Volume 88, Issue 6, 2010
July 2010
- Identifier:
- nela.2010_088_06
- Title:
- Volume 88, Issue 6, 2010
- Issue Name:
- July 2010
- Date Issued:
- 2010-07-01
- year:
- 2010
- month:
- July
- Season:
- Summer
- PDF filename:
- NL_88.06_2010_Jul_Spreads_Entire.pdf
- Publisher:
- Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
- Format:
- Periodical
- volume:
- 088
- issue:
- 06
- number:
- 088.06
- Decade:
- 2010s
- Type:
- Rights Holder:
- Copyright Nebraskaland Magazine/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, all rights reserved.
- Extracted Text:
-
Pronghorns are the fastest land animal in North America, but this buck
seemed content to rest in open grassland after a morning spent
grazing. Nebraska is home to more than 6,000 pronghorns, most of
which live in the western half of the state. Photo by Pasquale
Mingarelli.
Volume 88, Number 6, July 2010
14 Losing our Pollinators – Why We Should Care
Around the world, almost half of all documented insect
extinctions have been pollinators. There are many reasons
why, as well as several ways we can help.
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS HELZER
22 Sherman Reservoir
A quick afternoon trip to Sherman Reservoir revealed all the
opportunities this beautiful area has – camping, boating and,
of course, fishing. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JEFF KURRUS
24 Propagating Pallids
Twenty years after being federally listed as endangered,
most pallid sturgeon reproduction now occurs under a
sophisticated propagation program that helps keep them
from becoming extinct while waiting for their habitat to be
restored. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY MICHAEL FORSBERG
30 Wood Duck Grasslands
Southeast of Norfolk and encompassing 1,688 acres, Wood
Duck WMA is the answer why conservationists should work
so hard to preserve land for future generations – because it’s
the right thing to do. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JON FARRAR
36 Ethanol and Wildlife – a Bad Mix?
30
●
In the race toward increased energy independence and
reduced greenhouse gas emissions, ethanol has been a major
player, perhaps to the detriment of wildlife and the
environment. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY ERIC FOWLER
Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Mixed Bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Step Outside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Parks & Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Wilderness Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Portraits from the Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
24
●
22
●
36
●
Cover: The honey bee is Nebraska’s most recognized pollinator, but is
only one of many pollinator species experiencing declines around the
world. See story on page 14. Photo by Chris Helzer. Opposite: A crowd
views the July 4th fireworks at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha from the
10th Street bridge over Interstate 80. Photo by Pasquale Mingarelli.
NEBRASKAland (VOL. 88 / NO. 6, ISSN 0028-1964) is published monthly, except for the
combined Jan./Feb. and Aug./Sept. issues, by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission,
2200 N. 33rd St., Lincoln, NE. Periodicals postage paid at Lincoln, Nebraska, and additional
mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NEBRASKAland, P.O. Box 30370,
Lincoln, NE 68503-0370.
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 3
Feeding the Turkeys
I am enclosing a photo that might be
interesting to your readers, especially
after the “hard winter” of 2010.
I am a 89-year-old retired Catholic
priest living on the south side of the
Platte River near Cedar Bluffs at
Marianna, a retirement village for
Catholic priests.
Three of us living here were feeding
the starving wild turkeys this winter,
and they responded generously with
their presence anytime we put out the
cracked corn (I put out about 300
pounds of it this winter).
I doubt we will have another winter
like this last one, or that in the future
the turkeys may be that plentiful. I just
thought this photo might have some
historical value in your Game and
Parks annals.
Your magazine is very interesting
and high class. I’m sending along a
check for another year’s subscription. I
may not be living much longer at age 89!
Thank you!
Rev. Msgr. Andrew Meister
Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska
Hungry Fox
Thought I would send you a picture
that my son, Thomas (age 13), took of
a fox. Thomas was practicing calling
turkeys by our cabin on the Platte River
when this fox came to check out the
possible meal. Thought you would
enjoy it.
Love the magazine, especially the
wildlife and other outdoor pictures.
Keep up the good work.
Mark Norvell
Geneva, Nebraska
4 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
It’s a cute picture, Mr. Reicheneker, but
I’m afraid this is the best we can do for you.
Squirrel Cover
If possible, I would like to have this
picture put on the front of the
NEBRASKAland Magazine. This was
taken at my home in the front yard.
Thank you,
Erwin Reicheneker
York, Nebraska
Thank You for Lasting Memories
Thank you so much for offering the
$5 permits for youth – I purchased a
turkey permit for my 10-year-old
grandson
Skylar this
year. I shot
my first
turkey last
spring,
have taken
three more
since, and I
wanted my
grandson
to enjoy
the sport as
Skylar with his first turkey.
much as I do.
His dad (my son) died when Skylar
was five months old, and I have made
sure he is exposed to the outdoors as
much as his dad was. We went archery
hunting on opening day this spring and
saw one jake, but it was out of range.
Then 10 days before Skylar’s eleventh
birthday, Terry Brentzel, the local game
warden, my daughter, Shae, and I took
Skylar to a blind along the Platte River
to try again. Thirty minutes into the
hunt, two nice jakes walked in front of
the blind. Skylar put the bead on the
bird and pulled the trigger. His first
hunt with a shotgun, first shot and he
had a bird. That is what the explanation
of PRICELESS is all about.
The Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission has offered all four of
my grandsons lasting memories. Last
fall we attended the Outdoor Expo at
Ponca State Park and they keep
reminding me that we are going
back this fall. No need to travel out
of state – the Commission offers
plenty to do right here in Nebraska.
It’s nice to take the boys out of town
and into the country where the real
living is.
Thanks again for making affordable
experiences. I have won one lifetime
hunt/fish permit for my grandson
Gunnar, and have the other three to go.
I will be buying permits for the other
grandsons when they are old enough to
hold a gun or bow also.
Sherri Rathman
Grand Island, Nebraska
NEBRASKAland Visitor Letters
We want to thank all 115 readers that
sent e-mails and letters for last issue’s
visitor, a garden centipede on page 30
(see page 13 for the winner, rules and
this issue’s hint). Here are just a few of
the many wonderful responses we
received:
I do believe the NEBRRASKAland
“visitor” is among the rocks and
growth on page 30 at the bottom of the
page – looks sorta like a centipede.
Always enjoy each issue and have
for many years of subscription. The
artwork, pictures and stories are just
fantastic!
Maxyne S. Brannon
Fremont, Nebraska
You almost got me on this one, but I
found it on page 30, bottom center of
the page, I believe it is a centipede.
Great job on the magazine, I get four
outdoor magazines every month and
this one is my favorite. I enjoy reading
every article you all write. Keep up the
great work and I hope your "visitor"
contest goes on for years to come.
Monte Deatrich
Thornton, Colorado
It was easy for my husband to spot
the centipede at the bottom center of
page 30 in the June 2010 issue, since
he doesn't miss a thing that you put in
your wonderful magazine! We moved
away from Nebraska 21 years ago; but
we still call it "home" and miss it very
much. My husband looks forward to
NEBRASKAland Magazine each month.
When it comes I always set it on his
recliner chair so he can't miss it when
he's ready to sit down and relax a spell.
He's like a person who has been waiting
for a "letter from home" as he pours
through the pages of each issue,
devouring it like a starved man!
Keep up the good work ... we love
NEBRASKAland Magazine!
Joe and Jeannie Smith
New Holland, Pennsylvania
I truly enjoy the wonderful
photography in NEBRASKAland. I
found the centipede on page 30 with
the raptors. We learn so much from
your great magazine.
Rae J. Radke
Elba, Nebraska
The garden centipede (Lithobius
forficatus) is an anthropod belonging
to the family Lithobiidae. Centipedes
have venomous pinchers up front and
are predators, but very few species are
dangerous to people. They are
always found in moist habitats
(such as under logs or
in the soil here in
Nebraska) because they
don’t have the waxy
cuticle that true insects
have that would protect them from
losing moisture through their skin.
Send your comments to:
Doug Carroll, Editor
NEBRASKAland Magazine
P.O. Box 30370
Lincoln, NE 68503
or e-mail Doug.Carroll@Nebraska.gov
Please include your postal address and
telephone number.
Letters may be condensed and edited
for clarity. Photographs are
welcome and will be returned.
Under federal and/or state law, discrimination is prohibited on the basis
of race, color, religion, age, gender, marital status, national origin,
disability or political affiliation. If you think you have been discriminated
against in any program, activity or facility by the Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission or want more information, contact the Commission in
Lincoln, NE, at (402) 471-0641 or the Equal Opportunity Commission,
Lincoln, NE, (402) 471-2024, TTY/TDD (402) 471-4693).
COMMISSION
CONSERV
CONSERVATION OFFICERS
Director Rex Amack
Assistant Directors Roger Kuhn, Kirk Nelson,
Sam Sidner
Commissioners
Chairman - Jerrod Burke, Curtis
Vice Chairman - Mick Jensen, Blair
2nd Vice Chairman - Ron Stave, Waterloo
Dr. Mark Pinkerton, Wilber
Dr. Kent Forney, Lincoln
Lynn Berggren, Broken Bow
Rex Fisher, Omaha
Mark Spurgin, Paxton
Norris Marshall, Kearney
PANHANDLE
Officer
Jim Zimmerman (S)
Scott Brandt
Heath Packett
Dennis Thompson
Dan Zuehlke
Doug Pollard
Frank Miller
Dan Kling
MAGAZINE
MAGAZINE STAFF
STAFF
Editor Doug Carroll
Associate Editor Jeff Kurrus
Art Director Tim Reigert
Senior Editor Jon Farrar
Regional Editors Eric Fowler, Bob Grier
Contributing Editor Michael Forsberg
Regular Contributors Bill Hager, Chris Helzer,
Lisa Knopp
Photo Librarian Sarah Johnson
Circulation Donna Robinson
For address changes and questions about
your subscription, e-mail
Donna.Robinson@Nebraska.gov
or call (800) 632-5263
Marketing/Advertising
For advertising information contact
Larson Enterprises
e-mail dave@larsonent.com
or call (515) 440-2810
NEBRASKAland Magazine Copyright 2010, all rights reserved.
NEBRASKAland is available on audio cassette from the Nebraska
Library Commission Talking Book and Braille Service, Suite 120, 1200 N
St., Lincoln, NE 68508. (800) 742-7691. NEBRASKAland Magazine and
the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission reserve the right to reject any
advertising not in keeping with the agency mission.
Rates: $18 for one year; $33 for two years; $44 for three years. Nebraska
recipients must add appropriate sales tax. To subscribe call
1-800-NEBLAND (632-5263), or go online to:
NebraskalandMagazine.com.
COMMISSION OFFICES
Headquarters
2200 N. 33rd Street Lincoln, NE 68503
Phone (402) 471-0641
District Office I
East Hwy. 2, Box 725 Alliance, NE 69301
Phone (308) 763-2940
District Office II
524 Panzer St., Box 508 Bassett, NE 68714
Phone (402) 684-2921
District Office III
2201 N. 13th St. Norfolk, NE 68701
Phone (402) 370-3374
District Office IV
301 E. State Farm Rd. North Platte, NE 69101
Phone (308) 535-8025
District Office VI
1617 First Ave. Kearney, NE 68847
Phone (308) 865-5310
City
Gering
Gering
Gordon
Ogallala
Ogallala
Oshkosh
Valentine
Harrison
SOUTHWEST
Officer
City
Roger Thompson (S) N. Platte
Ray Dierking
Brkn. Bow
George Sund
Cambridge
Michael Thome
Cozad
Matt Andrews
Elwood
Dirk Greene
Imperial
Virgil Gosch
McCook
Dudley Sorensen
N. Platte
Rich Routh
Rep. City
Phone (308)
763-2940
631-0663
360-0682
289-0755
289-3399
778-7101
(402)389-0444
430-0572
Phone (308)
535-8025
870-0322
655-0028
529-8146
746-2418
882-0015
340-2440
530-0016
920-0367
SOUTH-CENTRAL
Officer
Jerry Pecha (Sup.)
Jeff Jones
Terry Brentzel
Randy Pomplun
Darin Gress
Dale Johnson
Robert Finke
City
Phone (308)
Kearney
865-5327
Clay Center(402)762-5022
Doniphan (402)469-5795
Fullerton
550-0489
Hebron
(402)768-8665
Kearney
440-3847
Milford
(402)947-1363
NORTHEAST
Officer
Tom Zimmer (Sup.)
Dale Davis
Steve Oberg
Daniel Roberts
Jon Reeves
Marion Shafer
Pat George
Tim Williams
Cory Krause
City
Norfolk
Bassett
Columbus
Fremont
Kennard
Norfolk
O’Neill
Neligh
West Point
Phone (402)
370-3374
760-0712
910-3366
719-1108
889-8508
992-7590
340-0787
929-0051
380-6410
SOUTHEAST
Officer
Duane Arp (Sup.)
Sean McKeehan
William Krause
Mike Luben
Douglas Kramer
Dina Barta
Stacey Lewton
Levi Krause
Russell Mort
Dan Evasco
Jeff Clauson
City
Gretna
Ashland
Auburn
Colon
Lincoln
Lincoln
Lincoln
Louisville
Nebr. City
Papillion
Waterloo
Phone (402)
332-2965
521-0159
274-8063
443-6392
890-6465
890-6463
890-7140
949-0593
209-1506
616-5961
658-7057
ADMINISTRATION
Officer
Ted Blume (Adm.)
Craig Stover (Asst.)
Wes Loos (Asst.)
Rod Loos (Asst.)
City
Lincoln
Lincoln
Lincoln
Ogallala
Phone (402)
471-5531
471-5532
471-5591
(308)284-8056
Nebraska Wildlife Crimestoppers 1-800-742-7627
Omaha Office
1212 Bob Gibson Blvd. Omaha, NE 68108
Phone (402) 595-2144
Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium
21502 W. Highway 31 Gretna, NE 68028
Phone (402) 332-3901
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 5
PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS
Alcohol Ban Lifted
Cheyenne State Recreation
Area near Wood River
Kelsea Nore
Cheyenne State Recreation Area,
located on the northwestern side of
Interstate 80 Exit 300 near Wood River,
covers 18 acres and is an ideal spot for
a morning sunrise, an afternoon picnic
near the small playground, or an
evening fishing trip. For those looking
for an overnight stay, there are also
eight primitive campsites on-site near
Cheyenne’s 15-acre pond. Both electric
motor and non-powered boats are
welcome at Cheyenne SRA, which,
according to the 2010 Nebraska Game
and Parks Commission Fish Forecast,
boasts good numbers of bass over
15 inches long.
But don’t just stop here for the
fishing. Stop because it just a nice
place along the interstate to take a little
break from the road.
At their May meeting in Gering, the
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
voted to end the ban on alcohol
consumption in state park and state
wildlife management areas (WMAs).
The new regulations do not become
official until January 1, 2011, and must
first be approved by the governor and
posted on the secretary of state's web
site. The new regulations include the
following restrictions:
– consumption of alcohol may be
prohibited on any state park and
wildlife areas, or portions thereof, with
the use of appropriate signage;
– consumption is prohibited between
the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.;
– consumption is prohibited on all
roadways, designated swimming areas
and parking areas;
– all containers of alcoholic
beverages whose single liquid
capacity is greater than one gallon
are prohibited.
Hostess of the Month
A Gander at Goslings
6 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS
Kelsea Nore
Canada geese, which partner for life, begin
mating around three years of age. Pairs will
build their nests, year after year, in the same
general area. They prefer isolated sites near
water, so islands are a very popular nesting
area. Approximately 4 to 7 eggs a year are laid
in the nest, and the female will incubate them
for close to a month. All of the goslings typically
hatch out of the eggs on the same day, and one
to days later the goslings will be led to water.
Swimming is a natural instinct and the goslings are able to dive for
food immediately.
Young goslings stay close to their mother, who protects them from
natural predators such as raccoons, coyotes and owls, much as the
gander did before they were hatched. If there are other clutches in
the area, the goslings will be flocked together by the adults in groups
called crèches, where they are watched over by the community.
At birth, the goslings are covered in soft, fuzzy down. Nine to ten
weeks later, they have sprouted their flight feathers (around the same
time the adults have molted and regrown their own flight feathers) and
will soon be ready for the upcoming migration.
From April 1965 to December 1972,
NEBRASKAland ran a department
called “Roundup and What to Do”
that featured a young woman from
Nebraska as “Hostess of the Month.”
Posed indoors (such as Vivian
Lewis pictured here in the March
1972 issue) or outside, each photo
was accompanied by a profile
including school, major, awards,
accomplishments, hobbies and
parents’ names and home town.
New NGPC Web Site
Jeff Kurrus
The Remington Model 870, a shotgun
that will see its fair share of time in
Nebraska hunting blinds this year, was
originally introduced in 1950. By 1966,
one million 870s had been sold. Today,
it is the most successful single model
gun in Remington’s 189-year history
and the best-selling pump action shotgun
in firearms history, with more than
seven million sold.
Lake McConaughy’s Annual
Kites and Castles Event
Cotton Kills
Jeff Kurrus
When hiking this month, changing from
cotton socks to a moisture-wicking
material, such as polyester or nylon, will
save your feet much undo pain due to the
cracking and blistering associated with
foot-cutting cotton. On a hiking trip near
Chadron a few years back, I had to wear
cotton socks one day because all of my
polyester socks were dirty. That night,
after a six-mile hike with another to
follow, I could barely walk. The next day I
had to turn my polyesters inside-out and
experienced much less pain.
On a similar note, the same reasons
cotton kills in the summer – making feet
moist and susceptible to injury – are why
it isn’t a good thing to wear on your feet in the winter. Only wear cotton
socks around the house, where your only traveling is from the couch
to the kitchen. In all other facets of life, make a change.
PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS
8 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
Counting Pumps
Interactive map tools, new fonts and
updated graphics and layouts will help
users access information more quickly
and easily on the Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission's newly redesigned
web site.
The improved web site, located at
OutdoorNebraska.org, contains the
following new features:
– a precise menu with constant
navigation that gives users a clearer
indication of pages that exist on the site;
– an enhanced navigation structure that
is categorized based on user needs;
– an interactive map tool that aids in
planning things such as hunting, fishing,
canoeing, and parks trips;
– an improved outdoor calendar that
highlights all Commission events;
– a more robust search feature to help
the public find needed information;
– an online community page that will
give customers access to the
Commission's latest news and social
media community;
– and a new Outdoor Report that
allows users to post field reports.
In coming months, additional
enhancements and content will be added
to improve and simplify the site. The
redesign is intended to ensure that the
site remains effective and user-friendly.
PHOTO BY BOBBI AND STEVE OLSON
Outdoor Nebraska, the
predecessor of NEBRASKAland
that began in 1926, started its
July 1927 edition with a question
for readers: “Have you purchased
your 1927 hunting and fishing
license?” It then made a statement
sure to make today’s reader long
for things past: “The annual hunting
and fishing license which costs a
dollar, is the means of support for
the Bureau of Game and Fish. It
is your dollar that trapped and
distributed 30,000 pheasants
recently.”
How far a dollar would go was a
bit different in those days, as was
how people viewed fishing. While
today’s anglers have numerous
options, Herbert Hoover, then
head of the Department of
Commerce, wrote about various
problems facing game fishing in “It
Is Too Long Between Bites.”
In the article “Can You Tell Me,”
readers posed questions to “the
Game Warden” in an effort to
clear up game laws. One was
especially interesting and
representative of the time period:
“Does a lady need a license to
fish?” Answer: “Yes, the law
requires all ladies to have licenses.
No lady objects to equality of the
sexes nowadays and should be
glad of this opportunity to be
treated the same as men anglers.”
Read “Too Long Between Bites,”
at NebraskalandMagazine.com by
clicking on “A Look Back.”
PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS
Jeff Kurrus
Kristen Friesen
If Tyson Baker tells you go fly a kite,
he means well. Baker grew up along the
south side of Lake McConaughy, where
he learned to maneuver stunt kites at the
age of six. Now that he’s grown, he’s
the go-to guy for Lake McConaughy’s
annual Kites and Castles event.
Now in its 21st year, this sandcastlebuilding, kite-flying beach party held
on Big Mac’s beautiful and abundant
beaches is nearly as old as Baker
himself. And as always, it’s free and
open to kids of all ages. While
pre-registration is suggested, no one
who shows up at Martin Bay July 31
will be turned away.
Registration for the sculpting contest
will begin at 11 a.m., with the contest
running from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.,
followed by judging, prizes, a silent
auction and a live band that will
perform at Down by the Bay restaurant.
For more information about Kites
and Castles, call (308) 289-2770 or
visit www.kitesandcastles.8k.com.
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 9
Kimberly Stuhr
Some 85 species of North
American birds nest in cavities.
They either excavate nesting
holes, use natural cavities, or use
holes created by other species in
dead or dying trees. Unfortunately,
the supply of natural cavities
continues to decline as current,
well-intentioned, societal pressures
encourage us to eliminate these
trees. This shortage of nesting sites
has adverse effects on ecologically
and aesthetically important species
such as bluebirds, woodpeckers,
swallows, wrens, nuthatches, wood
ducks and owls – to name a few.
Two introduced species aggressively
compete with our natives for nesting
spots – European starlings and house
sparrows. Although starlings and
10 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
WOODPECKER BY DON CUNNINGHAM, STARLING BY ROCKY HOFFMANN, WREN BY KEN BOUC
No Perches
Please
sparrows can be
interesting to
watch in
metropolitan areas
where few other
bird species thrive,
they are a serious
problem in areas
where native birds
exist. Males are
European Starling
especially
aggressive; they
will kill the
inhabitants and
eggs of an existing
nest and then
throw the material
out or build a new
nest on top of the
existing one.
Having nest
House Wren
boxes is an
obvious way to
counteract the shortage of nest sites.
Many commercial birdhouses have
perches, but yours shouldn’t. In
addition to providing easy access for
predators such as cats and squirrels,
perches invite starlings and house
sparrows to use and defend the box.
Native cavity nesters have strong feet
and easily cling to wooden surfaces so
perches are not necessary. If you
purchase a box that has a perch, simply
cut it off.
Other things you can do to protect
native cavity nesters include:
• Clean out nest boxes each year so
birds can’t build new nests on top of
old ones. Also use boxes with a thick
entry hole and deep nesting cavity that
will hinder raccoons, crows, starlings,
house sparrows and other animals from
raiding or using the box.
• Take the boxes down each year or
block the entrance holes after the
breeding season and do not put them
back up until you see or hear natives the
following spring. Starlings and house
sparrows don’t migrate for the winter
so they are looking for nesting sites long
before migrants return in the spring.
• Carefully monitor the box
throughout the breeding season. If you
observe a starling or house sparrow
building a nest in a nest box, repeatedly
remove the nesting material, or plug
the entry hole for several days to
prevent them from re-entering.
The Versatile Shad Rap
Jeff Kurrus
12 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
PHOTO BY ROCKY HOFFMANN
Bedlam,” by Jeff Rawlinson and Aaron
Hershberger of the Commission’s
Outdoor Education team.
• And if you’re lucky enough to
catch a lunker, brag to Scott Bonertz
and the entire Nebraska surfing
community in a post at http://www.out
doornebraska.ne.gov/outdoorreports/.
So, You Think It’s Hot Now?
Jon Farrar
The summer of 1936 was the hottest
and driest on record in Nebraska. On
July 25, a record high of 117 degrees
was set in Lincoln and 113 degrees in
Omaha. Total rain fall for the month in
Omaha was one-half inch and it came
in a dust storm with wind velocities of
109 miles per hour.
See You Out There ... But Where?
PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS
Kristen Friesen
Nebraska’s playground consists of
lush green acres, somersaulting hills,
the noisy laughter of rivers and lazy,
sun-kissed lakes. Frankly, the options
are dizzying. And that explains why
a growing number of Nebraska’s
vacationers are taking up surfing.
What’s that? You’ve never surfed
Nebraska? Didn’t even know it could
be done? Well according to Scott
Bonertz, public information manager
for Nebraska Game and Parks, it’s the
best way to begin any Nebraska
adventure.
“We always tell people, ‘Go outside
and play … and whatever you do, don’t
look behind the curtain,’” he said. That’s
where the magic happens – where he
and his department tweet, update their
Facebook page and load information
onto user-friendly web sites. Sure,
Bonertz would rather be fishing on
Lewis and Clark Lake, but someone’s
got to make sure Nebraska’s favorite
web sites are ready whenever you are.
• For starters, www.visitnebraska.gov
lists things to do, places to stay,
attractions, events and scenic byways –
all searchable by date or location. Maps
are easily downloaded.
• The Nebraska Games and Parks
Commission’s homepage is
www.OutdoorNebraska.org. There’s
a game guide, a regularly updated
outdoor report, information on the
Open Fields and Waters Program,
permit fees, newsy wildlife stories
and park information.
• For boat registration renewals,
go to https://secure.ngpc.state. ne.us/
boaters.asp.
• For links to Nebraska’s plentiful
campgrounds, visit www.nebraska
stateparks.reserveamerica.com. Video
previews of Nebraska parks can be
seen at http://www.youtube.com/
NGPCnews.
• For some friendly interaction,
follow the Nebraska Game and
Parks Commisson at
http://twitter.com/NEGameandParks
and http://www.facebook.com/
NEGame andParks.
• Don’t forget these four blogs:
“Afield and Afloat,” by NEBRASKAland
Magazine; “Barbs and Backlashes,” by
Daryl Bauer, Fisheries Outreach
Program Manager; “In the Wild with
Greg Wagner;” and “Lock, Stock and
I
Nolan Yaren could show off his largemouth
to the entire Nebraska online community.
PHOTO BY BOB GRIER
Surf Nebraska!
na
remote
area of northern Alberta,
Canada, beavers have constructed a
dam so large it is visible from
space, measuring 2,800 feet long
on the southern edge of Wood
Buffalo National park, twice the
size of Hoover Dam.
Originally discovered in 2007,
Canadian researchers report that
beavers likely started the dam in
the mid-1970s with several
generations working on the steadily
growing structure. In addition,
there are smaller dams beginning at
either side of the main dam that, in
10 years, biologists estimate that
the three structures could merge
into a dam just short of a kilometer
in length.
Because the dam builds up water
around their lodges, it has allowed
safe passage to and from their
homes from the coyotes, wolves
and bears that would normally feed
upon them, allowing more beavers
to spend time working on their
massive undertaking.
Do you know where this Nebraska photograph was taken?
See answer at the bottom of page 13.
NEBRASKAland Visitor
Winner and Hint
Last issue’s winner of
the NEBRASKAland Visitor drawing
was David Gloe of Omaha, Nebraska
who found the garden centipede on
page 30.
Readers are encouraged to contact
NEBRASKAland within 10 days
after this issue’s publication with the
correct page number and name of
this issue’s “Visitor” – a bug found
in Nebraska that just happened to
find its way onto one of the pages of
our publication.
We will then gather the correct
entries and draw one to win a
NEBRASKAland Visitor mug.
To enter each month, write:
NEBRASKAland Visitor
2200 North 33rd Street,
Lincoln, NE 68503.
Or e-mail:
Tim.Reigert@Nebraska.gov
with “Visitor” in the subject line of
the message.
HINT: This issue’s visitor is not on
page 1 (cover), 5, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18,
19, 20, or 21.
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 13
PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS
What is illegal about spotlighting? Legally defined: It is to hunt with the use of a spotlight or artificial light
from or attached to a motor vehicle or water vessel while having in possession or control any firearm or
bow and arrow. This does include vehicle headlights. And it doesn’t matter whether you are on a public road
or private property. By law, anyone and everyone in that vehicle are in violation of State Statue 37-514 and
will receive a citation.
It is legal in Nebraska, however, to spotlight from a vehicle, if off of the public roadway, while having NO
firearm or bow and arrow in one’s possession or control, to view wildlife. This can be an excellent and
enjoyable scouting method. Be nice though and first call your area conservation officer or county sheriff.
Can one legally hunt at night? Absolutely, hunters can use a varmint caller, electronic or otherwise, while
on foot and legally use a spotlight. Outdoorsmen, with a valid fur harvester permit and habitat stamp, can
enjoy both day and night hunting for most fur-bearers: fox, badger, bobcat, skunk, opossum, raccoon and
mink. The beaver and muskrat can only be trapped, not hunted. All other game animals
cannot be hunted after or before legal shooting hours.
However, one exception to the rule of law is that a farmer or rancher can legally spotlight
and hunt non-game coyotes from their vehicle, while protecting and being physically on
their own ground.
If you have any other questions regarding spotlighting, look on page 5 of NEBRASKAland
Magazine to find the conservation officer in your area and give them a call.
– Dan Evasco, Conservation Officer, Papillion
For many anglers, July can be
a tough month for catching fish.
Because predators in most
Nebraska reservoirs are eating
young-of-the-year shad,
why not try to match this
forage. Here are three techniques, using the Shad Rap, for making
those tough days a bit easier.
• Shallow trolling – To catch Nebraska’s open water species (walleye,
white bass, and wiper), this lure will run a particular depth.
However, an angler can make the lure run a little bit deeper by
using a line with a smaller diameter, such as a smaller test or even
a braided version.
• Deep trolling – “This is where some serious experimenting can come
in to play,” said Commission Outreach Program Manager Daryl Bauer.
Attach a clip-on weight, some anglers will do so 10 or even 20 feet above
their lure, and start fishing. This technique catches those same
open-water species that can be found shallow trolling. Because shad
roam so much in a lake, constantly changing depths may be critical to
finding fish.
• Cranking – Fish rip-rap points and their drop-offs for largemouth bass by
casting shallow and working the lure near these areas. You can also cast
parallel to lake jetties using this same technique.
Gilbert-Baker Wildlife Management Area - north of Harrison
Spotlighting
Losing Our
Pollinators
Why We Should Care
Text and photos by Chris Helzer
B
y now you’ve
probably heard at
least something
about population
declines among
pollinators around the world.
Media coverage of dramatic
decreases in honey bee
numbers throughout the U.S.
has captured the attention of
the public, and this decrease
has direct effects on our lives, A skipper butterfly feeds on
the nectar of a native thistle.
from our food supply right
down to our backyard flower
and vegetable gardens. However, to focus solely on the
plight of the honey bee ignores a much larger and more
serious problem.
There are more than 3,500 species of bees in North
America, and they are joined by thousands of species of
other pollinators, including butterflies, moths, flies, wasps,
ants, beetles, birds and bats. While declines on this continent
have only recently started to be widely documented, every
other continent, with the exception of Antarctica, has
seen serious decreases in pollinator numbers over the past
25 years. Around the world, almost half of all documented
insect extinctions have been pollinators.
Why Pollination Is Important
Pollination by animals is a critical component of worldwide agricultural production. Most of the fruit, vegetable,
seed crops, and other agricultural products consumed by
humans are dependent upon pollination. Although our two
major row crops in Nebraska (corn and soybeans) do not
rely on animal pollinators, other crops, such as alfalfa seed
and sugar beets, do benefit from pollinators, as do most of
our garden vegetables. And in grasslands across the state,
14 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
pollinators – primarily insects – play a huge role in
maintaining both forage production and ecological function.
Consistent seed production ensures the persistence of
important forage plants in pastures and hay prairies.
That same seed production also feeds our state’s wildlife
and maintains grassland plant diversity, which is critical for
both wildlife habitat and for maintaining pollinator populations.
In fact, the most serious problem caused by the decline of
pollinators could be that it will lower the total number of
flowering plants available to the remaining pollinators. This
potential downward spiral has been called an “extinction
vortex” and could destabilize entire ecosystems if it is
allowed to continue for too long. Plant species that are
already rare and/or that occur in small populations are most
vulnerable, but the loss of those species could lead to the
loss of others.
The Basics of Pollination
To understand why pollination is important to plants,
it’s necessary to go back to the basics of plant reproduction.
In all flowering plants there are two processes necessary for
sexual reproduction: pollination and
stigma
fertilization. Pollination is the
anther
process in which pollen is
transferred from the anthers
of a stamen (the male part of
a flower) to the stigma of a
pistil (the female part of a
flower). Pollen is a carrier for
the plant’s sperm nuclei, but
simply transferring pollen to the
stigma only sets the stage.
ovary
Fertilization takes place when a
sperm nucleus from the pollen
grain fuses with an egg nucleus in the ovary to produce an
embryo. Some plants can self-pollinate, meaning that pollen
The honey bee is Nebraska’s most recognized pollinator, but is only one of many pollinator species experiencing declines around the world.
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 15
B
esides providing consistent
and accessible food sources for
pollinators, the use of native plants,
particularly in diverse mixtures, can
provide a number of benefits to
both backyard gardens and larger
habitat projects. These include:
1. Low Water Use – Because native plants
are adapted to Nebraska’s climate, they don’t
typically require as much water as many other
horticultural varieties do.
2. No Risk of Becoming Invasive – Although
some native plants can be aggressive competitors,
especially in small garden settings, the fact that
they are already native to Nebraska ensures
that they will not turn into invasive species and
become a problem in the surrounding landscape.
A number of Nebraska’s worst invasive species
were originally brought in from far away as
horticultural or agronomic plants.
3. Resistance to Other Invasives – Recent
studies are showing that a diverse mixture of
native plants can be one of the strongest
defenses against invasive plants. Increasing the
number of native species, particularly in large
habitat plantings, can be a wise investment in
the future battle against invasive species.
Maintaining plant diversity is important for wildlife habitat and agricultural production. Insect pollination is key to sustaining that diversity.
from the same plant (even the
same flower) can fertilize that
plant’s ovary. However, the
majority of species require
cross-pollination, or the
transfer of pollen from another
plant, in order for fertilization
to happen. Once a plant is
fertilized, it begins to produce
seeds.
For millions of years, plants
managed to survive and
A bee harvests nectar from
reproduce just fine without
the many florets of a false
animals by using wind to move
sunflower.
pollen, seed and spores around
the landscape. However, the major reason that flowering plants
replaced ferns and conifers as the dominant plants across the
world 100 million years ago is that those flowering plants
were able to form associations with animal pollinators and
16 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
seed dispersers. Using animals to move pollen and seed
allowed those flowering plants (including most of the plants
we’re familiar with today) to move farther and more dependably across the landscape than those that depended upon the
wind. That increased mobility led to more genetic diversity
because plants could more easily cross with plants from
genetically-distinct populations rather than only with nearby
plants that were genetically similar to themselves. This
improved genetic diversity, in turn, allowed those plants to
more quickly adapt when the environment around them
changed, and to survive and reproduce in greater numbers.
However, while animal pollination has become the strategy
of choice for the majority of modern plants, there are costs
associated with it that wind-pollinated plants escape. For
example, to attract animals, plants have to invest energy in
producing large colorful flowers and/or an abundance of
sweet nectar. Some plants take things even further by creating
elaborate flower shapes that are only accessible to a few
pollinator species. For example, flowers in which nectar is
stored at the bottom of long, tubular structures can only be
harvested by pollinators such as hummingbirds that have
tongues long enough to reach the nectar. Because there is
abundant nectar, and less competition, those hummingbirds
are likely to bypass other plant species and go directly from
one flower to the next of the same species – helping to
ensure that the plant’s pollen is not wasted on a different
species. However, investing in attractants and elaborate
flower structures means that less energy is available for
growth and seed production. Wind-pollinated species can
reserve their energy for those other processes, but have to
live with less control over their pollen dispersal.
Today, both wind and animal pollination remain popular
strategies in the plant kingdom. Common plant species in
Nebraska that are wind pollinated include all grasses and
grass-like plants, coniferous trees and a number of broadleaved plants, including sage and ragweed. These plants are
all recognizable by their lack of showy flowers, and often
maligned by people whose pollen allergies make them acutely
4. Better Wildlife Habitat – Diverse plant
species create diverse habitat structure, which is
important for a range of wildlife species, including
insects, reptiles and amphibians, grassland
nesting birds and game species. Because each
plant species has a unique architecture, adding
more species increases the types of habitat
structure available. In addition, plant species
diversity adds to the abundance and variety of
food available for wildlife.
5. Overall Resilience – A diverse plant
community is able to withstand a range of
conditions and threats, including periods of very
dry or very wet weather, and pest outbreaks. The
more plant species in a community, the greater
number of species that will be able to respond
positively to make up for other species that are
being hampered by weather conditions or pests.
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 17
aware of when the wind is assisting with pollen transport.
Plant species that are animal pollinated (and that don’t cause
hay fever) are equally recognizable because of their colorful
and often scented flowers. Those species include goldenrods,
sunflowers, orchids, asters and most of the well-known
wildflowers in Nebraska. Worldwide, there are about
180,000 plant species that are animal pollinated, and about
200,000 species of insects, birds, bats and other animals that
assist them.
Nebraska’s Pollinators
In Nebraska, the vast majority of animal pollination comes
from insects. While bees are widely recognized as the most
important, flies may be a close second because of their sheer
abundance, diversity and the fact that many look and act
much like bees. Some pollinating insects, such as butterflies
and moths, carry relatively small amounts of pollen and/or
are less likely to move from plant to plant within the same
species. Others, like ants and wasps, are not fuzzy enough or
otherwise suited to efficiently transport pollen from one
flower to the next. Still others, including many beetles,
sometimes end up eating parts of the flowers needed for
reproduction as they harvest the nectar, obviously reducing
Milkweeds are one of many groups of plants that are particularly dependent on insect pollination.
• Leaving dead and downed wood on your property
can help provide nesting habitat for bees, along with
other wildlife species.
• Maintaining small, undisturbed patches of bare
ground, particularly on south-facing slopes where
they will be warmed by the sun, can provide important
habitat for ground-nesting bees.
1. Add Native Plants to Your Property
• Provide blooming plants throughout the growing
season so that there are always flowers available
(multiple species at any one time is best). A variety
of flower colors and shapes is also important.
• Using native plants ensures that they will be
accessible to native pollinators. It also can provide
important habitat for the larval stages of species
such as butterflies, which often require a particular
plant species (or group of species) for feeding.
2. Provide Nesting Habitat for Bees
• Nesting blocks can be created by simply drilling
holes of multiple diameters into preservative-free
blocks of wood. This can provide habitat for those
cavity-nesting bees.
18 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
3. Be Prudent in Your Use of Pesticides
• Avoid the use of pesticides when possible.
• When applying pesticides, use chemicals that
are as selective as possible for the target pest.
Avoid broad spectrum pesticides that kill all insects.
Use the lowest possible application rate and apply
when wind speeds are low to reduce drift.
• Select pesticide formulations that limit risk to
pollinators. For example, granular formulations are
often less noxious than dust. Microencapsulated
formulations can be particularly harmful to bees
because they mimic pollen.
• Bee mortality can sometimes be reduced by
applying pesticides at night when bees are in nests.
More tips on helping pollinators can be found at
the Pollinator Partnership web site (Pollinator.org).
Honey bees are the most common insect pollinator species to
have been partially domesticated. They provide both pollination
services and honey as products.
There are more species of flies than any other group of insects in
North America, and many of them are important pollinators.
their value as pollinators. All of these insects contribute to
pollination, and the loss of any of them would be important,
but the overall abundance and efficiency of bees makes them
the most critical of all pollinators.
There are two important groups of bees to consider:
managed bees and wild bees. Managed bees are those that
are at least partially domesticated by humans and are used to
increase pollination services to crops that require them and,
usually, to produce honey for human consumption. Although
there are other kinds of managed bees, including some
bumblebee and leaf cutter bee species, the overwhelming bee
of choice for human management is the European honey bee
(Apis mellifera). Honey bees have a long history of at least
partial domestication, dating back to ancient Egypt. They
were first introduced to North America from Europe in the
1600s. Today, more than 135,000 beekeepers manage
2.4 million colonies of honey bees in the United States, and
honey bees are the dominant pollinator in most ecosystems,
including those in Nebraska.
Most of North America’s wild bee species are solitary,
meaning that they tend to nest as individuals instead of in
large groups organized around a queen. As opposed to social
bees, which are active all season long, most solitary bees are
only active as adults for a few weeks or months each year.
This means that the species of bees pollinating early season
flowers may be dramatically different than those flying in
late summer.
The major exceptions to the social structure of wild bees
are bumblebees, whose colonies are organized much like
those of honey bees. The organization, size and long flight
range of bumblebees all make them extremely efficient and
important pollinators – second only to honey bees in that
regard. Nebraska has 17 species of bumblebees, which can
be distinguished from each other by variations in their
stripes and other color patterns.
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 19
O
f the roughly 240,000 species of flowering
plants in the world, three quarters of them rely on
pollination by animals, especially insects.
About 35 percent of the world’s food supply relies
on pollination by bees. Most fruits and many
vegetables rely directly on pollination, as well as
much of the forage for livestock, including plants
such as alfalfa and clover.
A study in 2000 estimated the value of honey
A monarch butterfly collects nectar from a tall thistle flower. Unlike noxious weeds such as musk and Canada thistle, the native tall
thistle is an important plant for pollinators and other wildlife.
The Decline of Bees
Both managed and wild bees, in addition to other kinds of
pollinators, appear to be experiencing population declines
across the world. Recent honey bee declines in North America
seem to be largely tied to the parasitic varroa mite, which was
first seen in the U.S. in 1987. In most cases, the presence of
this mite in a hive is fatal to a honey bee colony. Other likely
contributors to honey bee declines include diseases, pesticides
and the encroachment of Africanized honey bees, an
aggressive hybrid between African and European honey bees
that attacks hives and is becoming more common in the
southeastern United States. Although the number of honey
bee colonies in the U.S. is difficult to track, it’s estimated
that there has been a 28 percent decrease in the number of
managed colonies since the 1980s and scientists think the
effect on feral bee colonies has been even more severe.
There is less certainty about the causes of native bee
declines. It is likely that native bees and other pollinating
insects are less abundant today because of habitat loss,
fragmentation and a decrease in quality. Other threats include
the widespread use of pesticides and both native and introduced
disease organisms, but there are few studies that have shown
those links definitively. One exception to the uncertainty is
that bumblebee declines appear to be strongly linked to
recently introduced protozoan parasites that came into the
U.S. when commercial bumblebees were imported from
Europe for greenhouse pollination.
20 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
Many biologists also believe that competition from honey
bees has suppressed the number of native bees in most areas
of the country, and are waiting to see whether those native bees
can rebound in places where honey bee numbers are down.
There are several reasons to suspect that honey bees have
hurt native bee populations: Honey bee colonies typically
number between 10,000 and 30,000 individual worker bees.
Those numbers would be enough, on their own, to provide
strong competition to native bees, but the long distances they
can travel from their nests and their ability to communicate
the location of nectar sources to other members of their hive
makes them extremely efficient at monopolizing food sources.
That efficiency explains why honey bees are both valuable
pollinators to humans and ecosystems and a potential threat
to native bees. The biggest worry of some biologists is that
many ecosystems have had honey bees as their major pollinator
for so long that if they suddenly disappear, there will be
insufficient numbers of native bees to step in and maintain
the same level of pollination.
important, for instance, because the more complex flower
shapes of many hybrid flowers can actually reduce or eliminate
pollination by many insects because the flower structure
prevents insects from being able to reach the nectar. Using
native plants removes that potential barrier and also has a
number of other benefits, including water savings.
Fortunately, the use of native plants is already on the rise.
Awareness of the benefits of native plants is increasing
among gardeners, and habitat projects that use diverse native
seed mixes are becoming more common, mostly because
they also create higher quality wildlife habitat. In addition,
the Natural Resources Conservation Service recently
announced a new emphasis on pollinator-friendly practices
Saving our Pollinators
To stave off the serious consequences of continued losses
of pollinators, the most important thing that can be done is
to improve habitat. In particular there is a need to increase
the diversity of native flowers used in grassland plantings along
roadsides and in habitat restoration projects, as well as in
backyard gardens across the country. Using native plants is
Increasing the abundance of native flowers is a vital strategy in
the conservation of insect pollinators.
bees to food crops in the U.S. at $14.6 billion.
If pollination services continue to decrease, many
plant species will face a higher risk of extinction. The
most immediately vulnerable are rare plants or
plants growing in small scattered populations.
Eventually, even common plants would suffer from
lower seed production and less genetic diversity,
making them less able to adapt to changing
conditions or pest outbreaks.
If plant species start disappearing, so will the
animal species that rely on them. The resulting loss
of biological diversity will make ecosystems less
resilient. Biological diversity creates redundancy in
function so that the loss of one species can be
compensated for by other similar species.
Eventually, however, as diversity decreases there
are no more species to fill those kinds of gaps.
within the Farm Bill conservation programs they administer,
which means that habitat project applications designed to
benefit pollinators will receive higher rankings and/or higher
payment rates. Among other things, projects that help ensure
consistent availability of flowering plants through the season
will be favored (See sidebar on page 16 for additional strategies
to help pollinators).
To help prevent further losses of honey bees, beekeepers
are trying to become more consistent in their treatment of
mites within managed hives, although some varroa mites
have apparently developed a resistance to miticides.
Blocking the continued spread of Africanized honey bees,
particularly in southern states, will also be important.
Ongoing research may shed more light on other reasons
behind recent population declines, as well as additional
potential solutions.
The bad news is that pollinators appear to be declining
around the world and the causes of those declines are not
always clear, although there are some likely culprits, including
habitat loss, pesticide use and diseases. There is good news
too, though, starting with the fact that a number of pollinators,
including many bee species, seem to be able to survive in
severely fragmented habitats, including some urban areas.
While large scale strategies such as increasing the use of
habitat restoration projects that emphasize plant diversity are
important, it’s also likely that individual landowners, even in
town, can help play important roles in pollinator conservation.
Consider using more native plants in your landscaping, be
conscious of whether or not you have multiple species of
flowers blooming at all times throughout the year, and be
selective in your use of pesticides. Most importantly,
appreciate bees and other pollinators when you
see them. They’ll pay you back for your
consideration. ■
Chris Helzer lives in Aurora and is the
Eastern Nebraska Program Director for The
Nature Conservancy.
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 21
Sherman Reservoir
Afternoon Options near Loup City
Text and photos by Jeff Kurrus
y introduction to Sherman Reservoir
came during a stop, stretch and yawn
moment on the way back from a
Sandhills fishing trip. On a sunny weekday
afternoon, I watched boat after boat leave the boat
ramp, disappearing into small slivers of the lake
for walleye, crappie and the like.
I even saw a boat or two already done with their
fishing trip, returning to the dock after a
M
successful outing. Blake Covey and two of his
friends transferred a net full of keepers from the
livewell to a cleaning station. Meanwhile,
Matthew Edwards and Daniela Dixson fished from
a bench on the lake’s east side, probably
discussing a bit more than just proper depth and
tackle.
Across the lake, Erick Norvell and his family
played at their campsite at Sherman Reservoir
State Recreation Area (SRA),
enjoying a quiet afternoon of hideand-seek before a fireside dinner
near dusk.
While a brief stop for me, it was
quite evident that those at
Sherman had multiple reasons to
stay around the rest of the evening:
Camping, fishing, boating –
everything a family needed to
satisfy their summertime cravings.
And as I started my drive back
east, another boat left the ramp for
an early evening of walleye
fishing, pushing slowly west as we
moved in opposite directions, with
him winning that day’s contest of
how best to spend a Nebraska
summer evening. ■
★
Above: Before finishing the day’s work at a cleaning station, Blake Covey shows a
net full of fish from Sherman Reservoir.
Opposite: With safety light on, anglers leave a Sherman Reservoir boat ramp to begin
an evening of walleye fishing.
22 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
Located five miles northeast of Loup City,
Sherman Reservoir SRA offers camping,
boating and, of course, fishing. Available
species include walleye, crappie, white
bass, northern pike and both channel
and flathead catfish.
Propagating Pallids
Text and photos by Michael Forsberg
Twenty years after being federally listed as endangered, most pallid sturgeon
reproduction now occurs under a sophisticated propagation program that helps keep
them from becoming extinct while waiting for their habitat to be restored.
doubt I’ll ever forget the
December 2006 day when I first
walked into the endangered
species building at Gavins Point
National Fish Hatchery (NFH)
near Yankton, South Dakota. The
building was dimly lit, damp and cold.
I stepped up to the 30-foot-wide,
chest-high tank with now-retired
Hatchery Manager Herb Bollig and
looked over the rim. I counted six,
five-foot-long pallid sturgeon in the
water below – pale giants swimming
I
slowly counter-clockwise around the
tank, endangered survivors I had read
about but never believed I would
actually see.
The next morning I entered the tank
wearing a dry suit and with camera
and snorkel in hand, hoping to capture
underwater photographs of these 50to 60-year-old fish eye to eye. At first
they kept their distance, but as time
wore on, the curious fish began coming
closer, even brushing against me as
they gently moved past. In those
moments, I didn’t know what I
expected to see as I peered into the
small, copper-colored eyes of a species
that hadn’t changed since the age of
dinosaurs, but what I saw in the halflight of the tank was something I can
only describe as an ancient knowing
or deep intelligence, much like how I
have heard other people describe their
experiences looking into the eyes of
an old elephant or a whale.
These six fish, collected by
biologists two months prior from an
unchannelized stretch of the Upper
Missouri in eastern Montana and western
North Dakota, had been transported
500 miles to overwinter at this U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service hatchery along the
Nebraska-South Dakota border. If all
went well, these fish would be spawned
in June, producing progeny for stocking
and future broodstock before being
transported back to the wild. And it was
the responsibility of a small team of
hatchery biologists, led by Bollig, to
make it happen.
2010 marks the 20th year since the
pallid sturgeon was put on the federally
endangered species list. A big river fish,
endemic to the Missouri and Lower
Mississippi rivers of North America,
Left: Photographed in December 2006,
these female pallid sturgeons were two of
six breeding age adults captured from the
Upper Missouri near the confluence with
the Yellowstone River in eastern Montana
and then transported to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service’s Gavins Point National
Fish Hatchery in Yankton, South Dakota.
At five feet in length, 60-80 pounds and
perhaps 60 years old, these mother fish
were overwintering at the hatchery with
all efforts focused on their hopeful spawn
the following June, helping biologists
propagate the next generation of pallid
sturgeon in order to help recover this
endangered species struggling for its
survival in the Missouri and Mississippi
river systems it calls home.
24 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
Above: Pallid sturgeon are primitive fish
with no true scales or bones, but rather a
cartilaginous skeleton with scutes and
five rows of thick cartilage plates running
from head to tail, forming a protective
armor. Sturgeon are believed to have
evolved as many as 70-100 million years
ago during the Cretaceous period, when
dinosaurs still walked the earth.
this warmwater species was specially
designed to roam freely, sometimes
hundreds of miles, throughout big,
dynamic river systems with pulse
flows that spilled turbid waters over
large floodplains and had a complex of
swift currents and slack waters, like the
historic Missouri River used to be.
Although little was known about
them at the time, in the 1980s fishery
biologists began to realize that the
pallid sturgeon was in trouble – the
only ones being caught by fishermen or
in biologists’ nets were old, and there
was little to no evidence of spawning
activity, reproduction or recruitment
into the existing population. It was
evident that the string of major dams,
reservoirs and channelization projects on
the Missouri River in the 20th century
had taken its toll on one of the largest
freshwater fish species in North America,
one whose lineage has survived virtually
unchanged for millions of years. Most
of its native habitat had either been
significantly altered or destroyed, and
the natural rhythm of river flows – its
heartbeat – had been disrupted, as had
the fish’s natural cycle of movement to
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 25
Above: Herb Bollig, now retired hatchery manager for Gavins Point National Fish
Hatchery, stands in front of a chalkboard that provides a timeline of pallid sturgeon
broodstock he developed at the hatchery since propagation efforts began in 1992.
Bollig began his career as a fisheries biologist in 1969 at a federal fish hatchery three
miles from the farm where he grew up in northwest Kansas. He came to the Gavins
Point hatchery in 1991 and was the project leader for the pallid sturgeon propagation
program until his retirement in June 2007.
and from spawning grounds.
Unfortunately, the pallid’s struggle
for survival is not unlike that of many
other sturgeon species in the world
today – all of these large, long-lived
and slow to mature sexually fish have
suffered greatly in recent years, their
habitats and natural life cycles on big,
wild rivers either greatly compromised
or destroyed entirely by dams and
diversions, pollution, overfishing for
commercial markets, or a combination
of the above.
Pallid sturgeon received protection
under the Endangered Species Act on
September 6th, 1990. Shortly thereafter,
the Pallid Sturgeon Recovery Plan was
developed, enlisting assistance from state
and federal conservation agencies from
Montana to Louisiana, including the
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
The plan called for biologists to:
gather as much information, as fast as
possible, about how these secretive fish
26 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
lived their lives and what their
specific survival requirements were;
develop a captive propagation program
using fish caught in the wild to help
restore their population; and restore
the habitat and natural river flow
processes that pallid sturgeon relied on
for reproduction.
Restoring habitat, because of history
and politics, would take years, maybe
decades. Pallid sturgeon, however, didn’t
have that much time. Thus propagation
efforts began immediately, with one clear
goal: make sure the species survives by
reproducing in hatcheries and stocking
them in the wild until pallids can
naturally reproduce and create a
self-sustaining population again.
Enter Herb Bollig, a veteran fisheries
biologist who came to Gavins Point
NFH in 1991, became project leader of
the propagation program and authored
the initial Pallid Sturgeon Propagation/
Genetics Plan.
Bollig said that when they started
the recovery process, his group knew
very little about pallid sturgeon,
including the habitats where the fish
lived. Enlisting the help of everyone
from local fishermen on the Missouri to
Russian scientists who had experience
propagating sturgeon in their home
country for both conservation and the
caviar industry, the team started gathering
as much knowledge as they could.
In early propagation work, they used
the more common and closely related
shovelnose sturgeon as a surrogate
species, following the lead of crane
biologists that had used sandhill
cranes to perfect captive propagation
techniques before trying them on the
critically endangered whooping cranes.
Bollig said through trial and error,
hard work, previous experience, and
common sense, the program progressed.
Then in 1995, captive propagation took
a big step forward when spawning
techniques, such as using hormone
injections and catheterization, were
developed and perfected.
Using these techniques at the hatchery
in 1997, Bollig’s group successfully
hatched and raised several thousand
young sturgeon at Gavins for the first
time from two adult females and three
males that had been captured in the
wild. The adult fish, among several
collected from the Upper Missouri
River in eastern Montana and western
North Dakota near the confluence of
Yellowstone River, were part of the
relict population that had survived the
dam building era and would become
the genetic source for the majority of
the fish today.
“I remember when those first fish
were brought in,” said Bollig. “Many
of them were emaciated. They basically
were slowly starving to death in the river,
just trying to stay alive. There was little
energy left for reproduction, even if
they had spawning habitat available.”
Pallids are predators, and a large part
of their diet is small fish. Over the winter
hatchery staff started feeding them
minnows, chubs, and rainbow trout from
the hatchery stock, and those 16- to
Above: Their captivity nearly complete,
five-foot-long adult females, captured in
the wild the previous fall, cruise in the
holding tanks just prior to spawning
activities. Filled with a mix of lake water
and well water, the tanks’ water temperature
and quality is carefully monitored by
hatchery biologists. After spawning, the
huge mother fish will be transported in
large holding tanks on flatbed trucks
back to their capture site and carefully
released back into the wild.
18-pound fish doubled their weight
over time and were able to produce eggs
and sperm the following June after
attaining a much-improved physical and
sexual condition. The eggs and sperm
from that first year’s two females and
three males were then crossed in very
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 27
Left: Hatchery staff hold an adult male
pallid sturgeon in a shallow tub as milt
(sperm) is extracted with a large syringe
during the aspiration process. Like the
female pallids, the males have been
injected with a synthetic hormone that
helps activate the release of sperm in
males and eggs in females prior to the
actual fertilization process.
resulting progeny are stocked into the
Missouri, typically anywhere from
fingerling size up to two years of age.
Bollig believes that 90 to 95 percent or
more of the genetics of the Upper
Missouri River population now exist
in the broodstock held at the Gavins
Point NFH.
Since efforts began, more than
90,000 hatchery-reared pallid sturgeon
have been released into the Missouri in
various locations up and down the
Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota
borders. In-depth studies of these fish,
including tracking studies and habitat
restoration efforts, are ongoing. (See
“Saving a Living Dinosaur” April 2009
NEBRASKAland)
The first broodstocks raised from the
Gavins Point NFH in the 1990s are
now reaching sexual maturity, just in
the nick of time as the wild population
continues to age. “A whole lot of people,
time, and effort were put into figuring
out this propagation process,” said
Bollig. “Geneticists in this field are
tough people to please, but they say we
did it right.”
One part of the equation has now
been met. Now these ancient fish are
just waiting for their habitat to be
restored. ■
genetically specific, predetermined ways.
In 1998, their offspring – 1,885 juvenile
pallid sturgeon that were a year old and
six to eight inches long – became the
first generation of progeny to be
released into the river. In addition, a
specific number of fish from each cross
was kept for future broodstock.
Since 1998, wild captured females
and males in good reproductive condition
have been spawned every year at the
Gavins Point NFH and similar facilities
along the Missouri, including Blind
Pony State Fish Hatchery in Missouri,
which is also capturing and spawning
pallid sturgeon from the lower Missouri
and Mississippi river systems. The
28 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
Right: These post-it
note sized, plastic
pieces of paper tell
which adult male
was crossed with
which adult female.
Like a name tag,
this waterproof
note has been with
the eggs since they
were fertilized and
will be transferred
with them to the jar
incubators until the
young are hatched
in 10-14 days.
Above: Hatchery biologists search
through the refrigerator looking for the
individual male genetics they want to
cross with a particular female. Each
female’s eggs may be separated into
batches, with every batch fertilized with
sperm from a different male.
Right: With bodies perfectly designed for
a life of swift currents in big rivers, this
one-year-old juvenile pallid sturgeon
represent the successful science of
propagation and the dedication of the
scientists creating another generation of
future broodstock at Gavins Point
National Fish Hatchery; fish that will one
day be spawned and the resulting, tagged
progeny released back into selected sites
of the Missouri River system along
Nebraska’s eastern border. The propagation
of these endangered fish protects a
treasured genetic line of a species that
dates back virtually unchanged into our
ancient past, and keeps a ray of hope
alive for their future if the river’s character
can one day be restored.
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 29
Text and photos by Jon Farrar
here is something about
grasslands – you are born or
raised with an affinity for
them or not. Some discover
and come to love them late in
life, but that is like learning to ride a
bicycle in your 40s – it will never be
natural. Almost everything “discovered”
is too cerebral. Perhaps someone can
come to love ancient forests, roiling
seashores or towering mountains later
in life, as their magnificence is too
grand to let you slip away without
being awed. Being one with grasslands,
though, is like being one with the
ocean; not where ocean meets land but
where there is no land in sight. The
expanses of North American grasslands
once were that way – too great to
comprehend. Most saw only a sameness,
a monotony, a seeming endlessness
with nowhere to hide, hence something
to be feared. Others saw a subtle beauty
and freedom in the vastness. Today, so
few expanses of grasslands remain we
must settle for remnants here and there,
avert our eyes from horizons with utility
poles and center pivot irrigation systems,
mostly looking down at what is around
our feet, but even that can be quite
T
satisfying, dwelling on details, ignoring
the whole. It is how some of us struggle
through life.
There is a patch of native prairie
southeast of Norfolk on the south side
of the Elkhorn River, on a sandy dune
no doubt deposited during prolonged
drought in the past when unrelenting
winter winds pushed sand up from the
dry riverbed. The dune is one of the
easternmost outliers of the expansive
Sandhills region that covers most of
north-central Nebraska. Soil surveys
tell they are close relatives; both have
Valentine and Elsmere soil types named
for towns in Cherry County. This little
patch of prairie is a microcosm of
the greater Sandhills, cloaked with
sandy-soil-loving plants – soapweed,
prairie spiderwort, blazing star, sand
bluestem and sand milkweed. In July it
is awash with the yellow of fourpoint
evening primrose. And there are animals
there only expected in sandy grasslands
to the west today – jackrabbits, ornate
box turtles, greater prairie chickens and
upland sandpipers.
This patch of Sandhills prairie is
also a mixing ground, with elements of
PREVIOUS PAGES: IN THE PREDAWN OF A JULY MORNING, FROM A GRASSY RIDGE IT IS POSSIBLE TO IMAGINE THE ELKHORN VALLEY OF OLD.
OPPOSITE: A MALE GRASSHOPPER SPARROW SINGS NOT TO WOO FEMALES, BUT TO TELL OTHER MALES TO STAY CLEAR OF HIS TERRITORY.
ABOVE: PRAIRIE PIONEER PLANTS FILL THE DEAD BRANCHES OF A CEDAR TREE CUT AND BURNED TO RESTORE THE SANDHILLS PRAIRIE.
eastern tallgrass prairie. At the foot
of the sandy ridge is the Elkhorn’s
floodplain with shallow wetlands,
signatures the river wrote on the valley
of where it once had been, now cut off
and isolated, wetlands where waterfowl
pause during migration. In the wetlands,
species with more northern ranges –
Blanding’s turtles, marsh marigolds
and wild rice – prosper in a land of
cornfields. There are little gatherings of
32 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
bur oaks – true prairie-edge trees with
thick bark able to survive the periodic
wildfires that once raged with unpredictable regularity across the mid-continent. And on the river’s edge are cottonwoods and willow groves. This
place has a name – Wood Duck
Wildlife Management Area (WMA).
The first parcel of land for Wood
Duck was purchased in 1966, a little
over 200 acres of riverbottom land with
riparian woodlands, patches of cropland
and horseshoe-shaped Loes Lake, well
known to local hunters and anglers.
There have been nine additions to
Wood Duck since, some as small as
12 acres. Today, the area encompasses
1,688 acres, and few places in eastern
Nebraska can match the natural diversity
found on Wood Duck. In cross-section
it has the full transition from upland
grasslands to floodplain tallgrass
prairie with wetlands, to the river itself.
Funding for acquisition of the land
came from many sources, including
funds derived from the sale of state
habitat stamps to hunters, money from
excise taxes on sporting equipment,
and grants from the Nebraska
Environmental Trust. Support from
such diverse private conservation
groups as Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 33
Forever and the Wild Turkey
Federation pretty much says Wood
Duck is home to a diverse assemblage
of plants and wildlife.
During its early years, Wood Duck
WMA was floodplain – a great area for
fishing, hunting, bird watching, morel
mushrooms or just a walk in the
woods. The addition of 860 acres of
uplands of native grassland in 2001 on
the western side of the WMA added a
landform component previously absent.
Sandhills soils are fragile soils.
Ranchers in the Sandhills proper were
quick to learn too many cattle on the
land would break the sparse mantle of
plants and set the sand in motion.
Eastern Sandhills soils have finer
quartz particles and more organic matter,
better able to withstand overgrazing
than soils of Cherry County, but they
too have their limits before giving way
to the wind. In eastern Nebraska,
where heavier and more tolerant
soils are most prevalent, cattle have
traditionally been put on pastures in
the spring and left until fall, year after
year, so native warm-season grasses
and forbs – the plants best adapted to
the region’s climate – were diminished
or vanished. But prairie is forgiving of
almost anything except cutting by a
plow. Seeds of native plants can lay
dormant in the soil for decades, or a
few plants here and there manage
to reproduce every few years and
rejuvenate the seed bank waiting
underground. And that is, essentially,
the story unfolding on the sandy
grasslands of Wood Duck.
Bringing a prairie back to what it
once was is not yet a precise science,
but it is light years beyond where it
was 50 years ago. Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission land managers are
working to do that on Wood Duck’s
grasslands. They know it will require
decades, but each year there will be
gains, a step or two back toward what
the prairie once was as native plant
species suddenly reappear, or plants
that had just been hanging on become
more abundant and thrifty. At the core
of their management is the idea that
prairie plants today prosper in the same
34 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
environment in which they evolved.
The scale of factors that shaped and
maintained grasslands is broad: from
the smallest, perhaps an anthill that
brings organic soil to the surface; to
the massive, such as prolonged
drought. Those sorts of environmental
forces, though, are beyond the control
or use by land managers. However, two
natural forces that grasslands evolved
with – grazing by herbivores and
periodic wildfires – can be simulated.
Because summer-long grazing was
traditional in eastern Nebraska, exotic
cool-season grasses, such as smooth
brome and non-native bluegrass, had
the advantage of initiating growth and
fruiting early in the spring before cattle
were put on the pasture or had been
there long, and became the dominant
vegetation. Native warm-season grasses,
better adapted to the region and its
climate in the long term, could not
compete. Grassland management to
restore native prairie reverses that
scenario: Grasslands are burned early,
typically in April after nonnative coolseason grasses have put on growth and
are vulnerable to fire damage, but
before native warm-season grasses
have stirred from the earth. Once the
burned area has greened, mostly with
cool-season grasses that survived the
fire, cattle are pastured for 30 to 40
days (depending on rainfall) to further
set them back and favor the native
species in what range managers call
“short-term, high-intensity grazing.”
Under this regimen, by the end of
summer warm-season plants are
luxurious and provide the fuel for a hot
fire the next spring. In time, the natives
will crowd out most of the exotic forage
plants. Autumn prescribed fires will
probably be used in the future on
Wood Duck to benefit native forbs, as
well as random burns that replicate the
occurrence of wildfires started by
lightning or Native Americans.
Prescribed burns and mechanical
removal are being used to eliminate
invasive trees such as red cedars and
Siberian elms.
Some might ask why part of Wood
Duck is being managed to restore
native grasslands, as a remnant of
ABOVE: BLACK-EYED SUSAN AND DAISY FLEABANE ARE EARLY SUCCESSION WILDFLOWERS PRECEDING LONGER-LIVED PRAIRIE PLANTS.
Sandhills prairie is probably not the best
prescription for producing pheasants or
white-tailed deer. There are several
answers to that question, one being that
the area was purchased with funds not
just from hunters but derived from
nonhunters as well, such as the financial
support of the Nebraska Environmental
Trust. Part of the answer is because
saving the few bits of native grassland
left in eastern Nebraska is the right
thing to do, just as setting aside
Yellowstone National Park in 1872 was
the right thing to do, in the belief that
when a country loses its natural identity
it is poorer for it.
The best answer, though, comes
when you walk the prairie. Walk the
sandy grasslands of Wood Duck in the
predawn of mid-July, when the hillsides
are yellow with primrose. Go to the little
knobs of sand where the floodplain
begins to rise to the uplands, where
ancient bur oaks gather, and listen for
spring courtship calls of chorus frogs
in the wetlands or a bob-o-link singing
bob-o’-link, bob-o’-link, spink, spank,
spink from the dried stalk of last year’s
goldenrod. Walk the high ground and
find purple coneflower, silky and purple
prairie clover, and bush morning glory
when they are in flower; or earlier in
the season when the trumpeting flowers
of shell-leaf penstemon are new and
succulent, when male grasshopper
sparrows sing out their lusty little
hearts, or upland sandpipers sail so
high on set wings they are nearly
out of sight and send to earth their
penetrating whistle – whip-whee-eeyou. Return in September when
autumn color is coming to the
grasslands.
Come to the little remnant sandhills
grassland not just throughout the year,
but year after year. Watch it gather
itself up and become more and more of
what it once was. And if you live so
long, if prairie courses your veins, if
you avert your eyes from the horizon
in the stillness of the predawn, you
might just conjure up what this land
once was when, from the hillside
where you stand, there was nothing
between you and the shallow, sandladen Elkhorn River but grass broken
by twisting sloughs and a fringe of
cottonwoods and willows along the
shoreline. If you are fortunate, a prairie
chicken or two might glide by overhead,
flapping and gliding, flapping and
gliding. Then you will know why such
places are worth whatever it takes to
preserve them. ■
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 35
and Wildlife – a Bad Mix?
Text and photos by Eric Fowler
In the race toward increased energy
independence and reduced greenhouse gas
emissions, ethanol has been a major player,
perhaps to the detriment of wildlife and the
environment.
E
thanol will end this country’s
dependence on foreign oil.
Ethanol is the reason behind
increased food prices. Clean-burning
ethanol will help reduce greenhouse
gasses and slow global warming. The
production of ethanol consumes more
energy than it produces and contributes
to global warming.
Corn ethanol, it seems, has spun into
one big “he said, she said” drama.
When one side says something, the
other usually disputes it. It is, without a
doubt, a political hot potato.
Tim McCoy has been following the
subject closely ever since he became
the ag program manager with the
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
five years ago. The field is evolving so
rapidly and is so politically charged
that the first question he asks himself
when a new study or technology is
announced – something that happens
almost weekly – is whether it is fact or
simply spin.
There is little doubt that ethanol has
been a boost for Nebraska’s economy,
both in the 24 communities where
The Standard Ethanol plant in Madrid is one of 24 ethanol plants in Nebraska. The
plant, which opened in 2007, is capable of producing an estimated 44 million gallons
of ethanol annually from 16 million bushels of corn and employs 36 people.
36 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
A greater prairie chicken stands on a lek near Hartington where corn and a center pivot replaced CRP grass in 2008. The birds had
danced on this hilltop since the late Stuart Heikis enrolled it in CRP in 1986, but did not return in 2009.
ethanol plants now operate and
statewide for the value it adds to corn,
the state’s top cash crop. And it has
slightly reduced the nation’s dependence
on foreign oil, one of its primary goals.
But there are doubts related to its
environmental benefits. With greater
demand for corn, more acres are now
being farmed, including 5.5 million
acres nationally that had been enrolled
in the federal Conservation Reserve
Program (CRP). While difficult to
measure, studies suggest land conversion
may actually increase global warming,
and the loss of the wildlife habitat
provided by CRP is a concern not only
to wildlife enthusiasts and hunters, but
also anglers due to the potential for
increased runoff from farm fields.
On the other side of the coin, the
next generation of biofuels – liquid
fuels derived from plant materials –
that will come from grasses, corn
stalks, wood and other sources rather
than corn and other grain, could actually
benefit wildlife. And if ethanol of any
type can indeed slow global warming,
which could in itself have catastrophic
consequences for wildlife, not to mention
mankind, it has merit.
It’s a complicated story, only a few
chapters of which will be touched on in
the pages to follow.
More Ethanol, More Corn
Ethanol has been around about as
long as the internal combustion engine,
but didn’t enter the nation’s fuel supply
in any quantity until gasohol hit the
pumps after the energy crisis of the
1970s. While growth in the corn
ethanol industry in the 1980s and
1990s was slow, it was exponential in
the past decade thanks to government
mandates that called for 15 billion
gallons of corn ethanol by 2015 – nine
times the production capacity of 2000.
Producing more ethanol meant
producing more corn. Ever improving
crop yields have covered some of the
need. So has shifting production from
other crops to corn. But the rising corn
demand for ethanol has also led to a
rising demand for land and a shift in
land use, especially during a recent
spike in corn prices. “It kind of created
a perfect storm of an intense focus on
more land for crops,” McCoy said.
“You saw an immediate response from
landowners with more acres going into
crops, especially corn.”
Nationally, farmers are expected to
plant 88.8 million acres of corn this
year, up two million acres from last
year and 10 million from 2006. In
Nebraska, a slight increase to 9.2 million
acres of corn is expected.
According to a University of Michigan
report published this year by the
National Wildlife Federation, an
estimated 10.69 million additional
acres of corn will be needed to meet
the mandates for ethanol production.
“Part of the solution is going to come
from clearing new land, and there just
isn’t that much land out there,’ said
Mace Hack, head of The Nature
Conservancy in Nebraska.
But the clearing has begun, most
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 37
(Above) While they are more often associated with woodlands, white-tailed deer are
regular visitors and even residents in CRP fields. (Right) Row-crop production in
Nebraska has been increasing throughout much of the past decade, primarily the
acres devoted to corn.
visibly in the loss of acres enrolled in
CRP, which was created in 1985 to
reduce crop surpluses by retiring land,
protect soil on highly erodible and
marginal cropland, improve water quality
and provide wildlife habitat via the
perennial grasses that were planted.
CRP enrollment peaked at 36.8 million
acres in 2007, a level that may not be
seen again. With farm interests chomping
at the bit to capitalize on high grain
prices and mandates calling for more
corn ethanol, Congress was pressed
during the creation of the 2008 Federal
Farm Bill to lower the CRP cap from
39 to 32 million acres to make room
for more corn.
Nationally, 5.8 million acres of CRP,
most of it in the Midwest, have already
fallen off the books as contracts have
expired. Nebraska’s enrollment in CRP
has dropped from a high of 1.3 million
acres in 2007 to 1 million today.
Northeastern Nebraska appears to have
been the hardest hit to date, losing
47,000 of its 239,000 acres in 2008, and
possibly another 28,000 by year’s end.
Homeless Wildlife?
Clayton Stalling, regional wildlife
biologist in the Commission’s Norfolk
office, grew up in northeastern
Nebraska and has spent the past 42 years
working to improve wildlife habitat in
the region. He remembers when there
were no soybeans or center pivots, and
38 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
every farm had small fields of corn,
wheat, oats, rye, alfalfa or clover. He
also remembers the pheasant heydays
of the Soil Bank program, and even
hunting birds in weedy cornfields. “My
God, we had a lot of pheasants back
then,” said Stalling.
Then in 1971, Secretary of Agriculture
Earl Butz revolutionized agriculture,
telling farmers to plant crops “from
fencerow to fencerow” and “get big or
get out.”
“And they did,” Stalling said. “They
responded and did exactly what they
were asked to do. We lost everything. It
was really bleak.”
CRP returned habitat to the landscape
and wildlife responded. But with many
of those acres having gone back into
production in recent years, “The
landscape is starting to look about the
way it looked 25 years ago,” Stalling
said.
When Stalling talks to school kids of
the effects of lost habitat, he uses this
analogy: What if you burned down half
of the houses in a town, but left the
churches, grocery stores, movie theaters,
gas stations and other businesses?
“How many people are going to live
there six months from now? Well,
about half, because the other half lost
their homes,” he said.
Wildlife will try to find suitable habitat
nearby, but in most cases, that habitat is
already occupied by other wildlife and
can’t support more. “So when you
remove a quarter section of CRP,
you’ve just removed potentially up to
150 pheasants and who knows how
many meadowlarks or bobolinks or
grasshopper sparrows or whatever
you’re talking about, and it goes right
down to the mice, the coyotes, the
badgers … the whole system out there
– they’re gone,” said Stalling. “They
die and they’re not replaced because
there’s no place for them to be.”
If existing CRP isn’t reenrolled or
replaced, things could get worse for
wildlife. Nationally, between 4.4 and
6.5 million acres will expire each year
through 2012. Nebraska could lose
another 190,000 acres this year and
540,000 by 2012. Other states in the
Pheasant Belt face similar declines, and
upland hunters are worried.
Waterfowl hunters have cringed at
the loss of 1.8 million acres of CRP in
Montana and the Dakotas between
2007 and 2009, much of it in the
Prairie Pothole Region where another
3.4 million acres could expire by 2012.
“Studies have shown that with CRP in
the Prairie Pothole region, an additional
two to three million waterfowl are
produced each year,” said Mark
Vrtiska, waterfowl program manager
with the Commission. “It doesn’t take a
mathematical genius to see what happens
to duck seasons in the future if we
don’t have CRP on the ground.”
It’s not just the total acres of wildlife
habitat that are lost that concerns
managers, but also the fragmentation of
the habitat that remains. Most grasslandnesting birds do better in large blocks
of habitat. In the smaller blocks,
“predation increases and nesting success
tends to tumble,” Vrtiska said. “It’s a
double whammy.”
The loss of CRP acres will affect many
species. Prairie chicken populations
rebounded from historic lows in eastern
Nebraska thanks to CRP. Stalling said
of the 12 known leks in Dixon County
– only one or two of which were
present before CRP – all but three are
now gone. “I’m guessing those three
will probably disappear also,” he said.
And populations of grassland
songbirds, which continued to decline
even with CRP, may plummet.
Less CRP also means fewer places
to hunt. Enrollment in the CRPManagement Access Program, which
pays landowners to improve the habitat
The effects of increased corn
demand for ethanol will extend
beyond the U.S. borders, according
to a study published in Science
Magazine in 2008. Meeting the
goal for 15 billion gallons of ethanol
would have consumed 43 percent
of the acres planted for corn in
2004. It may also require plowing
an additional 27 million acres of
land worldwide, including 5.4 million
in the U.S.
This land conversion could
override one of the touted benefits
of biofuels, says another 2008
study published in Science. Plants
absorb more carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere than is emitted
when they are processed into
ethanol and burned in a vehicle
instead of gasoline, resulting in a
net reduction of greenhouse
gasses. Perennial plants, however,
stockpile carbon in their roots
below ground, a process known as
carbon sequestration. When land
is cleared to grow crops for biofuels,
17 to 420 times more greenhouse
gas is released than the savings
provided by burning biofuels
produced on the land. This carbon
debt varies according to the type
of land cleared and the type of
crop grown. Scientists estimated
that it takes 93 years to repay the
carbon debt when native grassland
is plowed for crops. Convert
rainforest in Brazil to produce soy
or palm biodiesel, and the payoff
balloons to 319 to 423 years.
The study based its findings on
the assumption that biofuel use
reduces greenhouse gas emissions
by 20 percent when it replaces
gasoline. However, a 2009
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
study found that today’s ethanol
plants use much less energy to
process corn into ethanol.
Combined
with
credit
for
co-products like distillers grains
and advances in crop production,
the study found that corn ethanol
emits 51 percent less greenhouse
gasses than gasoline throughout
its production life cycle.
on their CRP and open it to walk-in
hunting, is down 20 percent from its
peak of 186,000 acres in 2003-04.
More than half of those acres were lost
in northeastern Nebraska, which had
just 9,500 acres enrolled last year, a
73 percent decline from its peak. A
recent survey of hunters found that
32 percent of all pheasants harvested
in Nebraska, as well as 25 percent of
all quail and 13 percent of grouse,
came from CRP-MAP lands. A high
percentage of the remaining harvest
comes from other CRP acres.
Other Grasslands
Being Lost
Increased crop acreages in recent
years have, for the most part, mirrored
lost CRP acres. But CRP isn’t the only
source of land feeling pressure to meet
the increased corn demand. No state or
federal agency tracks land conversion,
making numbers hard to come by, but
across the country many native
grasslands and pastures have been
converted to cropland in recent years.
In Nebraska, where 19 million acres
are farmed – 38 percent of all land –
there have been reports of remnant
tallgrass prairie in the east being
converted, center pivots once again
pushing into the fringes of the
Sandhills, and pastures being plowed
that haven’t been farmed since before
the Soil Bank era.
“Some of that [brome pastures] did
not have a lot of wildlife benefit up in
this country,” Stalling said, “but it was
still better for the environment than a
poorly managed row crop field.”
Fish Like CRP Too
Preventing soil erosion to maintain
water quality is one of the defined
purposes of CRP. Many former crop
fields enrolled in the program were on
hillsides with steep slopes. When heavy
rains fell, they were prone to wash,
sending a deluge of soil-laden water
downstream.
Putting these highly erodible lands
back into production may affect water
quality in streams, rivers, ponds, lakes
and even groundwater on a local and
national level. Soil washed from fields
can fill ponds and large reservoirs,
taking up space that could be used by
fish. It also clouds the water, making it
difficult, if not impossible, for aquatic
vegetation to grow. Without that
vegetation, which forms the base of the
The runoff and erosion that is evident in crop fields does not occur in CRP. At points
downstream from fields such as this, the water quality in the streams, ponds and
reservoirs they feed is reduced.
40 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
aquatic food chain and as habitat and
nursery areas for fish, the potential
productivity of a water body is reduced.
Randy Winter spent 15 years treating
the symptoms of these problems in
reservoirs to improve fishing as the
head of the Commission’s Aquatic
Habitat Program before retiring in May.
He said calculating the effects of
increased sediment loading in these
reservoirs caused by converting
grassland, be it CRP or pasture, to
cropland, is as simple as comparing the
sediment load rates of cropland and
grassland in the watershed, which
depending on farming practices, can be
considerable. “You can extrapolate that
out and figure out how fast a reservoir
is aging and how many useful years of
recreation life you’re carving off of it
because of the land use practice,” said
Winter.
Compounding the problem is the
residue from fertilizer used in farming
that comes with the soil, which can lead
to algal blooms that consume oxygen
and, in severe cases, can be fatal to fish.
These problems not only can affect
farm ponds and reservoirs in Nebraska,
but they also trickle all the way down
to the Gulf of Mexico, where fertilizer
carried by the Mississippi River fuels
massive algal blooms. This has resulted
in a dead zone, void of fish and other
marine life, that has covered an average
of 6,000 square miles in the Gulf for
the past five years and is affecting the
region’s multi-billion dollar fishing
industry. Experts believe cultivating
more land could make it impossible to
meet the federal goal of reducing the
size of the dead zone by 60 percent by
2015 and instead worsen the problem.
Another water issue in Nebraska can
be indirectly tied to ethanol: reduced
stream flows caused by groundwater
irrigation, and the resulting decline in
reservoir levels. A 2009 report by the
U.S. Government Accounting Office
states that three gallons of water is
required to convert corn to one gallon
of ethanol, but it takes 320 gallons of
water to grow that same amount of
corn in the region that includes North
and South Dakota, Kansas and
Nebraska.
Well-drilling moratoriums in much of
the Platte and Republican river basins,
where water use had been deemed to
be greater than supply, may ensure that
A female bobolink perches near her nest in a CRP field. Grassland bird populations
declined with the loss of native grassland and are expected to continue to decline as
land comes out of CRP.
increased demand for corn doesn’t
worsen groundwater problems. But
further increases in grain ethanol
production may make it difficult to
bring water use back in line with 1997
levels as required by an agreement
signed by Nebraska, Colorado,
Wyoming and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to protect flows in the
Platte River, as well as meeting the
requirements of a compact with Kansas
and Colorado governing Republican
River flows.
When Will it End?
So far, the decline in CRP acres has
been mandated. Fears that enrollment
could continue its precipitous decline,
with some calling for the cap to be
lowered further to 24 million acres to
make room for even more corn, lessened
in February, when the USDA announced
plans to open a new CRP general
sign-up this year, the first since 2006,
and to keep enrollment at the current
authorized level.
But those fears did not go away
completely, and there is no guarantee
that the new sign-up will stem the losses.
A recent study estimated that 61 percent
of Iowa’s two million CRP acres would
return to cropland if corn prices were
fixed at $4 per bushel. Prices were
slightly below that threshold as of press
time. They could fall, but should they
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 41
climb to $7 per bushel as they did in
2008 – $5 higher than 2006, a spike
caused by a number of factors, including
high oil prices and increased demand for
ethanol – all bets are off, McCoy said.
Part of the problem is that for years,
CRP payments did not compete with
what landowners could make farming
the ground themselves or renting it to
other farmers.
Until his death last year, Stuart
Heikes lived on a hill overlooking a
quarter-section of land he had enrolled
in CRP in 1986. The Hartington-area
farmer said he would’ve liked to keep
the land in the program. He appreciated
the wildlife that used it and spoke of
the white-tailed doe that fawned there
in recent springs, pheasants that family
hunted and the prairie chickens that
danced on a hilltop there each spring
for the past 20 years. But when his
contract expired in 2007, the decision
of what to do with the land came down
to dollars and cents. A center pivot was
installed and the land planted to corn
the next spring.
“It’s a financial thing,” Heikes said in
2008. “It’s got to compete, but it’s so
far out of line. The [cash] rental rates
were double what I was getting [for
CRP]. Our taxes keep going up, so it
gets to the point that regardless of if
you want to farm it or not, something
has to happen.”
The 2008 Farm Bill did increase the
rates for new contracts, making CRP
more competitive, but the new rates did
not apply to extensions offered to those
with expiring contracts, of which there
were many – 75 percent of all CRP
nationwide was set to expire between
2007 and 2010.
With the new rental rates coming into
play for the first time in this year’s
CRP enrollment, “things will be more
competitive,” McCoy said. “But in
certain parts of Nebraska where you
have high-value cropland that’s highly
productive, there’s a good chance CRP
rates aren’t ever going to be able to
match cash rental rates for cropland.”
Ethanol or Wildlife?
Corn has been and always will be a
vital part of Nebraska’s economy. But
wildlife and the environment are also
important, and often don’t get the consideration they might deserve. That’s
understandable, however, as farmers are
in business to make money and, in most
cases, corn pays better than wildlife.
In the case of ethanol, however, many
are now asking that lawmakers look at
the big picture as biofuel development
progresses, and take into consideration
the effects further mandates could have
on fish, wildlife, the environment and
even global warming. If those costs are
considerable, they say, we should look
for better ways to reach the goal of
energy independence.
Researchers appear to be on track to
a better way, looking at making ethanol
from switchgrass and other plants that
can also provide wildlife habitat or
other environmental benefits. Tune in
next month for more on that front. ■
CRP-MAP signs marked many tilled fields in 2008 that had been grassland the previous fall in northeastern Nebraska, where
two-thirds of the land enrolled in the walk-in hunting program has been lost in recent years.
42 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
enewable energy is a hot topic these days, with
benefits coming on three fronts: insuring energy
sources are in place when the finite sources of
fossil fuels dwindle; reducing dependence on foreign
oil, which currently accounts for more than 60 percent
of the United States’ use; and slowing global warming.
With “green” being society’s latest buzzword, the latter
may be getting the most play. Burning fossil fuels in our
cars, factories and power plants releases carbon dioxide
into the earth’s atmosphere, creating a greenhouse
effect that traps heat radiating from the planet, causing
average temperatures to rise. The reality of global
warming is still disputed by many and no one knows
for certain what the consequences might be, but with
scientists around the world sounding the alarm and
pointing to evidence such as shrinking glaciers and
polar ice caps and rising ocean temperatures, many
governments, including our own, have taken notice
and are looking for alternative sources of energy. At
the forefront of that push in recent years in the United
States has been has been increased use of biofuels,
primarily corn ethanol, to replace gasoline refined
from oil.
Ethanol blended with gasoline has been available
since the 1970s. Mixtures of 10 percent ethanol and
90 percent gasoline are standard at the pump today,
a rate that may soon increase to 15 percent. Some
R
There are currently 24 ethanol plants operating in
Nebraska with a capacity of 1.8 billion gallons per year
according to the Nebraska Ethanol Board.
vehicles are now designed to also run on E85, which
contains 85 percent ethanol.
Federal energy and environmental regulations, as
well as state and federal subsidies, helped the ethanol
industry grow slowly through the 1980s and 1990s. But
it wasn’t until 2002, when a Renewable Fuel Standard
(RFS) calling for increased ethanol use was first
discussed in the U.S. Senate, that ethanol really took
off. The RFS was made law in 2005 and expanded in
the Energy Independence and Security Act in 2007,
which called for biofuels to replace 20 percent of the
nation’s transportation fuel by 2022. The first step was
production of 15 billion gallons of grain-based ethanol
by 2015. To follow was an additional 21 billion gallons
of advanced biofuels, including one billion gallons of
bio-diesel and 15 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol,
which extracts and refines sugars found in the cell
walls of all plants, with the primary focus being on
switchgrass, crop residue and wood.
Under the new mandates, grain ethanol expanded
from 68 plants with an annual production capacity of
2.7 billion gallons in 2002, to 200 plants with a capacity
of 13 billion gallons by the end of 2009. The 11 plants
under construction will soon bring capacity to 14.5 billion
gallons. Nebraska’s first ethanol plant opened in
Hastings in 1985. The state now has 24 plants capable
of producing more than 1.8 billion gallons of ethanol,
second only to Iowa, with one more under construction.
There have been growing pains, with 11 plants idled
nationally, including one in Nebraska, where another
plant was scrapped after construction began. Falling
oil prices and skyrocketing grain prices had turned the
economics of the industry upside down. How much
effect ethanol had on increased corn demand and the
spike in prices, which topped $7 per bushel in 2008,
$5 higher than 2006, is often debated.
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 43
Great Park Pursuit
Sunny Hollow Wildlife Management Area
Explore Nebraska parks and have a chance at a $1,000 prize.
Even though only 160 acres, it is worth exploring.
By Doug Carroll
By Jon Farrar
T
44 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
the team captain’s and 10 team member
names.
This year’s program will highlight
the relationship between physical
activity, access to quality open space,
and healthy Nebraskans. To promote
the relationship, posts will be located
between a half-mile and 1 mile out on
accessible trail systems at park sites.
This distance allows participants to
achieve 30 minutes of daily physical
activity.
A second change this year will be the
inclusion of long-distance posts at three
selected sites. These posts will be
located at further distances in the
park, and participants will have the
opportunity to select the normal
post at each of these three sites, or
choose the longer distance bonus
posts. Additional prize
drawings will be held for
teams reaching the bonus
posts.
Last year 1,975 people
(513 teams) from
Nebraska, Iowa, South
Dakota and Missouri
signed up for the GPP
competition. As of June 1,
320 teams had already
signed up for this year’s
contests, with three
months of the competition
still to go.
“We are killing our
record from last year at
this point,” said Tim
Montgomery, who
coordinates the program
for the Nebraska Game
and Parks Commission.
Participating parks this
year are: Branched Oak
State Recreation Area
(SRA), David City Park,
Johnson Park in Fremont,
Zorinsky Lake in Omaha,
Willow Creek SRA,
Niobrara State Park (SP),
Cowboy Trail near Long
Pine, Riverside Park in
Scottsbluff, Legion Park
in Sidney, Lake Ogallala
SRA, Lake Helen Park in
Gothenburg, Fort Kearny
SRA, Bussell Park in Ord,
Streeter Park in Aurora and
Rock Creek Station SRA.
To register, visit negpp.org or request
a packet and registration form by calling
(402) 471-5424 or in writing to
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission,
ATTN: Tim Montgomery, 2200 N. 33rd
Street, P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE
68503. ■
he best things often come in
small packages, like diamond
rings and babies, and the same
might be said of Sunny Hollow
Wildlife Management Area
(WMA), located in Nance County
south of Genoa. It covers only 160 acres
and is managed as a satellite of the
complex of larger areas close by –
George D. Syas, Don Dworak and
Loup Public Power District WMAs –
and others not far beyond those. But
what you will find on Sunny Hollow is
different than what is found on those
larger WMAs.
Historically there was a 25-milelong, elliptical band of low rolling
Sandhills topography and soils south
of the Loup River, spanning from
southwest of Columbus in Platte
County to southwest of Genoa in
Nance County, probably not wider than
five miles anywhere. Associated with
it were plants and animals (such as
soapweed and Ord’s kangaroo rats)
characteristic of the greater Sandhills
region. In low-lying areas the
groundwater rose above the land
surface, creating small wetlands. Most
of this “little Sandhills” vanished under
center-pivot irrigation systems growing
corn and potatoes in the 1970s and
1980s. A handful of tracts, though, were
too wet too farm and farmers who still
pastured cattle needed the grasslands,
so a few survived. So it was with the
quarter section now called Sunny Hollow.
Warren Schwanebeck, Nebraska
Game and Parks Commission land
manager for Sunny Hollow and other
WMAs in the region, recalled the first
half of the 1980s had above average
precipitation: “It started raining in the
spring of 1981 and it seemed like it
never stopped until about 1985.”
During those years, the remaining
wetlands in the band of Sandhills south
of the Loup River were full, producing
broods of blue-winged teal and redwinged blackbirds. In the late-1980s,
the tract of land that would become
Sunny Hollow WMA was purchased by
T
the Commission using funds generated
by the state Habitat Stamp Program.
The land that became Sunny Hollow
WMA had been used to graze cattle,
hayed some years, never plowed, and
had been enrolled in the Water Bank
Program (a federal farm program
designed to preserve wetlands by
enrolling private land in 10-year,
renewable conservation agreements)
since 1977.
During the drought of the late-1980s
the wetlands on Sunny Hollow WMA
vanished, but they reappeared with
more abundant precipitation in the
1990s. Because of the relatively small
size of the area, the wetlands provide
only limited wetland habitat even
during wet cycles, but they are a
rightful component of the complex.
Exotic plants, particularly smooth
brome and nonnative bluegrass, had
invaded the uplands; but overall it was
in good condition. Prescribed fires and
grazing have been used to encourage
native vegetation and set back invasive
plants. A six-row shelterbelt planted in
the southwest quarter of the area in
1990 is incrementally being reduced to
restore the entire area to its natural
state. There were gatherings of
Sunny Hollow Wildlife Management Area
is located three miles south, one mile
west, and one mile south of Genoa on
Nebraska Highway 39. Visitors should be
aware reaching the area’s parking lot on
the east side may not always be possible
in a car – during wet periods the minimum
maintenance road to the south may be
impassable, and the road to the north can
be sandy and rutted. Vehicles with enough
clearance, though, should be able to reach
Sunny Hollow WMA most times of the year
cottonwoods on the northern part of
the property and they are being allowed
to persist so long as they tolerate the
prescribed fires used to maintain the
grassland. Similarly, a quarter-acre
farm pond on the area when acquired
has not been filled or modified, as it
holds water even during dry periods.
Throughout the year there is a
succession of flowering forbs to be
found on Sunny Hollow WMA, and in
the spring the grasslands are nesting
grounds for native songbirds. While
greater prairie chickens occasionally
use the area, the principal attraction of
Sunny Hollow for hunters is pheasants
and mourning doves. ■
PHOTO BY JON FARRAR
he Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission and the Nebraska
Park and Recreation Association
share a common goal to promote
the use of Nebraska’s park and
recreational opportunities as a simple,
inexpensive and sensible
way to stay active and
healthy. To that end, these
agencies partnered in 2008
to develop the Great Park
Pursuit (GPP), sending
participating teams out to
explore various parks across
Nebraska by following clues
that will lead them to special
posts hidden at each park.
The program proved to be
so successful, and was
received with such
enthusiasm, that it has
continued to grow and
kicked off its third season
this spring.
The 2010 program will
challenge teams to visit
as many of this year’s
15 participating parks as
possible. Participants
will make nature-based
impressions from the posts
they find, and entry into
prize drawings are based on
the number of impressions
collected. Five winners of a
$1,000 grand prize package
will be drawn after the
contest ends early next
September, and winning
teams will be able to select
their choice of a camping,
kayaking or fishing package.
GPP registration is free –
participating teams need
only to pay for postage when mailing
in the post impressions and entry into
some of the park sites. Teams can be
made up of only one person, but only
one team per household is allowed.
While there is no limit to the number
of people that can be on a team, the
registration form only has room for
★
In July, this remnant of Sandhills prairie is yellow with fourpoint evening primrose.
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 45
Paddlefish by Hook or Bow
Permit Fees
Resident: $21
Nonresident: $41
Archery and snagging seasons only chance to harvest ancient fish
Sna g ging
By Eric Fowler
O
Ar c her y
Permits: 275
Application Period: April 1-30
2010 Season Dates: July 10-Aug. 8
PHOTOS BY ERIC FOWLER
or baitcasting reel; 30- to 50-pound test reduce the drag caused by standard
nly 1,875 Nebraskans get the
sinkers. Like most anglers, the Linds
chance to pursue paddlefish on monofilament or braided line; a heavythe Missouri River with bow or duty treble hook (2/O typically complies tie the shank of their hook to their line
with the maximum gap allowed of one- to increase hooking success.
snagging tackle each year. For
Snagged paddlefish put up a good
some, it’s a passing fancy tried half inch between barb and shank); a
fight. Some anglers snag and release
only once or just occasionally. For those two to four-ounce weight, with the
many fish, extending their fun and
weight used dependent on current and
who appreciate the firm, white flesh of
hoping to land a fish above the 35 to 45
whether fish are on the bottom or
the fish that has been dubbed “poorinch protected slot limit.
man’s lobster,” it’s a ritual they
Others keep the first legal fish
won’t miss, even if they don’t
they land and head home for a
draw a permit and are relegated
fish fry.
to the duty of full-time boat
The snagging season isn’t
driver or simply watching from
what it once was: a race to get
the rocks.
your fish before the quota was
“I’ve been doing this for many
reached that drew anglers to
years,” Norfolk’s Paul Lind said
the tailwaters by the thousands.
while watching son Brian, the
Anglers still line the banks
lucky permit recipient in the
and dozens of boats cruise the
family, snag fish in the Gavins
stilling basin, but finding room
Point Tailwaters area. “It’s fun
to fish is no longer a challenge,
to come out and watch it.”
even on opening day.
“We come up every year
whether we both draw or not,”
Rich Walters of Kearney said
while bowfishing on the
unchannelized river near St.
Archers have also refined
Helena with long-time fishing
their techniques through the
partner Paul Hagen of O’Neill.
years. Many build elevated
Paddlefishing is only allowed
platforms on the fronts of their
between Gavins Point Dam and
boats, giving them a better
the mouth of the Big Sioux
angle of view that allows them
River near Sioux City, Iowa.
cover more water. “You don’t
During the snagging season,
see your target very long and
about half of all anglers fish
you have to snap shoot them,”
only in the tailwaters area below
said Walters, noting that bows
the dam, with most fishing from
with draw weights much
the bank. During the archery
lighter than those most hunters
season, most bowfishermen
use while deer hunting are best
Jeff Larson of Yankton, S.D., lands a paddlefish for his son,
patrol the unchannelized river
suited for the sport.
Aaron, while snagging in the Gavins Point Dam tailwaters.
between the St. Helena area and
Jeff Shuckman, the Nebraska
Ponca State Park in boats. Paddlefish
suspended; and the endurance to cast
Game and Parks Commission district
congregate in the tailwaters area to feed the outfit repeatedly.
fisheries supervisor in Norfolk and a
on plankton being flushed from Lewis
“There ain’t a lot of skill involved in
long-time paddlefisherman, said spotting
and Clark Lake. Downstream, the best
this,” said Pat Ross of O’Neill. “You’ve feeding fish near the suface is easier on
places to find paddlefish are the pools
just got to have more muscles than
sunny days with the sun at your back
below large sandbars.
brains, I guess. It’s real fun for about
than on cloudy days or at first or last
four hours. After that it starts turning to light.
work.”
While some bowfishermen troll the
While snagging paddlefish isn’t rocket tailwaters area searching for fish, most
science, veterans have tricks they
Snagging paddlefish is not
anchor and simply wait for fish to surface
deploy. Darren Buettner of Meadow
complicated. Anglers need only a
within range. In the unchannelized
Grove uses long, thin pencil weights to
river, however, most power slowly
heavy six- to 10-foot rod and spinning
Permits: 1,600
Application Period: July 1-31
Season Dates: Oct. 1-31
Rich Walters of Kearney takes a shot at a paddlefish on the Missouri River in 2008.
through holes, where the displacement
caused by the boat seems to bring bottom
dwelling fish to the surface. While
effective, this technique does disturb
fish and can chase them out of holes.
Because of this, some anglers avoid
opening day and fish weekdays or later
in the season when they might have
long stretches of river to themselves.
Whether snagging or bowfishing in
the unchannelized river, anglers need to
use caution and have some experience
reading a river so they can avoid sandbars
and snags that can damage lower units
or even boats. There are few access
points and little boat traffic, making
getting off the river difficult. Greenhorns
may want to get their feet wet in the
tailwaters before venturing downriver.
Flat-bottom or semi-V hulls aren’t as
apt to get hung up in shallow water as
deep-Vs, but the latter is capable of
navigating the river.
Demand for snagging permits is
typically double the number available,
but a preference point system allows
anglers to draw about every other year.
Demand isn’t as high for archery tags,
and some anglers can pick up a second
following the initial drawing. ■
Archery
Snagging
46 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 47
ATTRACTIONS/EVENTS
WILDERNESS SURVIVAL CLASS - Start a fire with
the bow-drill method, build a survival shelter,
be introduced to primitive traps, cordage, flint
knapping, edible and medicinal plants, water
location and purification, and much more! Go to
www.greatplainstracker.com.
BOOKS/PUBLICATIONS/VIDEOS
EXPLORE NEBRASKA art, history, culture and the
great outdoors with a subscription to Nebraska Life
Magazine. One year (six issues) for $21 or two years
(12 issues) just $38. Phone (800) 777-6159, write us at
206 W Norfolk Ave, Norfolk NE 68702-0819 or visit
www.NebraskaLife.com. Makes a great gift.
DOGS
PLUM CREEK KENNEL. German shorthairs, stud
service, puppies and started dogs. Training for all pointing breeds. Specialize in training the handler as well as
the dog. Wayne Clark, Percival, Iowa (near Omaha) (712)
529-4238, clarks1@iowatelecom.net.
DUCKDAWG RETRIEVERS - Raising exceptional
hunting yellow and black Labradors. Puppies raised in
our home. 30-month, written health guarantee. Stud
service: GRHRCH UN DuckDawg’s Eba Roll the Dice
and GRHRCH UH McMac Magic Eyes A’Smilin MH.
The first Grand Hunting Retriever Champions in
Nebraska. www.duckdawg.com Ron Green, DVM and
Libby Milroy, North Platte, NE (308) 534-3659
AT STUD: GRHRCH UH Platte's TNT Duckdawg Dozer
MH. First yellow Labrador in the state of Kansas to earn
his Grand, Upland and Master titles. Seventy pounds of
muscle, exceptional marker and blind runner Dozer
is available for breeding to approved females. Natural
breeding requires a brucellosis test on females. Chilled
semen available. Stud Fee $600. Contact owner Tom
Phillips at (785) 635-5776 or trainer/handler - Chris
Jobman at (308) 249-0707, www.flatlanderkennels.com.
PREMIER GUNDOGS TRAINING KENNELS: Boykin
spaniel puppies due midsummer 2010. Gundog training
for all pointers, hunting retrievers and spaniels. Dale and
Kris Taylor: (402) 787-2048, www.premiergundogs.com.
HOMEBREWING/BEER AND WINEMAKING.
Fermenter’s Supply, 8410 K Plaza, Suite #10, Omaha, NE
68127. Phone orders only, (888) 655-2739. Advice line
(402) 593-9171. www.fermenterssupply.com.
GUIDES/OUTFITTERS
CANOE - KAYAK - TUBE RENTALS on the
beautiful Niobrara River with Dryland Aquatics at
Sparks, Nebraska. Your Niobrara River Specialist.
(800) 337-3119. www.drylandaquatics.com, info@
drylandaquatics.com.
NIOBRARA SUPERTUBES in Valentine. We rent only
high-quality Mad River Canoes. For all your Niobrara
River canoe & tube rentals call (402) 376-2656 or go to
www.niobrarasupertubes.com.
OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT
IS PERFORMANCE IMPORTANT? For the finest
canoes and accessories look to Great Plains Canoe Co.,
205 Main, Springfield, NE 68059. Phone (402) 253-2000.
PHOTOGRAPHY
NEBRASKA WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS.
Matted. Go to inplainssight.homestead.com. "The more
you buy, the quicker my wife can retire!"
TAXIDERMY
B&B SKULL CLEANING and European mounts.
Professional services at affordable prices. Contact Rubin
Fields, Omaha, NE, at rfields.otbb@gmail.com or (402)
598-1873
VACATIONS/RESORTS
THE OLDE MAIN STREET INN. A historic bed and
breakfast listed in the National Register of Historic
Places. Beautiful dining room with fireplace. Featuring
prime rib, buffalo, seafood, homemade soups, chilis and
desserts. 115 Main Street, Chadron NE 69337 (308) 4323380. www.chadron.com/oldemain.
DIAMOND B TROUT RESORT, Orchard, Nebraska.
Lodge, cabins, spring-fed lakes, playground equipment,
paddleboats. Great for families, groups, hunters. Book
your cabin now! Call for brochure (800) 974-3002.
www.diamondbtroutresort.com.
BIG BLUE RANCH & LODGE - Enjoy fishing, hunting,
hiking, birdwatching and ranch adventures on 2000+ acre
cattle ranch in southeastern Nebraska. Beautiful log
cabin, with fireplaces, kitchens & big covered porches,
overlooks 20-acre lake. www.bigblueranch.com (402)
730-3643.
WINEMAKER'S LOFT at Sage Hill Vineyard:
comfortable accommodations fit 4-6 in rustic Rock Creek
Valley, Parks, NE. Southwestern Nebraska's most ideal
lodging for hunting, fishing, birding and wine touring.
(308) 423-2062 or (308) 423-9463, walkers@
bwtelcom.net, www.nebraskawines.com.
MILL IRON V LODGING has modern cabins for your
vacation pleasure. We are located near Verdigre, NE
in turkey country. Each cabin offers privacy, view and a
birdwatcher’s paradise. Stay with us for a COUNTRY
EXPERIENCE. (402) 668-7488. www.milliron-vlodging.com, jpeinrem@gpcom.net.
UNCLE BUCK'S LODGE: Treat yourself to a lodge
vacation at the scenic Rhoades family ranch on the North
Loup river near Brewster in central Nebraska. Cattle
drives, brandings, hunting, birdwatching, stargazing,
family reunions, spa weekends, tanking and river fun.
14,000 sq. ft lodge, full service restaurant/bar (800) 2399190, www.unclebuckslodge.com.
PLANNING A VACATION? Why not make it at a
Nebraska State Park? With more than 80 state park and
recreation areas across Nebraska to choose from, you can
enjoy a campground or cabin and enjoy activities such as
fishing, swimming, camping and hiking. Call
(402) 471-1414 for reservations or go online at
www.OutdoorNebraska.org and follow the Parks link.
WANTED
WANT TO VISIT WITH someone about training bird
dogs for quail, partridge and prairie chickens. Public
areas where you can ride horses and camp. Rich Thornton
(515) 231 2465, rdfoxtrot@hotmail.com.
Classified Rates: 85¢ per word, minimum $15.
Closing: First business day six weeks before issue
date. Classified ads are accepted on a first-come,
first-served, space-available basis. Classified Ads,
NEBRASKAland Magazine, P.O. Box 30370,
Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. Telephone (402) 471-5473.
Fax: (402) 471-1984. E-mail: ngpc.classifieds
@nebraska.gov. Ads are posted online at
NebraskalandMagazine.com at no additional charge.
NEBRASKAland
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FLATLANDER KENNELS INC. Bayard, NE
Full-time retriever training facility for the serious hunter
or AKC and HRC hunt tester. Trainer of Nebraska's first
and only GRHRCH's! Super Retriever Series competitor
and a member of Avery's Team Waterdog. Training
available for all levels of hunt tests and gundogs. Chris
Jobman: (308) 249-0707, www.flatlanderkennels.com.
FISH/FISHING
FISH FOR SALE. Catfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth
bass, perch, crappie, bluegill, walleye, rainbow trout,
grass carp, minnows. Pleasant Valley Fish Farm, 27851
U.S. Highway 83, McCook, NE 69001. (308) 345-6599.
NEBRASKA LAKE MANAGEMENT. Biological lake
surveys, fish stocking, rough fish control, lake aeration,
algae control, aquatic weed control. Rob Hofpar, Aquatic
Biologist, licensed, insured and qualified. (402) 784-6005
Valparaiso - (888) 850-2460 www.nelakes.net.
FOOD/GIFTS/HOME
48 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
JULY 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 49
▲ Take a kid rabbit hunting and he will remember it the rest of his life. I
have! This picture was taken in November of 1966 by the late Jim
Rush Sr. of Omaha. He was a pretty serious quail hunter, hunting
mostly around Tecumseh and Pawnee City. He noticed an abundance
of bunnies that fall while hunting quail and thought it would be fun to
leave the English pointers at home and take his son, Jim Jr., and me
(on left) on a rabbit hunt. He thought rabbits might be an easier target
than quail for a couple of 12-year-old kids. It was a great day, as I had
success on a cottontail or two with my bolt-action 20-gauge. On the way
back to the vehicle I was walking close to Jim Sr. when the pheasant
pictured got up between us. He waited as long as he could for me to
shoot, but finally figured that I was too startled to shoot and shot it
himself – he was right. Good thing we were rabbit, and not quail, hunting.
I still enjoy hunting and other outdoor recreation, and Jim Jr. farms and
hunts near Tecumseh.
– Jim Gross, Norfolk, Nebraska
▲ Hay Springs, Nebraska in 1929. From left to right: Ed, Bill and
Bob Hollstein (my second cousins), and John Rush (my greatgrandfather). The ducks were shot at Walgren Lake five miles
southeast of Hay Springs. Thousands of ducks spent a great
part of the winter on the lake and kept the water from freezing
solid. Ed Hollstein is still alive at about the age of 96 and Bob
Hollstein is also living.
– Becky Stiehl McCord, Colorado Springs, Colorado
▲ This picture was taken November 11, 1917. The birds were taken two miles
southwest of Central City on the Platte River. Left to right are Cecil Tooley,
Paul Nielsen and Thomas Lach (my uncle) with 36 ducks and geese.
– Robert Davis, Central City, Nebraska
▲ For us, trapping was a way of living in the winter.
Bobcat, beaver, mink – all part of a five-day catch.
Pictured left to right: Larry Henne (myself), Fred
Henne (my dad) and Freddie Henne (my brother).
– Larry Henne, Ainsworth, Nebraska
Send contributions to: Portraits from the Past, NEBRASKAland Magazine, P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. Or e-mail to
tim.reigert@nebraska.gov. Photos should show people enjoying Nebraska outdoor activities, such as camping, boating, hunting or fishing,
and must have been taken before 1980. We will give priority to unusual photos or activities. When possible, please include a story about
the photograph and identify the people, places and approximate date it was taken. Photos will be returned.
50 NEBRASKALAND • JULY 2010
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