Dinan Memorial Bird Conservation Area Dedicated

By Carolyn J. Hall, Rowe Sanctuary volunteer
April 19, 2007

The newly established John J. Dinan Memorial Bird Conservation Area was dedicated on April 14 on the Platte River south of Gibbon.

This slough restoration for migrating and nesting birds is a fitting memorial to Dinan’s life's work as a nongame biologist for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, which came to an early end when he was just 51.

Approximately 150 people attended the dedication. John's brother Kenny Dinan, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, gave the details on the planning and execution of the work required to restructure the slough.

There have been several improvements to bird habitat in the area since it was purchased in March 2006, from the Horniday estate.

The newly acquired site hosts sandhill cranes and endangered whooping cranes during their spring and fall migrations.

The dark patch in the top picture is land that has been disced up and replanted to grasses and forbs. The top picture on the sign shows a 28 acre slough area before the encroaching willows were removed.

A reshaped gravel bar in which a spot was dug to the ground water level (shown on the lower picture in the included photo). This water was then led downriver to the outlet of the slough where a rock dam was installed to hold water in the slough during periods when no water is running in the river. This freshwater slough will be a nursery for fish and wildlife and a source of water during the dry times.

Also designed into the gravel bar were five nesting islands for Least Terns and Piping Plovers. These islands will be maintained free of grass and forbs. The area between the slough and the line of trees will be planted to sand tolerant grasses and forbs. The line of deciduous trees on the edge of the river were left standing.

In the fall of 2006, this area hosted a family of Whooping Cranes for a week. Obviously they approved of the project!

The dedication was set for the end of the crane migration to reduce the impact of people wandering around the area on any cranes that were still in the area. As the event was ending, approximately 5000 Sandhill Cranes rose from the meadow across the river, filling the sky and the air with their calls, giving a fitting end to the ceremonies.

The National Geographic Crane Camera is located at the mouth of the slough about a mile above the Iian Nicholson Visitor Center. With the area near the camera, observers will be able to view the interaction of the cranes with each other and their wetland habitat.

The Dinan tract is located on the Lillian Annette Rowe Audubon Sanctuary located on the Platte River in south central Nebraska. Partners in the restoration of this Platte River slough were Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Whooping Crane Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Nebraska Public Power District, Audubon Nebraska and several other foundations and organizations.

The 200 acre tract was purchased for $800,000. Another $67,000 was spent on work on the area.

Carolyn Hall, of Bassett, Nebraska, is a volunteer at Rowe Sanctuary for two weeks each year in March. Photo courtesy of Brad Mellema, executive director at Rowe Sanctuary; Jeanine Lackey, John Dinan's widow, designed the sign.

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The following information is from a press release issued 31 Oct 2007 by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

"In the summer of 2007, biologists discovered 10 nests of the federally endangered least tern and two nests of the federally threatened piping plover using nesting islands that were recreated as part of the habitat project. This was the first documented use of river channel on the central Platte by these species in more than a decade."

“Protection of this tract was a priority because of its critical importance to roosting sandhill and whooping cranes,” said Bill Taddicken of Rowe Sanctuary. “Having the first successful nesting of least terns and piping plovers in nearly a decade within the channel of the Central Platte River adds considerably to the success of this project.”

“This project is an outstanding example of how federal, state and private dollars can be leveraged to complete a project of this magnitude. We used federal funding from Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act, Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, and Private Stewardship Grants Program, state funds through the State Wildlife Grants Program and private funds from the National Audubon Society, Nebraska Environmental Trust and Pine Tree Conservation Society. The Nature Conservancy and Platte River Whooping Crane Trust also contributed to the project,” [said Jim Douglas, administrator for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.]

Plover nest at the John J. Dinan Memorial Bird Conservation Area near Gibbon. Picture courtesy of the Fish and Wildlife Service.