Nebraska Open Fields and Waters Program

Open Fields and Waters pays Nebraska landowners annual per-acre (or per-stream-mile / per-surface-acre) payments to open all or part of their land to public walk-in hunting, trapping and/or fishing. CRP fields, undisturbed grasslands, wetlands, woodlands, stubble fields, ponds and streams can qualify. Enrolled landowners receive liability protection under the Nebraska Recreation Liability Act, and Game and Parks posts boundary signs and lists the property in the Public Access Atlas.

• Private landowners willing to allow public walk-in access for hunting, trapping and/or fishing; all or portions of a property can be enrolled.

• Conservation Reserve Program fields and other undisturbed grasslands are ideal; wetlands, woodlands, unfarmed draws, tall wheat and milo stubble, ponds and cool/warm-water streams are also considered.

• Enrollments are currently targeted within six Berggren Plan 2.0 priority areas and on WRE/WRP lands; properties outside these areas are considered depending on funding.

Contracts are 1-5 years in length and cooperators can withdraw at any time (pro-rated payment if withdrawn before the end of hunting seasons). Payment is typically reduced or withheld on acres where cover is removed or degraded (e.g., haying or grazing enrolled CRP). Access is walk-in only and limited to hunting, trapping and fishing; enrollment options can exclude rifle deer season or limit to spring turkey or fishing only.

Published amounts: Annual payment rates for OFW range from 50 cents to $25 per land acre, depending on property location, enrollment option, and habitat type/quality enrolled. Ponds or lakes: $250 for 1st surface acre plus $40/ac for each additional acre; cold-water streams $375-750/mile; warmwater streams $250-500/mile. 2026 news release: up to $20 per acre for CRP, up to $15 per acre for accessible WRP easement acres, $3 to $25 per acre for high-quality woodlands.

Contact a Game and Parks biologist or the nearest Game and Parks office any time of the year; a biologist evaluates the property in the spring, determines the annual payment, and approved tracts are contracted by early June.

Deadline text on the page: Contact a Game and Parks Biologist or call the nearest Game and Parks Office any time of the year. Your property will be evaluated in the spring, and approved tracts are contracted by early June. Annual payments are issued in the spring (March/April) following the closure of the primary hunting seasons.