OGALLALA, Neb. (AP) - The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is delaying action on a set of restrictions that would drastically limit overnight campers and beachgoers at Nebraska’s largest reservoir, Lake McConaughy in western Nebraska.
Commission Director Jim Douglas said Saturday the commission is going to take additional time to consider all the suggestions offered by hundreds of people who showed up for a hearing on the proposed rules last week. Most people at Thursday’s meeting said they wanted more law enforcement and greater attention to checkpoints, not a crackdown to limit access to the lake.
The proposed restrictions the commission had been set to consider were developed following complaints about overcrowding and rowdy behavior last Fourth of July. The proposed changes, which would take effect later this year, were meant to lower attendance to address the overcrowding on the lake’s beaches.
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The commission plans to create a local advisory committee to continue to develop recommendations for the lake.
In recent years, the number of annual visitors to Lake McConaughy has grown significantly from 500,000 in the 1990s to more than 1 million in 2012 to nearly 2 million last year.
The changes proposed by Game and Parks are projected to lower estimated annual visits to between 400,000 and 700,000.
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