Conservationists Laud Establishment of Prairie Conservation Area

The recently announced establishment of a Flint Hills Legacy Conservation Area "is a magnificent opportunity to preserve tall-grass prairie in a context beyond what has been done in the past," said Ron Klataske, executive director for Audubon of Kansas.

"If landowners sell easements and this project is successful, it will ensure that the grasslands are not fragmented by developments such as wind farms or mining operations.

"This is a major step reflecting the vision to conserve this unique prairie system, said Klataske, whom has been a long-time champion of efforts to conserve the Flint Hills prairie ecosystem. He noted that "the Tallgrass Legacy Alliance (a coalition of conservation oriented ranchers and other conservations) was vitally important in the effort. The leadership and commitment of Jim Minnerath, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has devoted several years to the vision, and Bill Browning, a rancher and Audubon of Kansas leader who demonstrates the benefits of proper management for grassland birds on the family ranch, served as a host for visitors many times to project the benefits."

"Only in the past few years has there been adequate recognition of the importance of the tall-grass prairie in the Flint Hills," Klataske said, noting it will be especially beneficial for the Greater Prairie-Chicken, Upland Sandpiper and Grasshopper Sparrow, which are among the 100 species of grassland birds known to occur.

Klataske attended the announcement of the plan in Wichita, noting the diversity of people present, including conservationists, elected officials, representatives from federal and state agencies, ranchers and other private landowners, as well as other proponents.

"There was a great sense of excitement by representatives of diverse organizations at the announcement held at the Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita on November 12," Klataske said. "Even agricutural organizations that have not been traditional champions of conservation were present and on board with this project.

The Flint Hills Legacy Conservation Area will "help maintain the integrity of tallgrass prairie wildlife habitat, stream water quality, and the rich agricultural heritage of the Flint Hills by acquiring and protecting up to 1.1 million acres of habitat through voluntary, perpetual conservation easements," according to a press release issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service. "These conservation easements will protect habitat for more than 100 species of grassland birds and 500 plant species, and ensure the region’s sustainable ranching culture - which directly supports conservation of the tallgrass prairie – will continue."

Purposes of the conservation area, according to the Land Protection Plan are to:

• "preserve landscape-scale ecological integrity of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie by maintaining and enhancing the historical native plant, migratory bird, and other wildlife species with the support of the associated ranching culture;
• "support the recovery and protection of threatened and endangered species and reduce the likelihood of future listings under the Endangered Species Act;
• "protect the integrity of tallgrass prairie, riparian woodland, and prairie watersheds by preventing further habitat fragmentation;
• "provide a buffer against climate change, by providing resiliency for the tallgrass prairie ecosystem through landscape-scale conservation;
• "protect an intact north-south migration corridor for grassland-dependent wildlife;
• "use the built-in resiliency to climate variability of native tallgrass prairie to ensure the continuation of wildlife habitat in the face of the uncertain effects of climate change."

In addition to conservation easements, Klataske noted that cost-share programs and incentive efforts would be used to conserve the prairie habitats, and be helpful in controlling the invasion of woody plants such as red cedar, lessening the extent of annual burning of grasslands which can have a detrimental effect on nesting habitat for prairie chickens.

“I am honored to stand with the diverse and visionary partners who are leading the effort to conserve the working landscapes and natural resources of the Flint Hills for future generations,” said Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Department of Interior. “I am especially proud that the first new refuge created under this Administration is the result of a partnership between governments, private landowners, and private organizations, all of whom recognize the vital role agriculture plays in stewarding our nation’s fish and wildlife resources. The Flint Hills Legacy Conservation Area will serve as a living example of how wildlife conservation and ranching can successfully go hand in hand.

"The Flint Hills Legacy Conservation Area is the product of efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, private landowners, and other agencies and partners to protect a unique and highly diverse area in eastern Kansas known as the Flint Hills Tallgrass Region. There were six public meetings help to discuss the proposal, and comments were also taken on drafts of the plan.

The project area, primarily in eastern Kansas- extends from just north of Manhattan and southward into northern Oklahoma [include map]. Several conservation areas comprising about 90,000 acres are already present and managed by The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ranchland Trust of Kansas, and Kansas Land Trust, for example.

Further information on the Flint Hills Legacy Conservation Area, including the land protection plan and associated National Environmental Policy Act documents are available online.

Trust Proposal Would Fund Purchase of Snake River Falls

A grant application recently announced would, if approved, allow the purchase of the Snake River Falls and adjoining sections of the river in the northern sand hills.

Snake River Falls; picture taken July 17, 2009.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has applied for a grant of $2,417,000 from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for the purchase of a portion of the Snake Falls Ranch, down the river from Merritt Reservoir, according to a list given on the trust website, as posted in late September.

Few details are available at this time, but apparently the purchase would include the river from the falls, and upriver. This would comprise about 1300 acres, and about two miles of the unique river, according to staff of the commission.

Buying a portion of the ranch, through the proposal developed by the Fisheries Division of the NGPC, and partners, would provide public access to the river canyon and its blue-ribbon trout fishery. The agency wants to preserve the quality of the area, and would limit fishing to ensure a continuation of the quality fishing, according to comments.

Apparently a sportmens club, which is a partner in the proposal, would grant an access easement to the state agency, and also give a "right of first refusal" for purchase if their portion of the purchased property would be sold in the future.

The environmental trust will soon be posting a summary of the grant proposal, and then request public input into the proposed endeavor.

Pricey Property

Land along the Snake River below Merritt Reservoir is very costly, based on recent land sales.

Two parcels - 160 acres in section 28, T32N R30W and 40 acres in section 20, T32N R30W - adjacent to the Prairie Club Golf Course were purchased in April 2007. The buyer - apparently the golf course developers wanting to protect the view-scape - bought the 200 acres for $1.1 million, or $5500 per acre on the southwest extent of their course.

Another BELF tract of 24.42 acres in the northern portion of sec. 34, T32N R30W were sold for $122,100, or $5000 per acre on July 8, 2008.

The Snake Falls Ranch is being sold at a cost of about $3000 per acre, which is the appraised value, with an overall asking price of about $9 million for the entire ranch. There is no realty listing for the property which could be found on the internet.

Exciting Proposal

The significance of this purchase is obvious upon consideration of a map of land ownership along the lower Snake River, where public ownership of property prevails. This extent is predominant on a map, but the land is actually very remote and relatively inaccessible due to a lack of roads, and the occurrence of the two rivers and canyons which inhibit access.

Land ownership along the Snake River below Merritt Reservoir, and along the Niobrara River west of the Snake River confluence. Derived from land ownership maps for Cherry County, and with the greatly appreciated assistance of staff of the Bureau of Educational Lands and Funds.

On the western edge, is the McKelvie Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Lands around Merritt Reservoir are owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and leased by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Below the dam, the state of Nebraska, through the Bureau of Educational Lands and Funds, owns several distinct parcels near and adjacent to the Snake River. This property is leased, and used for cattle grazing and hunting.

The Snake Falls Ranch along the river, connects the public parcels into a contiguous tract.

The area west of the confluence of Steer Creek and the Niobrara would apparently be included in the "sportsman's club" purchase of the ranch.

Westward of this confluence of the Snake and the Niobrara, the BELF property includes two miles of Niobrara River in its largest tract of educational lands in Nebraska (comprising more than 7500 acres), then includes property never claimed and which is still U.S.A. government property, of which some marshland along the Niobrara is contiguous with McKelvie Forest. Another state tract then occurs, and just to the west is a very special state area, the Anderson Bridge WMA.

Purchase of a portion of the Snake Falls Ranch provides an opportunity to combine land ownership in a manner which will create a distinct and unique combination of public property with distinctive resources such as the riverfalls, lower Steer Creek and Niobrara River lands. Each with their distinctive resources.

Public ownership of the ranch property would provide an unique and perhaps "once-in-lifetime" opportunity to aggregate the Snake River environs into an area which extends from the dam at Merritt Reservoir, nearly to the Niobrara River. This is a unique opportunity to establish a protective corridor of the Snake River and associated environs, and to create a "world-class" setting with public ownership of portions of two distinctive rivers in the northern sandhills of Cherry County.

With a successful completion of the current proposal, it would be possible to trek - traversing property publicly owned or under easement - from Merritt Reservoir to the Niobrara River, and then eastward to the unique Anderson Bridge WMA.

Planning Underway May Change Setting at La Platte Bottoms

Planning is currently underway that may transform the current setting at the La Platte Bottoms, according to information received from the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District.

Two particular changes being considered are moving the location of the flood-control levee and conservation of the wetlands.

The levees in the area are being recertified, according to a NRD official, and this is including an investigation into the possibility of realigning the levees, away from their current position along the north bank of the Platte River, and west bank of the Missouri River, about the confluence of these two historic rivers.

Levees might get moved so a greater portion of the bottoms would be on the river side of these earthen berms, the official said. The levees might follow a possible alignment from along the Platte south of the Gene Eppley Salvation Army Camp, then northward and along the eastern side of the unused PCS nitrogen facility, then eastward along La Platte Road, and then northeast to west of the confluence of the Big Papillion Creek, at the Missouri River.

Considerations by the NRD are preliminary at this time.

Also underway in the area, is an evaluation considering a contamination plume which has emanated from nitrogen plant, owned by PCS Nitrogen, which is no longer in business. The plume apparently developed due to production processes at the plant in past decades. The company owns much of the property eastward of their former facility, and south of La Platte Road.

"There has never been a better chance to do this project," according to the NRD official. "We are doing everything we can to have it go forward."

The effort would conserve the north section of the area about the confluence of the Platte and Missouri Rivers. On the south side is the Schilling Wildlife Management Area. To the west, is the sandpit operation of the Lyman Richey Sand and Gravel Company. The Saint Mary's Bend mitigation area is on the east side of the Missouri River.

Potential funding sources - for what could only be achieved through a partnership project - include the Missouri River Mitigation Project, being carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Nebraska Environmental Trust, and others, perhaps including the Back to the River organization, and The Nature Conservancy.

Further particulars on the effort should be available this autumn.

Nahanni Reserve Expansion Announced by Canadian Government

The Canadian government has announced a massive expansion of the Nahanni National Park Reserve to over 30,000 square kilometers in the Northwest Territories province.

Map of the the Nahanni National Park Reserve. Courtesy of Parks Canada.

"Nahanni is one of the Crown jewels of our incredible system of national parks and it is with pride that I take part in the greatest conservation achievement in a generation," said the Honourable Jim Prentice, Canada's Environment Minister and Minister responsible for Parks Canada. "Enshrining this magnificent area in legislation, under the Canada National Parks Act, is a gift to future generations that will ensure Nahanni National Park Reserve is managed according to the most stringent conservation standards."

"The expansion will make Nahanni six times its current size, and the third largest park in Canada," according to officials. "It will protect over 30,000 square kilometres (a little less than the size of Vancouver Island), which is approximately 91% of the Greater Nahanni Ecosystem in the Dehcho region. It will enhance Nahanni’s UNESCO World Heritage Site designation as a protected area and will now include much of the South Nahanni River watershed."

The expansion is also expected to benefit opportunities for tourism.

"Nahanni National Park Reserve is important to the culture of the Dehcho First Nations. The expanded boundary will ensure Nahanni continues to be revered as a place of mystery, spirituality and healing," said the Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians. "We are very pleased to have reached this remarkable achievement through strong collaboration with Dehcho First Nations, and with the support of the Government of the Northwest Territories."

Ram Plateau landscape at Nahanni. Picture by Mike Beedell. Both photographs courtesy of CPAWS.

"This landmark conservation achievement will enhance the ecological integrity of Nahanni for generations to come by protecting large areas of vital habitat for several key species currently listed as Species of Special Concern" according to Parks Canada. "Specifically this means the protection of habitat and ranges for:

• about 500 grizzly bears – more bears than are found in Banff and Jasper national parks combined;
• two herds of the northern mountain population of woodland caribou including migration routes and calving, rutting and wintering grounds;
• alpine species including Dall’s sheep and mountain goats;
• important trumpeter swan nesting areas; and
• entire bull trout stream systems.

"Even when we don't walk on the land, our spirit is walking the land," said J. Antoine, Nahanni Expansion Working Group. "This work has taken many years, many people working with passion and dedication. We must always remember the words of our Elders, "take care of the land and the land will take care of us."

"The Nahanni personifies the spectacular nature of the Northwest Territories landscape," Premier Floyd K. Roland said. "It is a region that holds great cultural and traditional value to the people of the NWT and represents our spirit, beauty and potential to travellers from around the world. The size and nature of this expansion highlights our shared commitment, as Northerners to protect and sustain the value and wonder of our region for the future."

"The Nahanni is the jewel of Canada’s Boreal forest, and one of the world’s greatest wilderness treasures. Canada has shown true global leadership by protecting it," said Eric Hébert-Daly, national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

"Nahanni’s new boundary includes the highest mountains and largest ice fields in the Northwest Territories. Protecting many of the tributaries to the South Nahanni River, it encompasses the entire watersheds of Caribou River, Clearwater Creek, Cathedral Creek, Rabbitkettle River, Meilleur River, Irvine Creek, Ram River and more."

In comparison, Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay Parks in the Rocky Mountains of Canada together protect 20,235 km². Yellowstone National Park in the United States protects 8,983 km².

Nahanni North Karst landscape. Photograph by Harvey Locke.

The Nahanni National Park Preserve had previously included an area of 4,766 km² along the lower reaches of the South Nahanni and Flat Rivers.

"The announcement of final boundaries comes nearly two years after Prime Minister Harper and former Environment Minister John Baird promised a massive expansion of the park, crowning years of collective work by CPAWS, local First Nations and many others to convince the federal government to permanently protect this iconic wilderness area," according to CPAWS.

"The original Nahanni National Park Reserve was set aside in 1972 to protect the river from possible hydro-electric development. The river at its heart — the South Nahanni — has since developed a reputation as one of the top paddling rivers in the world, and in 1978 UNESCO named the park the first natural World Heritage Site."

"The Nahanni lies within Canada’s Boreal region, home to the world’s largest remaining wilderness forest, and a prime source of oxygen and freshwater. The Nahanni is also an integral part of a wildlife corridor known as 'Yellowstone to Yukon' that stretches from Yellowstone Park, in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, through Alberta and British Columbia to the Yukon Territory."

Conservation of Prairies Benefits Native Flora and Fauna

By James Ed. Ducey

Conservation of prairie-grass habitats of southeast Nebraska continues a success in providing places for native flora and fauna.

"Some of my most gratifying times have been while walking across a waving sea of grass and seeing plants not seen in most pastures," said Ernie Rousek, chairman of the conservation committee, Wachiska Audubon Society. "It is a great deal of satisfaction to see the orange mounds of butterfly milkweed in bloom in June. One of our conserved prairies has over 100 of these plants just in one corner. In July the bluish purple flowers of leadplant are a good indication the prairie has never felt the bite of the plow. The names of the plant prairie shoestring was given by settlers whose plowshares caused a popping noise as they severed these tough roots. Purple spires of several species of gayfeather are a pleasant sight in late summer."

"Local flora does not survive the intense grazing that generally occurs on the majority of pastures," Rousek said. The prairies preserved by the Wachiska group are cut for hay or burned, and not pastured.

Their generally small size is an influence on the types of the wild birds. A minimum extent of habitat is needed for many species to occur. Spring Creek Prairie and Nine Mile Prairie are well known in the bird annals.

"A number of birds depend upon prairies for nesting," Rousek explained. Some birds will make use of smaller prairie tracts, others like prairie chickens require much larger areas. A wild turkey flushing from a clump of big bluestem, revealing a big clutch of eggs is a rewarding sight. As is the mid-air song of the Bobolink or the meadowlark on a fence post."

Ongoing efforts of the Wachiska Audubon Society has protected four prairies through ownership:

Dieken Prairie, 12 acres bought in 1995

Wildcat Creek Prairie, 30 ac. in 1998

Lamb Prairie, 6 ac. in 2000

Storm Prairie, 20 ac. in 2004.

These prairies are open for public visits.

Wildcat Creek Prairie. Photo by Ernie Rousek.

The group has 20 prairies under conservation easement, distributed in 12 counties in southeast Nebraska, said Rousek, who has been involved in the prairie conservation efforts for the group for nearly three decades. These parcels range from four acres to 40 acres in size, and total over 400 acres. The names of various tracts are typically those of the people selling the easementm such as Beethe Prairie, Horacek Prairie and Brey Prairie.

"The first prairie easement Wachiska Audubon bought was in 1994, from Dorothy Heavey whose father, Henry Wulf died in 1972," Rousek said. "She owned the farm which had an excellent 4 acre prairie along Hwy. 34 ("O" Street), seven miles east of Lincoln. When Wachiska Audubon contacted her about protecting the prairie, she was very willing, especially when we told her that we would put up a sign on the prairie with her father's name on it." It is thus named Wulf Prairie.

At the August meeting of the society's conservation committee, Rousek led the team discussing prairie concerns: a new easement contract, management options, fixing a grade crossing used as an equipment access by a land owner, and other relevant business. There were a couple of signs that had been renovated. There was some news about the wetland environs at Yutan Prairie.

Some of the most recent prairie projects within Wachiska's large southeast Nebraska region are the result of an advertisement placed in several county papers last winter, asking land owners interested in protecting prairie areas on their farms, to contact the group, Rousek said. "We received about 15 replies. Most were not good prairies, but about five were quite good and we have signed two of these as easements in the summer of 2007.

"A dedication was held for a seven acre prairie north of Syracuse on July 15, 2007. This excellent prairie was owned by Forrest Halvorsen who was 89 years old," Rousek said. "His wife had died some years earlier and he wanted her name, as well as his on the sign. There were 72 people in attendance; many were Forrest's relatives."

"Each time the society gets a prairie easement, a 4' x 6' wood sign is constructed, then erected. The painted sign has the prairie owners name as well as that of Wachiska Audubon Society, which is the holder of the easement."

"A dedication is held for each prairie. We ask the owner to invite his friends and relatives; at times put a notice in the county paper and invite the public," he said. Easements, the makeup and geology of prairies, some prominent prairie plants are identified, and other information is given during a presentation by an Audubon member.

Dieken Prairie, July 2002 photo by Ernie Rousek.

During the August committee meeting, Dr. David Wedin discussed at length the status of Nine-mile Prairie, its surrounding land and zoning concerns and an initiative to have a strategic planning session among interested parties to discuss the prairie's management and use.

"I leased the 230 acre Nine Mile Prairie, in the name of Wachiska in 1978, from the Lincoln Airport Authority," Rousek said. It was during his tenure as president of the society. "The purpose was to 'tie up' the prairie while finding some way to protect it. I notified the UNL Agronomy and Biological Science Departments that they could again use the prairie. The first year there were 11 different courses that used the prairie as an outdoor classroom and for research. With a lease of $4,600 per year, the grass was cut for prairie hay and then sold to pay the lease, meanwhile trying various sources of funding to purchase the Prairie."

"Nine mile Prairie had been used by the University of Nebraska since the 1920s when it was 800 acres. The Air Force took over the Lincoln Airport in the 1950's and placed a 100 acre bomb storage area on a part of the Prairie, making the site off limits to the public, including the University. When the Air Base was deactivated in the early 1970s, The Lincoln Airport bought the Prairie for $200 an acre, as an investment."

"Wachiska had the lease on the prairie for four years. Funds for a purchase eventually became available through the University of Nebraska Foundation. Mrs. Neal Hall donated $69,000, which was one half of the purchase price. Many other community donations helped the cause."

Once the land was bought in 1982 by the University of Nebraska Foundation, Rousek started fifteen years on the property management board in 1983. During this time he designed and built a wooden kiosk which was placed at the prairie foot path entrance, where visitors could register. During the next four years there were visitors from every state and 17 foreign countries. He fixed fence, and did most of the mowing of trails, the entrance and roadways for the benefit of visitors, and other tasks during a tenure through 1998.

About 80 acres of Nine-mile Prairie is burned each year and Rousek helped on a number of those past burns. Dr. Jim Stubbendieck, of UNL, was often involved in planning and conducting these burns to vitalize the prairie.

During several of these years, the Wachiska Audubon Society held a Prairie Appreciation Day for the public each autumn, Rousek said. Tents were setup for speakers and exhibits and, there were those mown trails for prairie walks with "tour guides". A horse and buggy club gave rides.

Rousek's prairie roots extend deep to his first school years attending Komensky, a one room country school in central Nebraska. "It was completely surrounded by rolling hills of prairie, which usually, in the fall and spring, was our playground. We would dig and eat indian turnips and violet wood sorrel, and throw the 'arrows' of porcupine grass at each other, and play a game of 'hide and seek' among the hills," he said.

At the home place west of Ord, a regular job as a boy in the country, was herding "cattle on an unfenced 80 acres of prairie, woodland, and crops. I became familiar with various plants throughout their growth cycles. The Nebraska Weed Book helped with identifying many plants."

A keen interest in flora "steered" Rousek to a major in conservation and agronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His profession was soil scientist for the Soil Conservation Service, a district manager for a hybrid corn company, and with plant seed research when he retired.

An unusual event on the Spring Creek Prairie got Rousek out among the grasses again. He led hikes and shared history of the prairie schooner ruts of the Nebraska-City-Fort Kearny trail on the hill side; then came the outdoor saxophone quintet concert, a event of the Meadowlark Music Festival, this past July, during the prairie flower season.

"Most of the people who own prairies and who wish to preserve them, are usually older," Rousek said. "They seem to look at the prairies as an unchanging connection with their earlier days, and perhaps with people who have since, passed on. The unchanging prairie may serve as a nostalgic bond with family members who may, or may not, have spent time on the prairie, and have passed on. Prairie owners have told me of their parents or grandparents who had owned their farm and the dates when these people bought the land or even homesteaded it. They tell of using horses to cut and rake the prairie hay, and then the stacking of it."

"Virgin prairies serve as a storehouse of soil which has not been contaminated by herbicides or insecticides and serves as a base line compared with cultivated fields. Prairie plants are well adapted for the often stressful climatic and soil conditions of the Great Plains where they serve to protect soil from erosion, yet furnish nutritious feed for livestock."

"Many prairie plants were used by plains Indians for medicinal, and other uses. Some years ago a doctor in Los Angeles doing research on the antibiotic properties of the root extract of the purple prairie coneflower (Echinacea), contacted me about getting some of the plants from prairies in this area. He had gotten plants from two other states previously. When I told him that it was possible, he made a plane trip to Lincoln, and we dug up several plants for his use. A couple of years later a national magazine reported of a very effective antibiotic which had been derived from echinacea roots. The source of this news was from - Los Angeles."