cooking, fishing, shooting and more. Equally important are the efforts to engage hunters and anglers and keep them excited about what Nebraska has to offer. In 2018, the Commission tapped into that excitement by introducing programs that challenged hunters and anglers to take a novice with them during their hunting and fishing trips. Take 'em Hunting and Take 'em Fishing offered a grand prize incentive for participants — and saw wild success. More than 10,600 fishing trip photos have been entered in the Take 'em Fishing challenge for a shot at winning one of three grand prize boats from Cabela's/Bass Pro Shops and the Game and Parks Foundation. Take 'em Hunting created more than 4,000 hunting trips for beginners. Each hunter who submitted a picture and story has had a chance to win one of By Jeff Kurrus THE THREE R'S LEADERS IN CONSERVATION — DIRECTOR JIM DOUGLAS Brian Baskerville and his son, Harrison, of Lincoln shoot on the outdoor archery course at the Director's Take Aim Games at the Nebraska Outdoor Education Center. JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY, NEBRASKALAND IN THE FIELD

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