Pheasants Forever hosts ‘Take & Taste’ tour

Pheasants Forever, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Nebraska Game and Parks hosted a Take & Taste Habitat Tour in Champion last Thursday.
The tour began with a stop west of Imperial at a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and pasture site where a prescribed burn was completed on in late April.  
At the burn site, participants were able to see the difference between fields that were burned and fields that were disced side by side.
In the burned fields, there were warm season and cool season grasses that were green and growing well. In the disced fields, there was not much green coming back.  
Participants headed to the Pheasants Forever Youth Memorial Park west of Champion for the rest of the tour activities.  
At the park site, Sue Knobbe of Imperial led the make-and-take portion of the tour.
Thirteen people were able to complete a make-and-take chalk couture plaque with a picture or saying of their choice and color.  
Donna and Matt Vlasin of the Beverage Barn led a taste testing of different wines and spirits that require pollinators to be made.
Wild game appetizers consisting of BBQ venison meatballs and French dip goose sliders were furnished by Matt Zvolanek, a soil conservationist from the Grant NRCS office.  
Jenny Prenosil, Coordinating Wildlife Biologist from Lincoln, prepared her version of deer loin bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers.  
Nadine Bishop, NRCS Nebraska State Range Specialist, gave an impromptu session about plant identification and explained the difference between forbs (native wildflowers) and grasses that are needed for habitat areas and forage production. 

To read more on this and other stories, please log in or subscribe to the digital edition. https://etypeservices.com/Imperial%20RepublicanID359/