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NGPC outlines habitat, access projects in Southwest District including Lake Maloney reopening
Summary
Game and Parks described completed and planned access and habitat projects across the Southwest District: Lake Maloney pier and ADA walkway reopening (community event May 3), boat-ramp upgrades at Swanson, Madison Creek shoals, Hays Center WMA ramp, Frenchman WMA pond renovations, and shoreline vegetation treatments.
Jared Laurensen, a fisheries biologist stationed in North Platte for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, summarized multiple habitat and angler-access projects around the Southwest District.
At Lake Maloney he said the agency completed an angler-access project that added a 12-by-24-foot wooden fishing pier by the inlet plus about 50 yards of paved, ADA-accessible shoreline walkway. "In addition to these two great things, we were able to add some fish attracting structures," Laurensen said, describing rock shoals and three 40-by-40-foot areas of gravel intended to attract spawning fish. He said the project was a joint effort with NPPD (engineering and design) while Game and Parks provided funding and oversight, and he announced a co-hosted community fishing event there on May 3.
Laurensen described future and planned work across the district: regrading a north-side boat ramp at Swanson Reservoir to a 10—14% slope and adding two boat docks (costs split between the agency's angler-access program and the Bureau of Reclamation); construction of roughly 42 rock shoals at Madison Creek to increase habitat diversity (timing contingent on water elevation, possibly late 2025 or 2026); and a completed Hays Center WMA north-shore ramp to comply with dam-safety protocols.
He also described fisheries renovations at the Palisade Pits (Frenchman WMA) after 2023 flooding introduced gizzard shad: all three ponds were renovated and restocked last fall, sampling is planned this spring, and an angler-access project with boat ramps and at least one fishing platform is expected in 2026.
On vegetation control, Laurensen said staff used a new chemical in 2024 to treat a hybrid of Eurasian and northern watermilfoil and saw "initial observation show that it was very successful," while noting cost is a limiting factor.
Laurensen detailed funding partnerships and encouraged local input: "We're always looking for partners... If you have ideas, we want feedback on this, please reach out," he said.
Ending: Game and Parks said it will issue a news release about the Lake Maloney reopening and continue to publish project updates and surveying results on its website.
