Ranchers Oppose R-Project Through Sandhills

Article copyright 2017 James E. Ducey. All rights reserved. This article may not be reissued in any print or online publication without written permission.

Opposition to the proposed R-project was very evident at a meeting where public comments were presented on a draft environmental impact statement for this industrial transmission line that is proposed to be built through the sand hills region.

Many attended and a fewer number spoke. Most of the speakers were associated with the ranch community. It was evident that the majority of the ranch country people that attended do not want this powerline built across a unique landscape. For some, the indicated route would traverse their property. And they do not accept the imposition of something unwanted on range land they have carefully managed to conserve grassland resources that include cattle forage, native vegetation, wildbirds and other natural features.

The meeting at the Thedford fair grounds building was hosted by staff of the Nebraska field office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), with Eliza Hines their primary spokesperson. Biologist Robert Harms was also present.

The three documents being considered comprise about 1500 pages. An initial speaker asked why the documents associated with this public review were not made available in Thomas and Blaine counties, and that it also needs to be readily available at Valentine.

There was a limit of three-minutes imposed on speakers, to which one rancher responded: “We didn’t drive 30 miles for three minutes” in which to speak. Others drove much larger distances. Because of the need for the court reporter to properly record the dialogue, speakers were required to speak into a microphone at the front of the crowd.

Barb Welch, a ranchwife at the Brush Creek Ranch near Brownlee, was the first speaker during the public comment period. She said the cumulative impact statement was incomplete and thus invalid, and also shared some words from a letter from the American Bird Conservancy which is opposed to the powerline. Dan Welch was the third speaker. The couple have worked for decades to establish their ranch property, which has a unit south of Thedford, across which Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) proposes to place the powerline through rangeland that has a “high conservation value” as recognized by a study by Nebraska flora expert Kay Kottas, and which was financed by the ranch couple. Mr. Welch also indicated how NPPD has trespassed on his land.

Plastic markers indicating tower locations were left behind. NPPD has no legal authority to place these markers, according to research, so they are nothing but trash.

It was indicated by one speaker that NPPD has changed the route from the expressed “final” route indicated in documents, based upon a personal observation. Also, the utility company cannot build any powerline on property where they do not have a legally binding agreement on many segments of the proposed corridor. “How can an environmental review be done in regards to a hypothetical corridor,” was asked. Later in the meeting, biologist Harms indicated that following an email he had received, a request had been made about two weeks prior to NPPD asking for details denoting any route changes. There had been no response received as of the night of the meeting.

Voices heard at the meeting were strong and prominent. Names are not given here in complete respect to them. Those sorts of details will eventually be available in the public transcript of this meeting as well as those at Burwell and Sutherland, since a transcriber was present and kept a record.

The “sandhills are a national treasure ... very special and unique attention needs to be given” to continue these values, according to a rancher where the industrial powerline would bisect their range.

“There is no ecosystem similar to the sandhills, anywhere in this nation” said a Brownlee area, multi-generation rancher.

A neighbor with a heritage dating to the first years of ranching in the Cherry county sand hills said that “it would be a shame to put a transmission line through pristine hills.”

Each speaker received a round of applause after they had conveyed their comments. Continuing with comments heard:

“Visual and cultural impacts will be devastating to one of Nebraska’s most pristine areas” was spoken by a landowner that appreciates the several majestic Trumpeter Swan that spend the winter along the Dismal River and where Bald Eagle also appreciate the land that provides a seasonal haven.

Steve Moreland drove from Merriman to orate that the FWS “should just say no.” NPPD should “move along and quit wasting our time,” he said. Ranchman Moreland has part of a great legacy for a sandhills ranch family and his comments were indicative as he asked “Why do people want to ruin the hills for future generations.” His view that no incidental permit should be granted was completely agreed with by others, and the crowd as indicated by the applause of thanks for his spoken words.

A ranchwife from the east Thedford area does not accept that NPPD wants to ruin their ranch place for future generations, including her children.
Someone living nearby, spoke about how the proposed route for the transmission line has been altered at least two times. An additional impact would occur because of access roads that might be detrimental because they might provide means for trespassing.

In this same vicinity, another landowner expressed that on a portion of their ranch, about 1263 acres, NPPD proposes to build eight access roads which would include gates to provide the company access at times they would select.

This is “a total assault on their little place on the ranch east of Thedford,” she said. “NPPD can’t take away from what we have now.”
There was also a comment made about erosion associated with current power poles of the transmission line grid already present in the area and that regular power outages occur. “NPPD can’t take care of what they have now,” she said.

Especially significant was that after the moderator had gone through his numbers associated with people that indicated their intent to comment – and with additional time available – some people added to their three minute comment period. Others walked strongly to the microphone so they could share their individual views at this public forum.

The sandhills are a “different and special world that needs protection,” said a speaker representing more than a century of ranch legacy, not only in Thomas county but also in the great ranch county of Cherry county north of Hyannis. Details were given for nesting Bald Eagle in close proximity of the proposed powerline route.

A question was raised as why there has been no consideration of soil features. Details indicated convey that there is a great variance in soils so towers placed at various spots will result in barren land. At least two speakers indicated that character of the Dismal River sand hills should be a special concern.

Another speaker, that has personally taken the time to look at sites where there are powerline towers, has realized that the ground vegetation has not regrown during their multi-year observations.

A key item expressed was how the construction and placement of powerline towers might affect the local groundwater aquifer? This indicated concern especially pertains to southern Holt county where wet meadows and land wetlands obvious on the landscape indicate the presence of surface- and ground-water features.

During the meeting, questions were asked. Both Harms and Hines cordially provided answers, especially in regards to why the endangered American Burying Beetle and Whooping Crane are of particular concern.

An obvious theme by speakers was that the electronic documents were difficult to read. There had been problems with online access. Also obvious was the expense to print documents comprising about 1500 pages, with one attendee stating that it costs ten cents per page for black-and-white copies, and to get a color copy was 49 cents per page.

Concerns were expressed about how the construction of the R-Project could result in further degradation of the sandhills landscape as wind turbine facilities or solar-power development is expected to follow once a regional distribution powerline becomes available to transport energy to elsewhere.

Landowners in the area have already received letters from companies promoting industrial solar power facilities, or observed scoping activity along Highway 83.

The meeting on June 13th was at the Thedford fair grounds. Agency representative Hines gave a short presentation on key items regarding the project and the public review process before the comment period of the two-hour meeting. Several handouts were provided.

There were 68 people that signed in, including attendees from Thedford, Brownlee area, Brewster, Valentine, Kilgore and Merriman as well as an owner of local land from Red Oak, Iowa. Representatives from NPPD were present but did not give any remarks, and did not indicate their presence until a member of the crowd insisted that they identify themselves.

Comments on the project documents will be accepted by FWS until July 11, 2017. There have been from 30-40 requests to extend this comment period by at least 30 days, Hines said at the meeting. Several people that spoke also asked for an extension, as it is currently a busy time in ranch country.

A final decision on the incidental take permit for the burying beetle is tentatively scheduled for early November, 2017.

Archive of the Great American Sandhills

The Archive of the Great American Sandhills ™ is an electronic resource of historic information compiled during a personal effort during at the past two decades, with tinges of the effort prior to early-1990s. The compilation has many different and individually interesting details of history associated with this dune region of north-central Nebraska and extreme south-central South Dakota. Each and every expression by so many authoritative and unique authors, or perhaps by an anonymous correspondent, has been something special to discover, read and consider, and then add to a record of the area's heritage.

There has been no particular focus on any specific subject or area, but rather, is inclusive of any sort of published items from the areas earliest history through modern times including current days. Content has been organized in a standard manner since its inception, and conforms to a rigid structure to ensure that any item is suitably indicated within a defined set of parameters that conform to a standard method of documentation and presentation.

Only a trivial extent of this e-compilation is currently available online.

Content Considerations

Particular details, once discovered, are denoted within one of more than fifty data tables within a relational database, of which two are most essential: a sources table which is basically a bibliography and a sites table indicating more than 3,450 unique locations, each one having a unique name to which all of the source materials are referenced.

The actual content, including basically text and images — since its first origins — has been saved in a web-standard, html format. A paper copy of most of the original the items is also available, with photocopies also stored, and kept hither and yon in too many boxes.

Essential details could not have been suitably kept without the use of a computer-based record keeping method, in particular, database software. The initial database — focused upon personally gathered records of bird occurrence that had been kept separate text files but which was found to not be suitable — was created in 1992 using Paradox for DOS software. Information then available was transferred and expanded into the Access database program (version 2) in 1994. Access 97 — though now completely outdated — is the database software still being used for the multi-table, relational database. This essential file has not been updated due to limitations of computer hardware and software.

This archive was essentially, first established in April, 1995 as the online Heritage of the Nebraska Sandhills website using a format that seemed at the time to be suited to online presentation (i.e., an interactive "help" file format that provided links and allowed context searching). The content presented then and through 1998 was done with the assistance of a few hundred dollars grant from the Sandhills Task Force. Eventually all of the content was removed from online presentation as the presentation of the information could not be accomplished using the software and presentation methods then available.

This content summary was first prepared on September 30, 1999 when information was designated to the title Sandhills University™ E-Library and Database. The Great American Sandhills™ Collection attribution was used on March 11, 2006. In June 2013, the content title was revised to Archive of the Great American Sandhills™.

With an ongoing focus on finding new information of significance, record counts are accurate, but approximate since new material is continually being added, especially from regular searches of web-based content. The core database is about 46.7 megabytes in extent (June 1, 2013), while overall the archive comprises more than 10,200 files, and more than 425 megabytes of computer files.

This recordbase is representative, but not comprehensive as that has not been possible with this personal initiative which has not had any significant monetary support. There is a great variety of pertinent articles in current and historic newspapers which could be a source for many more additional articles with vivid historic details. Undoubtedly, there could be 10,000 items in the bibliographic table, if all sources, especially county newspapers, were carefully considered and properly reviewed.

Related material which is already part of the Archives and Special Collections at UNL include text and photographs in the Frank H. Shoemaker collection and the Great American Sand Hills collection of photographs captured from 1979 to 2006, which are the original picture negatives and slides donated by James E. Ducey in August, 2005 and which comprise the Great American Sandhills Collection. Many of these photographs have been used to illustrate numerous stories written about people and places in the sandhills. His contributions to the history of Nebraska include a contribution of more than 1025 articles which established the content for the distinctive Birds of Nebraska archive presented by the Electronic Text Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Bibliography

This recordset is a primary table within the database. It denotes details for more than 7140 citations representing a vast number of articles, primarily from newspapers, as well as magazine stories, university reports, government documents, web columns or any other available items. Specifics include: 5000 items tally on February 10, 2002 with additions from the Omaha Bee News; then, 6001 on April 27, 2006; 6300 on June 8, 2007; 7000 on June 16, 2012 upon adding two U.S. patent documents associated with Dr. A.J. Plumer and the Dumbell Ranch, etc. Each citation includes specific details of the source publication, including when issued, etc. to an extent that the source is obvious.

Each reference is designated to a specific topic, with 108 categories, and to a specified location. The precision varies, as a specific site is given if possible, but when a generalistic presentation or specific locality details are not indicated, an alternative, broader locality is used.

The first articles included in the archive are from the mid-1850s, with a continuous record of items for every year, starting in 1855. More than 6,100 of the bibliographic items are attributed to a specific date of publication (starting in 1856). More than 4100 are transcribed in their entirety (or an abstract) and saved in *.htm or *.pdf format files. Particular attention has been given to presenting articles from 1855-1879 in their entirety, with more than 470 distinctive articles accurately transcribed.

Several hundred images are included among the material, either being derived from a source such as a digital camera, or having been scanned and saved in a suitable, digital format. Efforts have been taken to ensure a quality result, which has meant many hours of digital editing to remove defects or other unwanted details which are "artifacts" which are false features.

Some modern-era stories are included in the archival content for personal use. A copyright applies, so they cannot be distributed in the public domain, unless through the fair use provision, or through written permission from the publisher.

Land History

Transcription of notes for the original land office surveys of the entire region, including South Dakota townships. Similar information provided for any later resurveys. Some graphic images are included that denote specific highlights. A database indicates survey dates and historic features. Township maps are available online at the Nebraska state surveyor's website.

Geography

• Sand Hill sites: locality information for 3460 distinct sites, including local place-names not designated on standard topographic maps. Any specified site is a unique name. These places are used to indicate each and every locality for a data item designation if it can be accurately determined (i.e., bird locales, community columns, historic events, flora notes, news articles ...). Information includes known alternate name(s), legal description and quadrangle, etc. Geocoding is needed for the locales, which could then allow each item in the archive to be readily mapped using standard geospatial software ... each location and its associated history could then be readily depicted on a dynamic, interactive map using readily available online mapping methods.

• Landmark history: 5,225 records for the many different geographic places among the dunes (i.e., canyon, creek, hill, lake, table, valley, peak, spring, swamp). Where possible, unique names associated with a place which are not given on an official map, are included.

• Town history: distinct details indicated for 4,011 records associated with towns, villages and post-offices; some town plat and related images are included.

Natural History

• List of amphibians and reptiles; records for bees and beetles, and sphinx moths; more than 100 bug images.

• Bird records: more than 146,900 records (with over 130,000 on April 27, 2006) for 1,595 distinct sites since early in 1887. Records prior to this time are denoted in an alternative database. The tally is 52,996 J.E. Ducey observations (50,015 records on June 24, 2006; record 50k was for chimney swifts at Bassett), for 986 locations gathered during surveys initiated in May, 1982, with records available in each subsequent year through 2011. Included are additional records from some checklists for federal government properties which do not include date details, especially for federal wildlife refuges. These specifics for the region's avifauna are not available elsewhere and comprise the only known comprehensive source that indicates the actual occurrence of a myriad of birds on a particular date at a specific place.

• Bird species: scientific name and species features for 407 distinct species as well as other sorts of birds noted in a more general manner, such as duck. The most recent addition was the Black-bellied Whistling Duck in the spring of 2012.

• Fish: list of species and 2,943 records of occurrence, including those gathered during Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality surveys.

• Plants: list of more than 1,000 species with more than 5,500 records; further editing of common names is needed.

• Wolf records: 611 records of the wolf: either Gray Wolf (288 particular records) or prairie wolf (coyote).

Social History

• Auctions, stock sales and public sales: more than 1485 records, with a representative 65 conveyed in a digital format.

• Biography: 6,139 records, with about 1080 in digital format, with more than 100 images; numerous details from Blaine, Brown, Cherry, Loup, Grant and Rock county histories were added mid-February to mid-March 2006.

• Farmer list: 6,012 entries from the 1890 Nebraska State Gazetteer for central sandhill's counties (data entry 08/2006). This is a composite list rather than items for a particular county.

• Business Gazetteer: 4,190 records, with a sample of ads which have been scanned and saved as digital graphics.

• Correspondents: 43,209 records of community news columns with more than 38,425 designated to a particular locality. These columns note the events of the local neighborhood, and notably have vivid details about residents and activities. More than 800 are in a digital format, including the first and oldest for the region.

• Historic buildings: summary of building information from Nebraska Historic Buildings surveys; includes 368 images and 244 diagrams.

• Livestock brands: 1,269 record entries from about 1875 to 1925, with multiple entries for some brand owners for different years; a few hundred have been indicated on a cow graphic to replicate newspaper advertisements by the ranchers of the era.

• Tribal language: 542 terms from the 1860s, when Native Americans still occurred in the region, although there is overall, few details of the Indian presence within the region.

With regular and ongoing updates of content, this resource, if online — would be a vibrant community for people interested in educational uses, historical endeavors, genealogists and others. This single-source compilation has a broad range of information not available elsewhere; for example, genealogy sites typically focus on a single county and are not regularly updated. The vast majority of this content is not available online, since it would be essential that it be organized with a spacial geography perspective as the primary manner for its presentation.

This is post number 1000 at Wildbirds Broadcasting.