Ongoing efforts to get rid of invasive red cedar trees at the eastern extent of the Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest will continue in earnest with a recent approval of additional funding.
The overall cost of clearing cedars from 2600 acres along Steer Creek is $250,000. Four partners will now be providing funds, including the U.S. Forest Service ($129,000), Nebraska Environmental Trust ($100,000 as approved at their April 4th meeting), Ducks Unlimited ($16,000) and the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture Group ($5000). DU is the project sponsor, having submitted the grant request.
“We are very excited to get the funding and move ahead with this multiple-partner project on Steer Creek,” said Angelina Wright of Valentine, representing Ducks Unlimited, the primary project sponsor.
“Steer Creek’s riparian habitat and surrounding grassland provides quality stopover and nesting habitat for waterfowl,” said Wright. “The area, however, has been degraded due to eastern red cedar encroachment.”
The goal of the project is to ensure its habitat remains intact not only for the benefit of waterfowl, but also for other flora and fauna, as well as the public.
“Residents and non-residents utilize this public land for both recreational and grazing activities and this project will improve the quality of this public use area,” Wright said.
McKelvie Forest is the largest publicly owned tract of land in the Sand Hills.
 Land tracts where cedar eradication work has been, or will be completed, in the vicinity of McKelvie Forest. Image from grant application submitted to the Nebraska Environmental Trust. |
The pending tree removal will be a continuation of work on forest lands, Nebraska lands, private property and land managed by the Board of Educational Lands and Funds. These projects are associated with the eastern extent of Steer Creek and the Snake River below Merritt reservoir.
Efforts to eradicate unwanted cedar trees began in 2001 on a 7600 acre BELF tract along the Niobrara River and southward along the eastern edge of the forest land. Between then and through 2019 there will have been $352,929.50 dollars spent, with $225,634 in cost share with the Nebraska Forest Service and USDA EQIP program, according to Kelly Sudbeck, BELF spokeswoman in Lincoln. Agency cost has been $127,292.50.
“We view cedar tree removal as required maintenance, so our goal by removing trees is to actually maintain the value of our property,” said Sudbeck.
“Were we to allow a total infestation of cedars, the value of our property would most certainly be negatively affected. We focus on maintenance, therefore our goal is to maintain our rent, which requires that we control cedars, similar to any other invasive species.”
Nearby, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission partnered with the Wild Turkey Federation to remove many cedars from the Niobrara River floodplain at Anderson Bridge WMA. This opened up the landscape increasing the native vegetation, as well as providing a nice walking route rather than a situation of hampered travel through dense branches of cedars.
Along the Snake River, the agency has had tree removal done on about 1000 acres owned by private landowners with property along the river valley. Removing the cedars has improved water quality since rather than runoff from bare ground, a ground cover of grasses limit the extent of soil erosion, according to details associated with considerations by people and agencies paying the bill.
The Forest Service completed work in 2016 on another tract of 2600 acres in 2016, and located just to the south of the pending project area.
“The Steer Creek corridor is the largest riparian system within the Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest,” said Julie Bain, district ranger for the Forest Service. “Maintaining its ecological integrity is important to the agency, as well as the wildlife that call this system home. Because this project builds on the larger complex of efforts by multiple organizations and private landowners, it serves to protect the project footprint, but also discourages cedar encroachment into adjacent intact pastures and previously completed project areas.
“Grassland birds are in rapid decline range-wide; cattle grazing acres can be reduced by heavy cedar encroachment; public use of these lands is meant to reflect an intact system and the wildlife that system supports. Through these efforts, all of the above have been addressed – wildlife, cattle grazing and public user experiences,” Bain said.
Cedar removal would also be beneficial for the Steer Creek Research Natural Area, established in 2012 and just to the west of the project area. This grassland and riparian area would thus not be threatened by any encroachment of unwanted invasive trees.
With the NET funding now available, a request for bids will soon be issued. Once a contractor is selected, work will commence depending upon their availability.
We want to get the work done on a “timely basis,” and hopefully have it underway by late summer or early autumn, said Greg Wright, of the forest service.
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