A tourism official says the spring mating dances by greater prairie chickens are expected to entice tourists and their money to southwest Nebraska.
MCCOOK, Neb. (AP) - The McCook Daily Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/YYpdJO) that the spring ritual is so unfailingly regular that tourism officials think they can sell it to eco-tourists and bird-watchers.
Carol Schlegel is tourism director of Red Willow County's Visitors Committee, and she told county commissioners Monday that her committee and the Southwest Nebraska Resource Conservation and Development organization will offer weekend packages next spring.
Schlegel says the greater prairie chicken does its mating dance from mid-March through mid-May, "and you can depend on the birds to show up."
Commissioner Steve Downer suggested that organizers could link the prairie chicken event with the end of the sandhill crane watching in mid-Nebraska.
Information from: McCook Daily Gazette, http://www.mccookgazette.com
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