A.C.E.
39th ANNUAL CONFERENCE - 2000
ASHLAND, NEBRASKA

ACE's 39th Annual Conference was held in October at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park near Ashland, Nebraska. Our host, Dwight Hanson of Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and his capable crew put on a well planned and well executed meeting. The park accommodations included a choice of tent or trailer camping, a room at the lodge, or staying at one of the many cabins scattered through the park. The combination of the striking setting of this scenic park perched on the banks of the Platte River and the beautiful Fall weather made it tempting to hike the trails or play a little golf but most of us waited until after the technical sessions each day before pursuing the many distractions the park and surrounding area offered.

This year the technical presentations were grouped into categories. This was done so that those who could not attend the entire conference could come for a day and be able to hear multiple papers pertaining to their area of interest. The technical papers covereda broad range of subjects from topics such as park development, lake design and renovation, trail systems, river restoration, shooting range design, surveying methods, aquatic species rearing facility design, to Indiana DNR's presentation on the rehabilitation of a refrigerated toboggan slide. Talkabout variety!

In addition to the technical presentations,the members and guests were treated to a buffalo cookout, we saw buffalo and other native North American wildlife on the hoof at Wild Safari, and had opportunities to tour other local sites such as historic Fort Atkinson, the Strategic Air Command Museum, and world-class Henry Doorly Zoo