Nebraska is trying to prop up tourism in western Nebraska as the drought tightens its grip on popular draws like Lake McConaughy.

Drought has lowered water levels at the state's largest reservoir but Governor Mike Johanns says there is plenty left for boating, skiing, sailing and fishing.

"Big Mac may be down, but it most certainly is not out," Johanns said during a tour of the area.

Stressing the importance of tourism in western Nebraska, Johanns said state officials have begun a supplemental marketing campaign to attract visitors from across Nebraska, Denver and eastern Colorado to the lake, as well as to the area's golf courses and other attractions.

"Last summer, more than half a million people came to Big Mac," Johanns said. "It has been among the top five destinations in Nebraska."

Johanns announced a more than $200,000 state grant over three years to help build four educational exhibits at the lake's new water interpretive center.

Signs of the drought abound, however, including wilting leaves and browning needles on trees in areas of western Nebraska.

"It's been coming steadily since the beginning of the dry years," State Forester Doak Nickerson said.

Forests in the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills are showing signs of blight and pine beetle infestation brought on by the drought, Nickerson said. Some of the pine beetles are spreading into patches of forest in the northern Panhandle of Nebraska, Nickerson said.

The drought is entering its fifth year in much of the state. All but southeast Nebraska now is either abnormally dry or in extreme drought, with the hardest hit area stretching across the west.