The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission approved a 2021 river otter harvest season and a 2022 mountain lion season at its meeting Friday.This comes after Mountain lion advocates asked Nebraskans to help stop the game and parks mountain lion hunting. The Nebraska River Otter Management Plan was adopted by the Commission. The commission said the goal of the plan is to maintain a healthy population of otters that keep the balance with the available habitat and other wildlife. According to Nebraska Game and Parks, otters, at one time were on the state Endangered List and then the Threatened List, but were delisted in 2020 after years of research showed otter populations had grown and expanded to nearly statewide distribution. With changes to the commission orders, regulations were approved to implement a harvest season that will allow the trapping of river otters, which are classified by state statute as a fur-bearing animal. The season will be Nov. 1, 2021, through Feb. 28, 2022, or close earlier once 75 otters have been harvested according to Nebraska Game and Parks.The commission also approved a mountain lion season in the Pine Ridge Unit, according to a news release.The lion season dates are similar and the harvest quota will be identical to 2021, with a maximum harvest of four mountain lions or a sublimit of two female lions. The Season 1 Pine Ridge Unit dates will be Jan. 2-Feb. 28, 2022, and if needed, an Auxiliary Season will be March 12-31, 2022. There will be 320 permits issued in a lottery only to Nebraskans.The commission says the objective is to allow a harvest opportunity for mountain lions that allows the population to be maintained while limiting future growth or moderately reducing numbers.