Two Rivers State Recreation Area

Two Rivers State Park is a great example of cooperation between Neb Game and Parks Comm, and Pheasants Forever to enhance the habitat quality of a public area for better upland gamebird populations.  A five-year plan has been designed and implemented to create a shift in a primary succession of the habitat on about 10 acres of the park, back to more of a native grass/wetland plant habitat that Pheasants and quail will readily utilize.  To achieve this, mechanical removal of woody plants such as dogwood and many other species of tree saplings has been done on the majority of the site.  The woody vegetation had encroached into the area as expected over the last 25 years or so and will do this again until it reaches a mature hardwood forest unless the grounds are perpetually maintained. Once grasses and pollinator species are dominant, nesting cover and winter habitat for upland birds will be maximized.  An adjacent property that does not allow public access currently supports a population of both pheasants and quail, so we feel that repopulation will occur soon.  A group of fledgling pheasants was seen earlier this summer during a walk of the grounds by NGPC, and PF members.  Future plans are to implement food plots and seed bearing vegetation as a draw to hold the birds in the area during the hunting season.  Input from both NGPC biologists, and PF field biologists was used in the plan.