Volume 102, Issue 4, 2024
May 2024
- Title:
- Volume 102, Issue 4, 2024
- Issue Name:
- May 2024
- Date Issued:
- 2024-05-01
- year:
- 2024
- month:
- May
- Season:
- Spring
- Publisher:
- Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
- Format:
- Periodical
- volume:
- 102
- issue:
- 04
- number:
- 102.04
- Decade:
- 2020s
- Type:
- Rights Holder:
- Copyright Nebraskaland Magazine/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, all rights reserved.
- Extracted Text:
-
magazine
$4.95
To renew your subscription or change your
address call 1-800-632-5263
I N S P I R I N G O U T D O O R A DV E N T U R E S I N C E 1 92 6
M AY 2 0 2 4
INSIDE
Melting the Green Glacier O Smith Falls
Sandhills Fens O A History Mystery O Box Butte Updates
Courting Bluegills O Animal Group Names O The Fearless Mink
2
Nebraskaland • May 2024
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
3
Volume 102
May 2024
No. 4
FEATURES
20
FALLING THROUGH THE TIMES
28
OUTDOOR NEBRASKA
Story and photos by Justin Haag
What To Do in May
By Renae Blum
30
FENS FOREVER
36
A HISTORY MYSTERY
40
COURTING BLUEGILLS
44
FINDING A BALANCE
46
MELTING THE GREEN GLACIER
By Mariah Lundgren
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
By Justin Haag
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
DEPARTMENTS
8
12
54
68
70
Your Nebraska
In the Field
Mixed Bag
Portraits from the Past
The Last Stop
ON THE WEB
For more articles and
information, visit
NebraskalandMagazine.com
Cover: A grasshopper sits on purple locoweed, a native
wildflower that benefits from cedar removal and
prescribed fire in the Loess Canyons. See story on
page 46. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
This page: Western wallflower, also known as yellow
phlox or prairie rocket, blooms in a Sandhills grassland
on the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge in Cherry
County. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
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Nebraskaland • May 2024
Nebraskaland (VOL. 102 / NO. 4 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 all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY
FACILITIES: send address corrections to Nebraskaland, P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE 68503-0370.
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
5
Magazine Staff
magazine
Published by the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission since 1926. The Commission is
dedicated to the conservation and protection
of all the state's natural resources and the
people who use them.
Communications Director Christy Firestone
Public Relations Manager Shawna RichterRyerson
Editor Jeff Kurrus
Associate Editor Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley
Regional Editors Eric Fowler, Julie Geiser,
Justin Haag
Contributing Editor Michael Forsberg
Regular Contributors Renae Blum,
Chris Helzer, Chris Masada, Todd Mills,
Ryan Sparks, Gerry Steinauer
Art Director Tim Reigert
Graphic Designer Mel Severin
Videographer Nick Sauvageau
Photo Librarian Jaclyn Cruikshank Vogt
Administration
Director Tim McCoy
Deputy Director Jim Swenson
Assistant Director Roger Kuhn
Commissioners
Chairman - Doug Zingula, Sidney
Vice Chairman - John Hoggatt, Kearney
2nd Vice Chairman - Donna Kush, Omaha
Nebraskaland Magazine Copyright 2024, all rights reserved.
Nebraskaland is available in audio 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
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Commission Offices
Conservation Officers
Headquarters/Southeast District Office
2200 N. 33rd Street Lincoln, NE 68503
Phone 402-471-0641
ADMINISTRATION (Lincoln)
402-471-5531
Travis Shepler, Jeff Clauson
Northeast District Office
2201 N. 13th St. Norfolk, NE 68701
Phone 402-370-3374
NORTHWEST (Includes counties covered)
Dan Kling (Lieutenant)
308-430-0572
Southwest District Office
301 E. State Farm Rd. North Platte, NE 69101
Phone 308-535-8025
Jerod Hahn (Sergeant)
Hunter Lee (Keith)
Brandon Wallace (Keith)
Jaden Porter (Keith, Garden)
Tyler Stueck (Keith)
Travis Schultz (Morrill, Cheyenne)
Bassett Office
524 Panzer St., Box 508 Bassett, NE 68714
Phone 402-684-2921
Kearney Office
1617 First Ave. Kearney, NE 68847
Phone 308-865-5310
EAST SUB-DISTRICT
WEST SUB-DISTRICT
Sean McKeehan (Sergeant)
Josh Widhelm (Scotts Bluff)
Justin Gress (Box Butte, Sheridan, Grant)
Jacob Stoinski (Sioux, Dawes)
402-471-5531
308-520-5539
308-280-4320
308-280-4488
308-289-2274
308-289-6260
308-279-1292
308-672-1824
308-279-9133
308-629-9335
308-615-9017
NORTHEAST (Includes counties covered)
Dale Davis (Lieutenant)
402-760-0712
NORTH SUB-DISTRICT
Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium/Schramm Education
Center
21502 W. Highway 31 Gretna, NE 68028
Phone 402-332-3901
Jeff Jones (Sergeant)
John Bauer (Holt, Boyd)
Tyler Adelman (Rock, Brown, Keya Paha)
Jonathan Andreasen
402-762-5022
402-314-9257
402-314-4783
402-340-3981
Omaha Office
8495 Frederick Street, Omaha, NE 68124
Phone 402-595-2144
Mitch Johnson (Knox, Antelope, Pierce)
402-613-8612
OutdoorNebraska.gov
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission does not discriminate
based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual
orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information,
veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation in its programs,
activities, or employment. Any person who believes he or she has been
discriminated against in any program, activity, facility, or service,
should contact the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, NE
402-471-0641, the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, Lincoln,
NE 402-471-2024, TTY/TDD 800-642-6112; Director, Office of Diversity,
Inclusion and Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Interior, 1849 C Street,
NW, Washington, D.C. 20240.
6
Nebraskaland • May 2024
JIM KALISH, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT
OF ENTOMOLOGY
Circulation
For address changes and questions about your
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For advertising information contact
Shane G. Gilster, 402-742-0125
Email: shanegilster@solotreemedia.com
Pat Berggren, Broken Bow
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Scott Cassels, Omaha
Ken Curry, Columbus
Dan Hughes, Venango
Northwest District Office
East Hwy. 2, Box 725 Alliance, NE 69301
Phone 308-763-2940
In May, paper wasps begin building
their nests.
(Madison, Pierce, Stanton)
SOUTH SUB-DISTRICT
Cory Krause (Sergeant)
Kyler Prochaska (Platte, Colfax)
Matt Costello (Dodge, Colfax)
Kelbi Abke (Washington, Burt)
Mark McDonald (Dodge, Washington)
Nicholas Fix (Dixon, Dakota, Thurston)
402-380-6410
402-830-8278
402-317-4014
402-237-2537
402-805-2353
402-508-0261
CENTRAL (Includes counties covered)
Mike Thome (Lieutenant)
308-293-8746
NORTH SUB-DISTRICT
Doug Pollard (Sergeant)
Matt Brandt (Sherman, Howard)
Daryl Teter (Howard, Greeley, Merrick)
Klint Gill (Nance, Wheeler, Boone)
SOUTH SUB-DISTRICT
Matt Taylor (Sergeant)
Tim Williams (Hall, Hamilton, York)
Eric Javins (Adams, Clay, Webster)
Pat George (Harlan, Franklin, Phelps)
Ethan Teter (Buffalo, Kearney)
308-730-7050
308-202-0819
308-440-1863
402-613-5800
402-200-9597
308-380-7331
402-902-2017
308-920-2762
308-440-3847
SOUTHWEST (Includes counties covered)
Brian Piernicky (Lieutenant)
308-330-8780
NORTH SUB-DISTRICT
Hunter Pearson (Sergeant)
Frank Miller (Cherry, Hooker)
Greg Hesse
308-360-1817
402-389-0444
308-546-7464
Alex Hasenauer (Lincoln, Perkins)
Brandon O’Neal
308-660-4671
308-530-3157
(Hooker, Thomas, southern Cherry)
(Lincoln, McPherson, Logan)
SOUTH SUB-DISTRICT
Taylor Dixon (Sergeant)
Bryce Streger (Dawson, Gosper, Custer)
Kelsey Glodowski (Dundy, Hitchcock)
Sophia Gobber
(Chase, Dundy, Hayes, Hitchcock)
308-217-2108
308-537-0404
308-763-8226
308-222-0368
SOUTHEAST (Includes counties covered)
Stacey Lewton (Lieutenant)
402-890-7140
EAST SUB-DISTRICT
Heath Packett (Sergeant)
Russell Mort (Otoe, Johnson)
Rich Berggren (Douglas)
Brian Arp (Douglas, Sarpy)
Mike Luben (Saunders, Butler)
Bryan Adams
(Nemaha, Pawnee, Richardson)
WEST SUB-DISTRICT
Matt Seitz (Sergeant)
Dina Barta (Lancaster)
Luis Nuñez (Lancaster)
Mark Sullivan (Lancaster, Seward, Butler)
Trevor Stahlecker (Lancaster, Saline)
Curt Prohaska (Lancaster)
402-210-0888
402-209-1506
402-619-1355
531-530-9011
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531-333-6093
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YOUR NEBRASKA
Roger Richters, Utica
Horses and Clouds
Instagram Photos
Follow us @nebraskaland
and tag us in your photos
to be featured in an
upcoming issue.
8
Nebraskaland • May 2024
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
9
Gary Adams, Auburn
Duck Creek Reflections
Amy Hester, Omaha
Sweet Dreams Bee
Send your comments and
photos to:
Jeff Kurrus, Editor
Nebraskaland Magazine
P.O. Box 30370
Lincoln, NE 68503
or email Jeff.Kurrus@Nebraska.gov
Please include your postal address
and telephone number. Letters
may be condensed and edited.
Photographs are also welcome.
10
Nebraskaland • May 2024
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
11
IN THE FIELD
LITTLE BLUE
A little blue heron hunts
at Holmes Lake in
Lancaster County.
CHRIS
CHR
CHRI
S MA
M SAD
SADA
DA
12
Nebraskaland • May 2024
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
13
IN THE FIELD
IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN
By Ryan Sparks
Casting a frog into a weed-choked farm pond and watching
a largemouth bass explode from beneath is arguably the
most fun you can have while fishing. Most people think of
July and August as the dog days of summer — fish retreat
to deep water and heavy weeds make fishing difficult. In
this situation, pulling a hollow-bodied frog over the top and
catching big bass feels like cheating the system. The aquatic
plants that were once your enemy
quickly become your friend when
you realize they give bass places
to hide and ambush your hollowbodied frog. Getting bass to strike
a frog isn’t difficult, but getting
them to the net is a different
story. Here’s how to tip the odds
in your favor and make your frog
fishing more productive.
Stiff Rods and Heavy Line
Landing more bass on frogs
starts with the right gear. I love
to use light rods and finesse
fish as much as anyone, but
featherweight gear has no place
in frog fishing. Heavy baitcasting
rods with plenty of lifting power are preferable. Look for a
heavy rod that is 7 feet long or longer. Stout rods help you
cast farther, and they also help with hooksets and lifting
hooked fish that are wrapped in vegetation.
Pair your frog rod with a beefy, fast-retrieve reel. A fast
retrieve lets you take up slack quickly when a fish strikes,
and it also saves your wrist during hours of cranking.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, spool your reel
with braided line. Fifty-pound line isn’t overkill. No, you
aren’t going to catch a 50-pound bass, but you will be
thankful for the extra power when you need to horse a big
bass out of the slop.
When I started frog fishing, most of the fake frogs
available were low
quality and
poorly
designed.
They quickly
ripped
open and
The Lunkerhunt Prop Frog
14
Nebraskaland • May 2024
Patience and Power
It is easy to get excited and
instantly set the hook when a
bass smashes your frog, but you
will miss the majority of fish by setting the hook too soon.
The key to hooking and landing bass on a frog is to wait a few
seconds and then make a powerful hook set. To force yourself
to wait, lower the rod and reel up any slack in the line. Then
put your back into it and set the hook. You almost can’t set
the hook too hard. Waiting to set the hook is a hard skill to
learn but you will be rewarded with a calloused bass thumb.
Here’s one last tip. No matter what you do, sometimes a
fish just plain misses the frog. In this situation, have a heavy
spinning rod with a wacky-rigged worm ready to go. A bass
that hits a frog is in a predatory mood and will often circle
back looking for its victim. A slowly sinking worm will often
draw a second strike. When I first tried it, I was amazed how
well this tactic works.
Gettin’ Froggy with It
Come summer, I can’t wait to get a frog swimming. The
bites are explosive and can yield some hefty bass. Having the
right equipment, a quality frog and a good hookset are the
three keys to success. Put them together and your hands will
smell like bass all summer long.
PHOTOS BY JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND
Upgrade Your Kermit
filled with water,
and the
hooks
they came
Spro Bronzeye Frog
with were
subpar at best.
Now, most hollow-bodied frogs come with sticky sharp
hooks, glide effortlessly over
weeds, and they last an entire
summer or more. A few extra
dollars for a good frog is worth it.
Some of my personal favorites are
the Spro Bronzeye Frog, Reaction
Innovations Swamp Donkey and
Lunkerhunt Prop Frog. To prevent
bass from striking short, I trim an
inch or 2 off the rubber legs. I also
prefer black frogs because of the
contrast they create when a bass
is looking up.
IN THE FIELD
The new campsites and shower house at Box Butte Reservoir State Recreation Area will cater to the lake’s anglers and many
other visitors. JUSTIN HAAG, NEBRASKALAND
BIG UPGRADES AT BOX BUTTE
CAMPGROUND
By Justin Haag
One of the Panhandle’s most popular fishing
spots now has more amenities for anglers and
others who want to make a multi-day trip of it.
Workers late last year completed the addition of
20 new electrical campsites and the installation
of a shower house and sewage dump station at
Box Butte State Recreation Area and its 1,600-acre
reservoir.
The dump station and shower house are new
features for the area, and the campsites represent an
increase by more than half of what was previously
available.
The new amenities are at the west side of the
current campground, north and parallel to the
existing paved road and sites 7-18. Half are available
for reservation with the others being first-come,
16
Nebraskaland • May 2024
first-served. The improvements were designed to
comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Nebraska’s Capital Maintenance Fund, which
was established by the Legislature in 2016 to help
preserve public outdoor recreation facilities and
parklands, was a large contributor to the $840,000
project. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation also was a
major financial sponsor.
The expansion follows many other improvements
at the recreation area in recent years, including a
new boat ramp and dock, concrete outhouses and
an upgraded fish-cleaning station.
In addition to fishing, Box Butte Reservoir SRA
and Wildlife Management Area provide boating,
hunting, picnicking and birdwatching opportunities.
It is located 9 miles north of Hemingford.
IN THE FIELD
RYAN SPARKS
MEDITERRANEAN WILD TURKEY SANDWICHES
By Ryan Sparks
These sandwiches are delicious, easy to make and quick
to assemble. They transform tougher pieces of a wild turkey
like the legs, thighs and wings into tender, shredded meat
with tons of flavor. When the weather warms, this recipe is
on a regular rotation in our home. The sun-dried tomatoes,
basil, lemon zest and capers, combined with the wild turkey
meat, make them a perfect summertime sandwich.
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 4-6 hours
Ingredients:
12 oz. cooked wild turkey meat from legs, thighs or
wings (directions below)
1
⁄3 cup mayonnaise
1
⁄4 cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes
1
⁄4 cup roughly chopped basil
3 tbsp. roughly chopped parsley
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp. capers
1 tsp. kosher salt
1
⁄2 tsp. black pepper
Bread of choice (focaccia, ciabatta, baguette, croissant)
Olive oil
1 garlic clove
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
18
Nebraskaland • May 2024
• Salad greens of choice (baby spinach, arugula, romaine,
etc.)
Cooking the Turkey
Place the turkey pieces in a slow cooker set to low.
Depending on the size of the turkey(s), 2 thighs, 2 legs or 6
wings should yield enough cooked meat for the sandwiches.
Fill the slow cooker with enough water to barely cover the
meat. Braise the turkey pieces on low heat until the meat is
easily separated from the bones, 4-6 hours. Optionally, but
highly recommended, throw in roughly chopped onions,
roughly chopped carrots, dried thyme, dried parsley and a
bay leaf to simultaneously make homemade broth for later.
When the turkey is tender, remove it from the slow cooker
and allow it to cool slightly. Using your hands, remove the
meat from the bones and tendons. Roughly chop the cooked
meat, keeping an eye out for any shot.
Assemble the Sandwiches
When the turkey is finished, combine the meat, mayo,
sun-dried tomatoes, basil, parsley, lemon zest, capers, salt
and pepper in a large bowl. Taste for seasoning.
Toast the bread, brush it with olive oil, and rub the garlic
clove across the bread’s toasted side. Place a generous pile of
turkey mixture on the bread, top with greens and serve.
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
19
Falling Through
the Times
More than 230 waterfalls adorn the Niobrara
Valley, but one state park attraction still
stands above them all
Story and photos by Justin Haag
I
t’s reassuring to return to places
that don’t change much over time.
While such can be said of other
Nebraska rivers and streams,
there’s something exceptional, and
especially enduring, about this spot
tucked away in a canyon 250 yards
from the Niobrara River. A place where
one can rely on the water flowing
from more than 60 feet overhead and
splashing into the shallow pool below.
Where children can stand below the
towering waterfall on a hot day, feeling
the force of cold water rush over their
bodies just as generations have before
them, their shrills barely audible over
the roar of the natural spectacle itself.
Even though Smith Falls State
Park between Valentine and Sparks is
Nebraska’s youngest, the property’s
main attraction has surely been
recognized as a scenic jewel since
its discovery by humans, whenever
that may have been. An early 1900s
newspaper account said Native
Americans had referred to it as the
“Place of the Roaring Water,” reporting
an initiative to have it named Roaring
Falls.
The waterfall was instead known
to the settlers of the times as Arikaree
Falls. The name is a reference to the
Arikara, the semi-nomadic tribe of
Native Americans that has a rich
history along the upper Missouri Valley
and migrated to northern Nebraska for
about a decade in 1823.
Regardless of its name through time,
the roar has always been the same.
‘Fred’s Falls’?
In 1896, when Frederic Smith
obtained the first homestead patent
for land on which the waterfall resides,
the attraction gradually became
known locally as the “Smith fall,” a
description that eventually became a
proper noun. Early newspaper stories
also refer to it as Honey Smith, or
Hunney Smith, Falls.
Later, under the ownership of
another “Fred,” Smith Falls gradually
picked up steam as the tourist
attraction we know today.
In 1941, Sandhills farmer-rancher
Fred Krzyzanowski bought the
property for $7 per acre as a place to
graze cattle, reportedly not knowing
there was a waterfall on it. He owned
the property a month before visiting
the falls.
With vehicle access to the falls
locked behind private lands on
the south side of the Niobrara,
Krzyzanowski allowed the increasing
number of people floating the river
to park their vessels for a visit. He
later catered to the falls’ popularity
by adding a campground and picnic
tables. Visitors shared space with his
cattle herd.
In 1983, Krzyzanowski began
charging 50 cents for those arriving by
raft or inner tubes and $1 for canoeists,
with proceeds used for trash clean-up
and the installation of outhouses.
Visitors also could pay 50 cents for
a ride across the river on the “cable
car.” It’s not a cable car resembling
those carrying passengers around San
Francisco. Instead, it’s something of
a gondola lift — a steel cage hanging
on a cable spanning the river with
Park visitor Lauren Hudson of Broomfield, Colorado, stands below Smith Falls.
20
Nebraskaland
• May 2024
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
21
Old photo of the cable car that once crossed the Niobrara River.
pulleys fashioned from car wheels.
The car, powered by hand pedals,
was initially constructed by Cherry
County for Krzyzanowski’s daughter,
NGPC PHOTO LIBRARY
Margaret, to get from their home on
the south side of the river to meet
the school bus on the north side.
Even though Margaret tragically died
from illness 18 months after the car’s
installation, the lift remained as a
landmark for people floating the river.
The cable car’s origins were
among the stories visitors to the falls
remember Krzyzanowski telling them
as he visited the campground. The
contraption has been closed to use, but
still exists in place for posterity.
Krzyzanowski died at age 89
in August 1988. In 1990, the
Krzyzanowski
family
contracted
a private lease agreement for
management of the camping facilities,
known as “12 Mile Camp.” Not long
after, the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission entered the picture.
Becoming a State Park
Postcard of Smith Falls
circa 1960 with just a dirt trail and no
walkway built yet.
22
Nebraskaland
• May 2024
In January 1992, after considerable
discussion, the Game and Parks
Commission OK’d a 30-year lease
Along the Niobrara National Scenic River, Smith Falls State Park’s campground, Verdigre Bridge and walkway to the falls.
agreement with the Krzyzanowski
family for 244 acres on both sides of
the river. The agency agreed to pay
$10,000 per year and planned more
than $500,000 of improvements for
when the property officially became a
state park that May.
One of the first priorities was
the path to the big waterfall. With
increased traffic, officials realized the
need to improve safety and reduce
erosion caused by the wet feet trekking
up and down the single-track dirt trail
to the attraction.
With volunteer assistance of more
than 100 members of the Casper Yost
Chapter of the Telephone Pioneers
of America, a wooden walkway,
supported by 180 4x4 posts, was
installed in 1993. Safely suspending
visitors about 4 feet above the old
dirt trail, it was christened the Fred
Krzyzanowski Memorial Walkway.
Bridging Gaps
Another goal of Game and Parks
when assuming management of the
park was to make the falls accessible
to more people.
The same month Game and Parks
commissioners approved the lease
agreement for Smith Falls in 1992,
Knox County commissioners decided
a 165-foot high-truss steel bridge at
the north side of Verdigre had become
insufficient after seven decades of
use and would have to come down
for a replacement. What was deemed
by many in the Verdigre area to be a
sad event for the stately landmark
now seems more like destiny than
coincidence.
The bridge was retrieved from the
county’s scrap heap and transported
to the fledgling state park to be
reassembled and gain new life as
a footbridge. The 30-ton structure,
originally constructed in 1922, was
assembled by contractors and put
in place Oct. 1, 1996, with three
giant cranes and a bulldozer. Most
of the project’s $340,000 cost was
paid for with federal grant money,
most notably the Transportation
Enhancement Program.
The bridge was amply sturdy
enough to get park visitors across
the river by foot, planners noted, and
would even complement the area’s
aesthetics. During reassembly, it was
narrowed by 5 feet, making it even
stronger than its 5-ton capacity when
it spanned Verdigre Creek.
For the first time, the public could
visit Smith Falls without floating,
wading or riding the rusty cable car
across the river. The Verdigre Bridge
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
23
Among the park’s natural attributes are its Smith aspen trees (Populus x smithii), an endemic hybrid of bigtooth aspen (Populus
grandidentata) and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides).
has since served countless visitors,
throughout all seasons, who otherwise
might not have been able to see the
attraction.
A New Chapter
Park visitors gather at
Smith Falls. A walkway
constructed of composite
decking and metal (built in
2023) provides access and
preserves the natural area
from foot traffic.
24
Nebraskaland
• May 2024
Through the years, the park
renovated the visitors center and
added 70 primitive campsites, a
shower house, two picnic shelters, four
restrooms and housing for the park
superintendent.
With the end of the 30-year lease
agreement looming in the 2010s, many
wondered if the park’s future was in
peril. They were relieved when the
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
and the Krzyzanowskis — Fred Jr. and
wife Joann still farm and ranch on land
neighboring the park — renewed the
lease agreement for 25 more years in
2018.
Since then, Game and Parks
has been investing in substantial
improvements.
The wooden walkway to the falls
had served the park well but was
showing wear from three decades of
use and exposure to the elements.
In May 2023, after eight months
of construction, the Game and Parks
Commission opened an improved
walkway with composite decking.
The project of more than $800,000
was largely funded with a source not
available when the first walkway
was built. The Capital Maintenance
Fund was established by the Nebraska
Legislature in 2016 to help preserve
Nebraska’s public outdoor recreation
facilities and parklands.
The new 500-foot walkway features
both a wheelchair ramp with a gradual
grade and a more direct route via steps.
With its steel posts and frame, concrete
footings and aluminum railing, the
new walkway is expected to last much
longer than the one it replaced. A deck
of similar materials was constructed
at the park’s visitors center, with new
steps leading to the campground. Also
included in the walkway project were
wheelchair-accessible approaches to
the footbridge.
Game and Parks is in the process of
developing a management plan for the
park, and officials expect many exciting
developments in coming years.
A Natural Marvel
A goal for Game and Parks since
the beginning has been to balance
accessibility with preserving the area’s
natural attributes. There’s a lot to
consider in what has been designated
the Middle Niobrara Biologically
Unique Landscape by the Nebraska
Natural Legacy Project. Six natural
ecological cultures meet in this area,
resulting in a fascinating mix of plant
and wildlife species.
As warming temperatures caused
glaciers of the area to retreat about
10,000 years ago, some botanical
species survived in the steep, shaded
canyon of the Niobrara that don’t
survive on the warmer lands above.
The park is home to the Smith
aspen trees, an endemic hybrid of
bigtooth (Populus grandidentata) and
quaking (Populus tremuloides) aspen.
Attractive paper birches also adorn
the park. People aren’t sure for how
long, though, because they aren’t
reproducing.
May 2024 •
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25
Canoers enter the north side of the park at Nichols Landing. There is also a landing
on the south side that provides access to the big waterfall and nature trail.
Because of the sensitive biological
attributes, the park limits hiking
to designated trails and walkways.
The best way for visitors to take in
the park’s natural scene is the Jim
MacAllister Nature Trail, named for
one of the Game and Parks officials
who was instrumental in the park’s
early development. It takes hikers 11⁄2
miles from the bottom of the canyon
to the top. It’s an elevation change
of about 200 feet, but most hikers
consider it easy.
Along the way, the trail encounters
a number of the other nine waterfalls
in the park and 230-plus waterfalls
documented in the Niobrara Valley.
Most other falls in the park are not
marked and are much smaller than
Smith. They include Turkey Feather,
Birch, Pine and Little Smith falls.
A Popular, Quiet Place
A summer day at Smith Falls State
Park evolves from a tranquil night and
sunrise to the chatter from a steady
stream of floaters landing riverside
to take that walk up the canyon for
a scenic view or cold shower from
nature.
Those floating the river can access
the park at two landings. The Smith
Falls Landing is on the south side of
the river and the Nichols Landing
at the north side, just east of the
campground.
In the late 1980s, officials estimated
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Nebraskaland
• May 2024
15,000-20,000 canoers per year on
the river. The National Park Service
estimates the latest five-year average
to be about 75,000 floaters per year,
surely driven by increased publicity
and the popularity of float tubes and
kayaks. In 2020, when much of the
world was shut down because of the
pandemic, the figure topped 100,000.
Despite all of that busyness, Smith
Falls and the Niobrara River maintain
a reputation of serenity.
Smith Falls was among the
stops that a team for Quiet Parks
International made while doing
acoustic tests on a four-day kayak
trip down the river. The organization
bestowed the river with its “Quiet
Trail” designation in 2023 — the
second in the world and first in North
America to receive such an honor.
That doesn’t mean Smith Falls is
necessarily quiet. Those doing the
sound study for the designation didn’t
document a figure, but said the water
dropping at Smith Falls is probably
about 70 decibels, comparable to that
of a vacuum cleaner.
this state park was and remains to be
the most well-known.
The immeasurable value of Smith
Falls was often mentioned in the
1970s and 1980s as contentious
debates raged over a proposed dam
project and federal legislation to
designate the Niobrara a national
scenic river. Although the proposed
dam site was downstream near
Norden and said by proponents not
to affect Smith Falls, the beauty spot
surely was present in the minds of
the public during the discussions. The
dam proposal failed, but the National
Scenic River designation passed in
1991. The designation has afforded
certain protections from development
to 76 miles of the river that includes
the park.
Roaring On
The water of Smith Creek emerges
from a spring of the Ogallala Aquifer
about 800 yards south of the waterfall.
Because of the stream’s short length,
it’s much less susceptible to the
A Niobrara Valley
Treasure
Early news accounts tell of the
beauty of at least four other named
falls in the area surrounding Valentine
that since have been concealed behind
the fences of private landowners. The
one that is now the main attraction of
Smith Falls is convex, formed from
erosion during countless winters of
freezing and thawing at their sides.
The new 500-foot walkway features wheelchair ramps, benches and a scenic vantage at its midpoint.
water fluctuations of longer creeks
and rivers. Smith Creek’s consistent
50-degree water, with an average flow
of 2.59 cubic feet per second, satisfies
visitors year-round. Inch-for-inch, it
surely gets more people wet than any
other natural tributary in the state.
While the fall may seem consistent
within our lifetimes, it’s constantly
changing, as with all stream systems,
and is in the stage of a geological cycle.
The geology of the Niobrara
Valley gives its waterfalls a notable
characteristic. Smith Falls and others
in the valley are convex, meaning the
water flows over the top of a face that
protrudes outward from the center.
In winter, the sides of Smith Falls
and others often become adorned
with attractive icicles while the spring
water continues to flow through
the center. As groundwater in the
sandstone at the sides freezes and
thaws, it loosens the material and
makes it subject to erosion.
Darryl Pederson, a professor
emeritus at the University of Nebraska
who has extensively researched
waterfalls, said someday Smith Falls
will look much different. Eventually,
the water will veer to one side of the
rock protrusion instead of flowing
over the top of it. Then, the protrusion
itself will no longer be protected by
the spring water and will be subject to
freezing, thawing and breaking up.
As it stands, though, Smith Falls is a
point of pride for Nebraska, and many
say it holds its own on a larger scene.
“Niagara appeals to you by its
grandeur, but the Arikaree by its
dainty beauty far surpasses any other
falls on the continent,” a newspaper
reporter wrote in 1908.
Thanks to the many improvements
to the state park, more people are
enjoying the “Place of the Roaring
Smith Falls
State Park
First known as Arikaree Falls, Smith
Falls State Park is located 12 miles
east-northeast of Valentine and 3
miles southwest of Sparks, on the
south side of the Niobrara River.
Water” than ever before. And, with
each passing day, the water continues
to fall for whomever wants to see, feel
and hear its timeless charms. N
How High is It?
For as long as people have
written about Smith Falls, they’ve
been assigning a number to its
height. It’s been reported as high
as 100 feet tall but is usually
listed between 60 to 75 feet.
The first “official” measurement
— 68 feet — is believed to
have been made by Dr. George
Condra of the state conservation
and soil survey in the 1910s.
For uncertain reasons, the
official height has changed
since then. The National Park
Service reports that it was last
measured to be 63 feet. Park
service employees plan to join
Game and Parks and other
partners in measuring the falls
again this year using a process
that involves a rangefinder,
clinometer and knowledge of
trigonometry.
May 2024 •
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27
Outdoor Nebraska
By Renae Blum
May is a wonderful month to be outdoors. This month, explore
options like walleye fishing, birding, turkey hunting — and
even mothing. N
Participate in
the Nebraska
Birding Bowl
May 1-31 | Statewide
Join the fun and participate in this
free, statewide birding competition
in honor of Nebraska Bird Month.
It is perfect for anyone who enjoys
observing birds in Nebraska, no
matter your age or skill level.
Enter in one of several categories
and enjoy the chance to see birds
and even win prizes. The data you
submit will contribute to research
and bird conservation. To learn
more and sign up, visit birdtrail.
outdoornebraska.gov/birdingbowl.
What to Do in May
Visit Long Pine SRA
All year | Long Pine State
Recreation Area
May is a particularly good month to visit
this small jewel of a park; it’s an ideal
birding spot during songbird migration
in May. Long Pine is also a popular tubing
destination and boasts some of Nebraska’s
best trout fishing. Other attractions
include an archery range, a 1-mile scenic
hiking trail and plentiful picnicking spots.
Basic campsites are available, so break
out the s’mores, bring your camera and
enjoy a peaceful vacation here.
ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
Look for cecropia moths
May to early July | In hardwood forests statewide
The stunning cecropia moth is the largest native moth in North America,
with a wingspan of around 5 to 7 inches. This is the time of year when
these impressive specimens emerge from their protective cocoon. Cecropia
moths live only about two weeks, focused only on finding a mate, breeding
and laying eggs. To view them, visit a hardwood forest at night. Take a
white sheet, drape it over a clothesline, and shine a light onto the sheet.
Bring a moth identification book and see what you discover! GETTY IMAGES
JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND
Walleye fishing at
Sutherland Reservoir
May and June | Sutherland Reservoir State
Recreation Area
Sutherland Reservoir provides consistently good
walleye fishing, and this year, it’s even better — listed as
a top walleye destination in the 2024 Fishing Forecast.
This reservoir will be particularly favorable for 15- to
20-inch walleyes that make great eating. Through June
30, participate in the Midwest Walleye Challenge to
help provide data to fisheries biologists who will use the
information to learn more about the status of walleye
fisheries. Search “Midwest Walleye Challenge” at
outdoornebraska.gov to learn more. JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND
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Nebraskaland • May 2024
Youth shotgun
turkey season
April 6 – May 31 | Statewide
Spring turkey hunts are a great way to
connect with your kids, spark their interest
in hunting and pass along your passion for
the outdoors. To have a positive experience,
play on the weather and the interest of the
young hunter. Let him or her help make
some of the decisions, like when and where
to hunt, and how to set up and call. Bring
snacks and take lots of pictures. A ground
blind can add an extra bit of comfort needed
to stay a little longer.
JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY, NEBRASKALAND
May 2024 •
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29
Fens
Forever
By Mariah Lundgren
T
here is a type of wetland found in the Nebraska
Sandhills that holds mystery and wonder — fens.
Unique and rare plant species make their home in this
boggy and bouncy land. Formed over thousands of years,
fens are an important part of our natural history and are
critical in cleaning our air and water. But first, what makes
a fen a wetland?
What Are Wetlands?
Wetlands are defined by the presence of water, waterloving plants and soils that have been developed in wet
conditions. Wetlands in the Sandhills are found where
the Ogallala Aquifer meets the surface in the valleys and
between the hills, along the shorelines of the many rivers
and streams, and on the edges of lakes. Impressively, the
Sandhills are 20,000 square miles, have more than 1 million
acres of wetlands and are one of the last truly wild landscapes
left in the Great Plains.
The Sandhills are the most intact temperate grassland left
in the world and have remained relatively undeveloped since
the westward movement of European-American settlers. The
sandy, porous soils make row crop agriculture challenging,
unlike much of the Great Plains, which has been turned to the
plow. However, with renewable energy development, such as
wind, encroachment of woody vegetation and the wealth of
groundwater that lies beneath, threats loom on the horizon.
Two boiling sand springs bubble to the surface of a fen wetland connected by a steady stream of sand and cold water.
Through the cold upwellings of water, fens can support ancient plant communities that once thrived during the ice age.
DAKOTA ALTMAN
Fens
Wetlands are formed in depressions in sandhill areas where
groundwater intercepts the surface of the land. The most
notable complex is the Sandhills.
ILLUSTRATION BY TIM REIGERT, NEBRASKALAND
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Nebraskaland
• May 2024
In spring 2021, Platte Basin Timelapse producers Ethan
Freese, Dakota Altman and I spent three days with Nebraska
state botanist Gerry Steinauer and Nebraska wetland
program manager Ted LaGrange. The itinerary of this trip
was to explore three fens on public and private lands deep in
the heart of the Sandhills. So naturally, this trip coined the
name Fen Fest.
A fen is a type of wetland that is perpetually fed by cold
groundwater. Its soils are saturated, and they form in low
oxygen conditions, otherwise known as anaerobic conditions,
over a long period of time. The cold and wet conditions
drastically slows down plant decomposition, and the partly
digested plant matter found in fens turns into a type of soil
we call “peat” and “muck.”
Fens are found in various climates, including warmer and
arid regions, such as the Sandhills of Nebraska. If you see
a fen from the side of the road, you would hardly know it.
However, when you set foot on one, it will feel like standing
on a waterbed in places. This is due to the bouncy nature of
the peat and muck soils and their proximity to groundwater.
Fen ecology is fascinating and supports a diversity of plant
and animal life. Scientists and researchers are still learning
about how these unique ecosystems function.
Legend has it that cows, cars and tractors have been
swallowed by fens. During a later excursion, that legend
became fact.
May 2024 •
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31
Anatomy of a Sandhills Fen
By Jon Farrar
Fen Fest
The three fens we visited during Fen Fest were located
on the banks of Steverson Lake at Cottonwood-Steverson
Wildlife Management Area on private land owned by the
Ravenscroft family and on the Turner Enterprise’s Spikebox
Ranch. As guides, Gerry’s and Ted’s combined knowledge
made for a fun and informative experience.
My favorite fen was on John Ravencroft’s ranch. His
ranch is deep into the rolling Sandhills, where dark skies
are prominent and wetlands and grasslands flourish. We
joined John, his wife and son on a tour out to the fen, and
we watched them walk out onto the springy mat of peat
and bounce around, giddy as ever. Gerry then pointed out a
plant species, marsh marigold, which typically prefers cooler
and wetter climates. The microclimate found within the fen
makes an ideal habitat for this species and many others, such
as bog bean, cottongrass and Nebraska sedge. We ended
the excursion back at the Ravencrofts’ home, where they
delighted us with mint chocolate chip ice cream, homemade
brownies and warm conversation.
Bouncing through rushes and cattails, a swamp sparrow
finds purchase on a wetland rush. Fens are important
places for wildlife; many use them as homes. These small
brown-capped songbirds are aptly named for their affinity
to wetter environments like seeps, bogs, marshes and fens.
Sometimes you might find them ambling through shallow
spring waters, submerging their heads below the water’s
surface to glean aquatic insects. DAKOTA ALTMAN
Some groundwater under dunes moves laterally, surfacing as seeps low on hillsides at the edges of valleys and
in the valley floor. Where the cool groundwater has flowed to the surface for hundreds or thousands of years,
the decomposition of plant material is slowed and deposits of peat have formed, some 22 feet thick. In some
parts of fens, where groundwater wells to the surface, the rate of decomposition is even slower and mounds of
peat rise as much as 8 feet above the surface of the fen. ILLUSTRATION BY TIM REIGERT, NEBRASKALAND
Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) blooming in a fen as an April thunderstorm passes overhead. Marsh marigold is typically
found in regions with cooler and wetter climates than Nebraska. The cold and saturated soils found in fens have allowed
marsh marigold and a handful of other plants to persist as relics from glacial periods. ETHAN FREESE
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Nebraskaland
• May 2024
Bog bean and cotton-grass growing in a fen on private land in the Nebraska Sandhills. Because most of Nebraska’s fens are
found on private land, working with ranchers is an integral part of fen conservation. ETHAN FREESE
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
33
Little wisps of white, Q-tip-like flowers stick out during an
overcast day on a fen. Cottongrass is so called because of its
seed head having a similar appearance to the cotton plant.
They grow in large clumps in the peat and muck fen soils.
DAKOTA ALTMAN
Fen Fest: Part 2
This past fall, the same team, minus Gerry, plus others
from Nebraska Game and Parks and the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, visited a fen in the far eastern Nebraska
Sandhills, where we installed a PBT timelapse camera to
watch the fen wetland change over time. Naturally, we
called this outing Fen Fest: Part 2, which I am hopeful will
become a new tradition with our group.
It was a windless evening — the air was crisp, and the
temperature was pleasant. Our mission was simple: to
explore the fen and swap memory cards on the timelapse
camera. However, when we arrived at the spring, we
discovered something not quite right. A cow bone was found
in front of the camera right next to the spring.
“Hmmmm,” Dakota said. “This was not here last time we
checked the camera.”
That led us to think either A) the cow bone was brought
here by another animal, or B) the cow was swallowed by
the fen. We quickly moved on from the cow bone and began
exploring the bottomless springs, charming plant life and
each other’s company.
A few weeks later, Dakota downloaded the images from
the timelapse camera, and lo and behold, the timelapse
LEFT – TOP TO BOTTOM: Connected to the storied prehistoric
past and an ever-evolving future, Jenning’s Fen is a unique
wetland ecosystem found along the easternmost edge
of the Sandhills and connects to a shallow meandering
prairie river called Beaver Creek. Fens are where ancient
groundwater pushes up to the surface, supplying cold water
that supports a plant community that has persisted since
the ice age. Plants such as bog bean, marsh marigold, marsh
fern and the rare Loesel’s twayblade orchid can be found in
fens. This timelapse camera looks into two circular springs
where sand and cool water boil to the surface, surrounded
by a working landscape of cattle and ranching. MICHAEL FORSBERG
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Nebraskaland
• May 2024
Deep in the heart of the Nebraska Sandhills, this aerial photograph shows a fen wetland and the Platte Basin Timelapse crew
on the ground exploring. Fen wetlands can be unassuming from the air. MARIAH LUNDGREN
recorded a calf getting stuck in the spring that fed the fen,
dying and decomposing. So, it turns out that the legend of
cows being swallowed by fens holds true, and now this cow
will be part of the fen forever. However, there is no need
for humans to fear fens, as we are not aware of any people
getting stuck in them.
Beyond the ecosystem benefits these fen wetlands
provide, they are also connectors. Fens bring people together.
They are places to enjoy the wonder and surprising beauty
of an unassuming, overlooked landscape. They take us back
to our playful, childlike state and make us forget the troubles
in the world. I hope more people will learn about them and
understand that we need places like fens to stick around
forever. N
Wetlands of Nebraska project
For more information about fens and all types{of Nebraska
wetlands, visit nebraskawetlands.com. See timelapse footage
at plattebasintimelapse.com.
Dakota Altman and Ethan Freese pose next to a Platte Basin
Timelapse camera that is taking pictures of an eastern
Nebraska Sandhills fen wetland and watching how it
changes over time. MARIAH LUNDGREN
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
35
A History
Mystery
What was this 100-pound
steamboat anchor doing in a
central Nebraska field?
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
loria Liljestrand-Barber found this 4-foot-high,
100-pound anchor in 1985. It was mostly buried in a
hayfield on her parents’ farm near Brady. A similar
anchor had been discovered 3 miles away in 1894.
We don’t know what became of the 1894 anchor, but a
few years ago Liljestrand-Barber donated this one to History
Nebraska.
How did a heavy anchor come to rest in a central Nebraska
hayfield? Here’s a clue: The Platte River is nearby.
Legend has it that the steamboat El Paso traveled up the
Platte River in 1852, but the story never seemed plausible to
most historians. Even shallow-draft steamboats of that era
G
Four feet long and weighing more than 100 pounds, this
anchor was discovered near Brady, Nebraska. HISTORY NEBRASKA
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Nebraskaland
• May 2024
A Union Army pontoon bridge near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1863.
usually drew at least 4 feet of water, but the Platte’s braided
channels were frustrating even in fur trade-era canoes or
bullboats.
But how else do you explain these heavy anchors? Turns
out the Platte River has another anchor story from the mid1800s, and it’s not what you might expect.
The story of the El Paso’s purported Platte River voyage
begins with a man named Edward Everett Hale, an author,
historian and Unitarian minister who in 1854 wrote Kanzas
(sic) and Nebraska, a hastily-compiled promotional book for
prospective settlers. In it, Hale claimed that the steamboat
El Paso had ascended the Platte River more than 500 miles in
the spring of 1853, following the North Platte River to a place
somewhere above Fort Laramie in present-day Wyoming.
Hale did not say where he heard the story.
In 1921, Nebraska historian Grant Lee Shumway
elaborated on the story in his History of Western Nebraska.
Shumway claimed that the voyage took place in 1852 and
that the El Paso reached Fort Mitchell near Scottsbluff and
continued upstream to the site of present-day Guernsey Dam
in Wyoming. But Shumway did not cite any sources, nor could
he remember any when Nebraska State Historical Society
superintendent Addison Sheldon later asked him about it.
But the story continued to spread, repeated as fact in
other articles and books. Historian William E. Lass finally
debunked it in a 2008 article for Nebraska History Magazine.
Lass showed that the El Paso was a real Missouri River
steamboat, a 260-ton sidewheeler that measured 174 feet
long and 26 feet wide. (Try to picture that next time you cross
the Platte!) But he also showed that the boat’s whereabouts
were well documented in 1852 and 1853 — and the El Paso
was never on the Platte. As for Fort Mitchell, its purported
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS
The steamboat El Paso’s career on the Missouri River lasted
barely five years, from its first voyage in March 1850 until it
struck a snag and sank on April 10, 1855.
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
37
Nebraska and Kanzas, 1854 map by J.H. Colton & Co.
destination, that army post wasn’t even built for another 12
years. There was simply no financial incentive for such an
expensive and hazardous journey when there was money to
be made on the busy Missouri River.
A Platte journey made no better sense in terms of logistics.
The El Paso’s wood-fired boilers would have consumed about
1.25 cords per hour. Steamboats normally refueled several
times per day, but there were no commercial woodyards
along the Platte. And stockpiling wood on deck would only
settle the boat deeper into the shallow water.
Lass also drew attention to the absence of eyewitness
accounts. Thousands of emigrants were traveling along the
Platte River Road in those years, but steamboat sightings
— surely a noteworthy event in such a location — appear
neither in the hundreds of surviving trail diaries, nor in the
official records of Forts Kearny and Laramie.
But what about other steamboats in other years? Lass
explains that “the Platte was a braided river with many
channels intersected by islands” and that it has a tendency
“to widen rather than deepen during its most vigorous
flows.” If there’s any place on the Platte where a steamboat
might have a chance, it would be on the lower (eastern) part
of the river. In 1855, the Mary Cole, a 93-ton sidewheel ferry
(about half the size of the El Paso) tried to ascend the Platte
but grounded before reaching the mouth of the Elkhorn.
Other documented attempts by small steamboats on the
lower Platte similarly failed.
So how did two heavy, mid-19th-century steamboat
anchors end up near Brady?
On Nov. 17, 1866, the Kearney Herald reported that “General
O’Brien is building a pontoon bridge across the Platte opposite
An 1864 drawing of Fort Cottonwood, later known as Fort McPherson, which stood near present-day North Platte.
HISTORY NEBRASKA, RG951-0-1-A
A sidewheel steamboat presumably similar to the El Paso. Steamboats like this ascended the upper Missouri River, but the
Platte had less water. ”A STEAMBOAT ON THE BANK,” PHOTO FROM HIRAM CHITTENDEN’S 1903 BOOK, EARLY STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION ON THE MISSOURI RIVER.
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Nebraskaland
• May 2024
Cottonwood, 100 miles west of Kearney, where the overland
stage line will connect with the railroad until next spring, or
until the railroad reaches Alkali or Julesburg.”
At the time, the Union Pacific Railroad was rapidly
laying tracks westward toward an eventual junction with
the eastbound Central Pacific tracks — the nation’s first
transcontinental railroad. The railroad followed the Platte
Valley, the same route long used by westbound emigrants of
the Oregon, California and Mormon trails.
In 1863, the 7th Iowa Cavalry, commanded by Gen. George
O’Brien, built a fort popularly known as Fort Cottonwood and
later officially named Fort McPherson. It stood not far from
the Platte River about 10 miles southeast of present-day
North Platte.
No bridges spanned the Platte River in those days. It was
possible, though risky, to ford the shallow channels in some
places, but the river was a major barrier to north-south travel.
That’s where O’Brien’s pontoon bridge came in. The Army
used many pontoon bridges during the Civil War — and to
keep them from being swept away, they used steamboat
anchors to hold them in place.
The Nebraska anchors, in other words, tell a story not of
steamboat travel on the Platte, but of the transcontinental
railroad and of stagecoaches, freight wagons and other
traffic along the Great Platte River Road. And because nearby
Fort McPherson was involved in military campaigns during
the Indian Wars, the anchors also speak to the conquest of
the Plains and the dispossession of Native tribes.
That’s not the story you expect when you see a boat anchor,
but that’s one of the things that makes history so interesting.
Artifacts often tell multiple stories, and sometimes those
stories are far from obvious at first glance. N
A Union Army pontoon boat used to support a temporary
bridge in Virginia during the Civil War.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
39
Courting
Bluegills
A first-hand account
of this rare spectacle
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
I
f you’ve spent much time fishing, chances are you’ve seen
a male bluegill guarding its spawning bed, a bowl-shaped
depression that it fans out in the lakebed using its tail.
Or numerous bluegills in a nesting colony, each guarding its
own bed.
If, instead of casting to those beds hoping to catch dinner,
you put down your rod and reel and watched for a time, you
may have seen another male bluegill approach a bed, only
to be run off by the male. Or females making their rounds,
trying to decide which male they deemed worthy of the right
to fertilize their eggs.
In 2021, I had the opportunity to witness, up close, the
next step in the spawning process, and something I would be
willing to bet few have seen: the interaction between male
and female prior to spawning.
I was snorkeling in an Elkhorn River backwater at Red
Wing Wildlife Management Area near Neligh, gathering
underwater photos for a story on the area and the aftereffects
of the 2019 flood that changed the river’s course (see “A River
Used to Run Through It,” November 2023). In one section
of the backwater, not far from the river, I found a handful
of bluegills, most gathered in or around tangles of beaverchewed sticks and rushes in a pool that was no deeper than
3 or 4 feet.
In one tangle, I watched for 6 minutes as a 7- or 8-inch long
male and a female two-thirds its size, circled the nest, rubbing
against each other, with the female occasionally tipping on
her side. At the time, I had no idea what I was watching. And
I’m a nose breather and, as such, not a very good diver, so I
stood to clear my mask and my nose and moved on in search
of more photos.
I’m also blind without my glasses, and don’t swim with a
corrected mask, so it wasn’t until I pulled the photos up on
my computer that I could see the eggs beneath that fish, and
two others I’d photographed. These fish were on spawning
40
Nebraskaland • May 2024
A female bluegill turns on her side and rubs against a larger male in an egg-filled nest among a tangle of sticks,
photographed in a backwater of a former Elkhorn River channel at Red Wing Wildlife Management Area in Antelope County.
beds that looked nothing like others I’d seen.
So what were the fish doing? A little Googling found the
answer, described by Vernon Lee Avila in A Field Study of
Nesting Behavior of Male Bluegill Sunfish, published in The
American Midland Naturalist by the University of Notre
Dame in 1978.
“Spawning was accomplished in a manner typical of all
centrarchids. Once the female is settled in the nest the male
swims close beside her. They face in the same direction and
circle together in the nest, with the male on the outside
and the female inside. During the spawning act the male’s
anterior ventral surface darkens. As they circle in the nest
the male remains upright, but the female tilts her dorsum
away from the male and, leaning to one side, rubs the ventral
surface near her genital pore in a quick ‘vibrating’ movement
against the side of the male near his anal fin. As they circle
together, the female tilts into this spawning posture every
60-100 sec. As contact is made, eggs and presumably milt are
deposited (Miller, 1963). Spawning sessions varied in length
from 15-90 min.”
Yep. That’s exactly what I saw.
I’d always assumed females simply came to the nest and
deposited their eggs, and the male fertilized them. I had no
idea there was some lovey-dovey stuff going on down there.
Game and Parks fisheries biologist Daryl Bauer summed up
that aspect of my observation in simple terms. “You’ve got to
coax her into laying the eggs,” he said.
“Like anybody else, I get zoned in on fishing for them and
catching them. But sometimes it’s just really interesting
to stop for a second and watch them. It’s similar to
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
41
or gravel, they preferred gravel mixed with sticks.
One nest I saw was entirely on sticks. The nest in which
I observed the spawning behavior was on sand, full of
sticks and one chunk of log, and surrounded by vertical and
overhead rushes and sticks. Another nearby was in cover
that was identical.
The first question Tony Barada, another fisheries biologist,
asked when I showed him the photos and questioned the
location of the nest was if there were predators nearby.
Indeed, there were. On my previous visit to Red Wing two
weeks earlier, I found a school of small bluegills in shallows
of the same backwater. Lurking nearby in deeper water were
three largemouth bass that would periodically dart into the
school, hoping for lunch.
“Maybe that was a mechanism of getting out of the way, or
being sheltered from the bass,” Barada said of the nests. “But
it is such an odd observation you saw in general. In a setting
like that, where it’s not a big backwater area, that could’ve
been the only way to potentially have success in that deal.
“It’s amazing, in our natural world, how many anomalies
there are. There’s stuff that organisms do that are very
unorthodox. They’re all individuals.”
Had I been smart enough to know what I was watching, I
would’ve lingered longer. Had I done so, I may have been able
to watch the female actually deposit her eggs.
One thing I know for sure, however, is the next time I find a
bluegill nesting colony, I’m going to put down my fishing rod
and watch. And come back later with the underwater gear. N
A pair of largemouth bass stalk a school of bluegills in the backwater.
Exactly as described in a research paper, the male bluegill
circles the nest on the outside of the female.
42
Nebraskaland • May 2024
going to the prairie grouse leks and watching all of that
mating behavior.”
Bauer said males will make a clicking sound, and if you
watch closely enough, you might see them flare their gills
and pop their head to do so. Some won’t have anything to
do with your lure because they are too preoccupied with
guarding their nest. And you might see the “sneakers” in
action. These small male fish take on the dull coloration of
a female. When a female does approach a nest, he follows.
Thinking he has two females on his nest, the parental male
won’t chase the other male away, allowing the sneaker a
chance to deposit its sperm when the female releases her
eggs. This behavior, Bauer said, extends the inferior genetics
and can lead to stunted populations, a good reason to release
the big males.
“If you only knew some of the things that are going on
below the surface,” Bauer said.
As for the solitary nests built in tangles sticks and rushes?
Studies have found that while colony nesting is the norm —
one found as many as 272 nests in a single colony — about
5 percent of bluegills are solitary nesters. And research in
Wisconsin found that while bluegills will nest in muck, sand
The bluegill beds observed in the Elkhorn backwater at Red Wing WMA looked nothing like the ones most anglers are
accustomed to seeing, such as this one in a farm pond near Brady, where males have fanned the sand out of the bottom and
guard the gravel beds. JULIE GEISER, NEBRASKALAND
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
43
Finding a Balance
Program helps corn grower manage
deer population
By Justin Haag
I
Whitetails are especially attracted to the green landscape
of the Schotts’ property in late spring and summer, when
waters bubbling from irrigation pipes conveniently provide
for a drink under a smorgasbord of standing corn.
For the past decade, Schott has invited Game and Parks
to observe the deer populations and crop damage on his
property in late May and early June. That has resulted in the
issuance of a damage control permit.
The damage control permit, one of the depredation options
Game and Parks employs to help landowners, is issued when
deer harvested during the state’s established hunting seasons
aren’t enough to provide sufficient relief from damage.
Dusty Schelbitzki, depredation program manager for Game
and Parks, said timing is a big consideration for the issuance
of the permits.
“Damage control permits are issued during the growing
season to help mitigate damage from the crop field and
remove wildlife that are specifically causing damage at that
time,” Schelbitzki said. “Overall population control should
be done during the regular hunting season with hunters
focusing on antlerless harvest.”
Schott recruits the help of a friend in Columbus to develop
a list of shooters who are looking to put meat in the
freezer. After the names are vetted by Game and
Parks, those listed begin visiting Schott’s property.
The permits have allowed the harvest of up to 15
deer through the summer growing season.
Schott acknowledges that organizing so
many hunters can be a challenge, and said he is
fortunate to have help with that part of the job.
He said, however, there seems to be no shortage
of people looking to put venison on the table.
Landowners looking for hunters can contact the
nearest Game and Parks district office or visit
outdoornebraska.gov/anterlesshunterdatabase.
Schelbitzki said many factors affect depredation,
and it usually takes a multi-faceted approach
instead of one “silver bullet.”
“It is important to know about the property’s
harvest
during hunting seasons, types of crop being
A large deer population can mean significant damage to agriculture.
damaged, amount of local habitat, de facto refuges,
ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
t’s no secret to those living in the Cornhusker State:
Nebraska is serious about its agriculture. Also evident:
Nebraskans are proud of their populations of deer and
other big game species. Unfortunately, those animals can
sometimes be at odds with landowners’ agricultural goals.
Aaron Schott of Silver Creek is among the many agriculture
producers who work with the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission to strike a healthy balance between wildlife
populations and their operations’ objectives.
The Schott family’s property along the Platte River is
certainly well suited for white-tailed deer. The nation’s most
popular big game animal loves the riparian habitat with
water flowing through towering hardwoods, and, of course,
nibbling at nearby croplands. Problem is, whitetails are
notably prolific. A large population of herbivorous whitetails
can mean significant damage to the corn the Schotts raise
to feed cattle as silage, not to mention a hazard for people
driving on nearby roads.
The Schotts have long invited family and other hunters to
their property during the state’s established deer seasons,
but found that the roughly 15 deer harvested during fall and
winter were not enough to keep the population in check.
44
Nebraskaland
• May 2024
White-tailed deer feed in a Sarpy County cornfield.
what wildlife species may be causing damage, location of
damage and timing of damage,” he said. “The more options a
landowner is open to, the more effective we can be at helping
them reach their goal of tolerable damage.”
One way landowners can limit depredation is to implement
an “earn-a-buck” program on their property, Schelbitzki said.
That is, require hunters to harvest a doe or two before taking
a buck.
Providing access during all hunting seasons is another way,
and landowners can even earn money by doing so through
the Open Fields and Waters program. Communicating with
neighbors to achieve a common goal also is beneficial.
“After being contacted by a landowner, we try to always
meet up on site to look at the damage to make the best
possible recommendations,” Schelbitzki said. “This is
important because every situation is different and some
depredation options may not be as effective as others.”
Game and Parks also sometimes employs hazing devices,
such as propane cannons and pyrotechnics, and exclusion
tactics such as fencing and stack yards.
Damage control permits usually allow the harvest of only
does, which make the most impact on population. If a permit
does allow bucks, the antlers must be turned into Game and
Parks. No money changes hands during the process and meat
from harvested animals must be utilized.
JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND
“These aren’t trophy hunters by any means,” Schott said.
“They’re in it for the meat.”
He said deer management during the summer is viewed as
a chore, not recreation.
“If you (get put on the list, but later) can’t or don’t
participate, there usually isn’t a second round,” Schott said.
“When given a chance to help control the deer population,
we need results.”
The approach is working. Instead of observing herds of 50
on and near the family property as before the permits were
issued, Schott sees them numbering about half that. He no
longer sees the extensive crop damage of the past, where
deer had made it appear as if a herd of cattle had been turned
loose in the corn.
“We’ve seen that (damage) dramatically cut back,” he said.
Less damage to the crops, and less chance of his vehicle
colliding with a deer during his nightly drive into Silver
Creek.
“I don’t want one on my bumper. I’d rather have it on my
plate,” Schott said.
To learn more about the Game and Parks’ programs to
assist landowners experiencing problems with wildlife
species, visit outdoornebraska.gov/depredation or contact
a Game and Parks district office in Alliance, North Platte,
Lincoln or Norfolk. N
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
45
Melting
the Green
Glacier
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
t happened slowly. Eastern red cedar trees were once
found only in steep, moist corners of the landscape, rocky
hilltops or islands in rivers where they were protected
from the fires set by Native Americans to attract game or
sparked by lightning that periodically swept across the Great
Plains. When settlers arrived and fire was removed from the
equation, this opportunistic invader began to creep out of
its refuges and into the surrounding grasslands. Each year,
cedars consumed more valuable grazing land and wildlife
habitat. The front line advanced so slowly it has been dubbed
the green glacier.
Now, after more than a century without these periodic
fires, the prairies are one of the most imperiled and least
conserved ecosystems in North America. Across the Great
Plains, from Texas to the Dakotas, woody plants including
cedars are expanding at a rate of 10 percent per year. Where
the problem is at its worst, grasslands are now dense
woodlands. Nebraska has lost 500,000 acres, or 781 square
miles, of grassland since 2000 alone. That’s nearly the size of
Lancaster County.
Efforts to control cedars are many and growing, but the
problem is so bad, cedars are still winning the battle. In the
Loess Canyons region of southwestern Nebraska, however,
landowners are making serious headway. The key to their
success has been working with their neighbors to reintroduce
fire. With large, intense prescribed burns, they are killing
trees from the ridgetop prairies, down the steep slopes and
into the canyon bottoms. It is one of few places in the world
where the rate of woody encroachment has been stopped.
Soon, it may even be reversed.
With fire, they are melting the glacier.
I
46
Nebraskaland • May 2024
Landowners conducting a prescribed burn in the Loess Canyons south of Maxwell sit back and watch after lighting the head
fire on the upwind side of a 3,200-acre burn in 2020.
The Problem
The Loess Canyons region encompasses a 330,000-acre
triangle of land south of the Platte River between North
Platte, Cozad and Curtis. The region’s present topography
is related to its origin. At the end of the last glacial period,
wind slowly blanked the area in loess, tiny particles of silt,
clay and sand. Among the thickest such deposits in North
America, the loess is highly erodible. It has evolved into a
maze of steep-walled canyons that stretch like veins from
the main creek draws, some leading north to the Platte
River Valley and most south to the Republican River Valley.
Cloaked in mixed-grass prairie, the canyons contain grasses
and forbs, wildflowers that vary from the dry ridgetops to the
moist bottoms. It is one of 35 Biologically Unique Landscapes
identified in the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s
Natural Legacy Project, its roadmap for recovering threatened
and endangered plants and animals.
Many long-time residents tell the same story, about how,
when they were children, or when their parents were, it was
hard to find a cedar to cut for a Christmas tree. And why would
you? In the Tree Planters State, home of Arbor Day, every tree
is said to be good. There were fewer cottonwoods, box elder,
ash and hackberry than there are today, and planting trees,
including cedars, was encouraged for their value as shade
and protection from wind for people, livestock and wildlife.
But eastern red cedar, a hardy, drought tolerant species
native to Nebraska and much of the Great Plains, grows fast
and produces up to 1.5 million seeds per tree. Some seedlings
will grow near that tree, but germination is improved when
the seeds are eaten and partially digested by birds. Wherever
those birds land and deposit their droppings, cedars will grow.
Research by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found
95 percent of cedar seedlings sprout within 200 yards of a
mature, female tree. That means during its seed-producing
years, a single tree can compromise 26 acres of grassland.
And each female tree that sprouts and matures puts the
next 200 yards of grassland at risk. Today, in the northern
end of the Loess Canyons, cedars cover 90 percent of some
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
47
Eastern red cedar is a prolific seed producer, one factor
contributing to their spread.
Mule deer will utilize cedar trees for escape and thermal
cover but prefer wide-open grasslands. They have
benefitted from cedar control in the Loess Canyons.
properties.
“Trees are like compound interest,” said Russ Sundstrom,
who has been ranching in the canyons south of Brady since
1993. “The worse it gets, the faster it goes.”
The problem is not unique. In the western United States,
woody plants have increased on 108 million acres of
grassland, an area more than twice the size of Nebraska,
since 1999. In the Great Plains, the loss of grassland to woody
encroachment is nearly equal to losses to land conversion for
agriculture. The problem is progressing from south to north
and east to west. Nebraska is on the edge of that advance.
The list of problems caused by encroachment is a long
one. Compared to the many species of sun-loving grasses
and forbs that typically would grow in prairie, few, if any,
plants grow in the dense shade below cedars. More cedars
means less grass for cattle. In some areas where cedars
have displaced grass, landowners have been slow to adjust
stocking rates and overgraze their pastures, further stressing
the native vegetation and allowing non-native plants like
cheatgrasses and smooth brome to invade.
It also reduces available habitat for grassland wildlife.
Grassland bird populations, including the greater prairiechicken, bobwhite quail, grasshopper sparrows and Bell’s
vireo, declined, as did the overall number of species. Mule
deer and wild turkeys were displaced by the trees. Even
insects, like the endangered American burying beetle, were
affected.
Cedars deplete soil moisture, groundwater recharge and
stream flow. With no grass to slow runoff, erosion on cedarchoked hills can be severe, reducing downstream water
quality. Fewer acres of grass on School Trust Land reduces
what can be charged for grazing leases on that land, which
means less funding for schools. And the severity of wildfires
increases where cedars are present, putting lives and property
at risk. A wildfire south of Gothenburg in 2002 burned 40,000
acres.
canyons, and in 2000 convinced Mark Alberts to try a burn on
his pasture on the edge of the Central Loess Hills northwest
of Gothenburg. As was the case in the steeper Loess Canyons
to the south, cedars were spreading from the steep slopes
into open pastures.
The idea did not go over well with his neighbors. “The
greatest ad campaign in this country, the most successful,
has been Smoky Bear,” Alberts said. Prescribed burning “was
something kind of new, and we had a lot of people mad at us.
Mark was a four-letter word.”
But with the help of NRCS staff and some neighbors, they
gathered a hodgepodge of equipment and burned 300 acres.
“We kind of made up our burn plan as we went,” Alberts said.
“If we burned today the way we did then, we’d probably go
to jail.”
With just 30 percent mortality on cedars, the results of
their fires were poor by today’s standards. But even that,
Alberts said, was enough to turn some of the naysayers into
some of today’s greatest advocates for prescribed fire in the
region. And lessons were learned: Where Alberts had cut
trees with a chainsaw in one location and left them lay next
to standing trees, the dried, dead formed a perfect ladder fuel,
taking the fire from the ground to the crown and through
the stand, killing more trees. This cut-and-stuff method of
controlling cedars had already been used elsewhere, but word
of its effectiveness had not spread.
In 2002, Whisenhunt helped Alberts and a dozen or
so other landowners form the Loess Canyons Rangeland
Alliance, the state’s first prescribed burn association. With
Alberts as the burn boss, they burned 1,300 acres. With
grants from the Nebraska Environmental Trust and others,
they purchased equipment to make burning safer and more
efficient, including 200-gallon water tank sprayers that could
slide into the back of a pickup, and then burned more acres
in 2005.
Scott Stout, a Burwell native, began working on his wife’s
family’s ranch north of Curtis when they married in 1999. He
said he was “shell shocked” by the number of cedars in the
region. When he wasn’t working cattle or farming, he was
doing something to control cedars, which covered 20 to 50
percent of their pastures. He helped neighbors with one of
those burns in 2005, and while he wasn’t overly impressed
with the results, he could see fire was a better option than
cutting and joined the burn alliance.
He continued to cut scattered trees to prepare for his own
burn, but wasn’t happy with the time it took to move and pile
those trees. Instead, he pushed them up against the dense
stands on slopes too steep to cut. When he finally burned in
2008, he saw the same success Alberts had, but on a larger
scale. Where previous burns had resulted in 40 to 50 percent
The Epiphany
Wild turkeys will abandon roosts in hardwood trees when
cedars overtake the understory. They find more insects to
eat in grasslands than cedar-choked pastures.
48
Nebraskaland • May 2024
By the time landowners in the Loess Canyons realized how
big the problem was, it was almost too late. The region had
become one of the most cedar-infested in the state. But they
attacked it anyway. Initial efforts focused on cutting, piling
and burning trees. But they made little headway, and efforts
were costly. Where landowners did cut, the soil disturbance
led to ideal conditions for seeds to germinate, and a new
flush of cedars sprouted, creating a stand often thicker than
the one that had been removed. All the while, cedars were
sprouting in the seemingly tree-free pasture behind them.
Prescribed fire was already being used in areas of eastern
Nebraska and elsewhere to control cedars in grasslands.
Doug Whisenhunt of the Natural Resources Conservation
Service wondered if fire could also control mature trees in the
Mike Gruber and Russ Sundstrom, a contractor and rancher in the Loess Canyons, watch Sundstrom’s crew cut and pile cedar
trees on Gruber’s ranch south of Brady to prepare for a prescribed burn. Gruber had cleared trees on the land in the 1980s.
“It seems like it’s slow, but then when you think back it’s like, ‘Wow. How did there get to be so many trees so fast, and a
worthless cedar tree too,’” Gruber said.
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
49
Lush grasses and annual sunflowers fill a pasture on Scott Stout’s family’s ranch in the Loess Canyons north of Curtis in the fall
following a spring prescribed burn.
mortality, Stout saw 70 to 75 percent.
“So by happy accident, we just started shoving cut trees up
against live trees just to get rid of them and not thinking that
it was going to apply that intense heat source there,” Stout
said, noting that this cut-and-stuff approach to clearing prior
to a burn is now the standard today.
Each year, as neighbors looked across the fence and saw
the results of a burn, including not only fewer trees, but a
lusher stand of grass, more joined the association. In 2008,
there was enough interest that Alberts helped form a second
burn association he still leads, the Central Platte Rangeland
Alliance, in the southeastern portion of the Loess Canyons
and in the Central Loess Hills to the north between Brady and
Lexington. Stout took over leadership of the LCRA, became
the burn boss, and continues in that role today.
The combined membership of both associations includes
more than 120 individuals. In the Loess Canyons, members
collectively own 264,000 acres, or 80 percent of the region.
More join each year. That buy-in, and the fact that the groups
and burns are led by landowners, has been their success.
Working together on burns has rekindled something from
days gone by, where neighbors regularly helped neighbors
with their chores, knowing the favor would be returned. “I
think it kind of got away from that here for a while,” Stout
said. “But this group, it seems like it kind of developed a
whole new sense of community. It’s really brought back the
50
Nebraskaland • May 2024
selflessness of people.”
That cooperation also allows them to burn several
properties at once, often burning from one county road to the
next in an area with very few roads, rather than one property,
which might require cutting fire breaks through steep terrain.
Now they build fire breaks in places where the terrain makes
them easy to both create and defend.
Getting there was a process, as members weren’t sure how
many acres they could safely burn in a day. “They started with
a section,” said Andy Moore, coordinating wildlife biologists
with Pheasants Forever, who has helped landowners in the
Loess Canyons plan cedar-control projects since 2011. “And
then there was a point where some of the members said: ‘We
can’t do burns bigger than 2,000 acres because we can’t get
around them in a day.’ They’ve proved that wrong. They’ve
done burns bigger than that in a half day.”
To date, the largest burn conducted by the groups covered
4,500 acres, a daylong effort that covered property owned by
10 individuals. In 2020, LCRA members burned 22,000 acres,
including several burns topping 3,000 acres. CPRA members
burned another 7,500 acres, and a private contractor 6,500. In
all, the groups have burned more than 150,000 acres, most of
those since 2008.
The burns are meticulously planned, many by Stout, first
as the burn boss and now as a technical service provider
with the NRCS. And they are well attended, with more than
100 people showing up for some. They arrive in rusty ranch
pickups or pulling trailers loaded with ATVs, each assigned a
specific job and handling it without question. “Trying to get
farmers and ranchers to cooperate, you might think it’s easier
to pile BBs,” Alberts said. “We’ve never had an issue.”
The safety record of the burn crews is excellent. Rarely
have fires spread outside the unit. More wildfires have been
sparked while landowners burned piles of cut cedars during
the winter, a process now combined with the prescribed
burns.
“They’ve mastered the use of high-intensity fire,” said
Dillon Fogarty, an assistant professor and woody invasion
ecologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who studied
the region as a graduate student and documented their
success. “By doing that, they can manage the patches of
trees, mature trees, the seedlings and the seeds during that
single application of prescribed fire.”
After killing less than half of the cedars in those initial
burns, “now some of the landowners aren’t pleased if they
don’t kill 90 percent or more of the cedar trees inside a unit,”
Moore said.
The groups are now looking at bigger burns, up to 10,000
acres, and at burning at times other than late-winter and
early-spring, when most burns are currently conducted. They
know they need to expand if they are going to keep restoring
grasslands and maintain the ones they already have. To
stay ahead of the problem, landowners need to burn every 5
to 7 years to control new cedar growth. Many have already
burned their land twice, and others need to soon, before
new trees get too big to control with fire alone. The second
burn is easier, with little if any mechanical clearing required.
And with so many acres having been treated, it is safer, with
fewer cedars to send burning embers outside the burn units.
Skeletons of cedar trees stand in an area south of Maxwell
treated with prescribed fire in 2020, a stark contrast to
the cedar-choked draws stretching north to the Platte
River Valley. While landowners in the region have made
significant headway in controlling the woody growth, there
is still much work to do.
Hudson Stout lights the perimeter of a prescribed burn
with a drip torch as others follow in a truck, dousing flames
not heading into the burn unit. A job for young legs, Stout
covered about 4 miles on the 3,400-acre burn, while another
volunteer did the same on the other half.
“We understand that it’s not a one-year, one-time fix-all,”
Stout said. “We understand it’s a management process, and
we have to go back and maintain it.”
Cost vs Benefit
Planning and preparing for these burns typically takes
three years before the first drip torch is lit. Each landowner
must get any necessary tree-cutting done, clearing fire
breaks, large trees on the perimeter and scattered mature
trees that might not burn. They also need to defer grazing on
the property in the year leading up to the burn to ensure there
is enough grass to fuel the fire, carry it through the unit and
kill young cedars, and burn hot enough to consume the seeds
still waiting to sprout. When their turn to burn rolls around,
weather must cooperate. Drought can postpone burns for a
year — and has more than once.
The cost of mechanical control can be daunting, averaging
$250 per acre in the region. Where firebreaks must be cut by
hand in dense stands on slopes too steep for heavy equipment,
it might soar to $2,500. “That seems astronomical, and it is,”
said Sundstrom. “But if you do that and can treat hundreds
and hundreds of acres [with fire], and you don’t have that
cost over a lot of acres, then it’s economical.”
Deferring grazing is another expense, as landowners must
rent pastures elsewhere or providing hay to feed their stock.
There are cost-share programs available from numerous
sources (see sidebar) that Moore says typically cover 75
percent of these expenses.
Doing nothing to control cedars is not a good option,
said Sundstrom, who sees both sides of the equation as a
landowner and tree cutting contractor. Property taxes aren’t
adjusted according to the amount of tree cover, even though
the land can feed fewer cows. And the cost of control can
May 2024 •
Nebraskaland
51
he increased the number of grazing days on his ranch by
40 percent, and his profit, after expenses, by more than 200
percent. “That’s the important number there,” Sundstrom
said. “I always felt like whatever I did for tree control, with
increased grazing, paid for itself in 3 to 5 years.”
A Model for Others
Purple locoweed, a sensitive species typically found only
in healthy prairies, is one of many native wildflowers that
benefit from cedar removal and prescribed fire in the
Loess Canyons. It blooms in the spring, a time when there
are few other plants flowering, making it critical for early
pollinating insects.
quickly exceed the rental value, and it gets higher every year.
If you aren’t willing or able to do it, Sundstrom said, “As high
as property is right now? Man, sell it and go do something
else.”
Some landowners still want to cut trees and not burn.
“The thing that people don’t realize is there are so many
other benefits to the prescribed burns,” Sundstrom said. “It’s
instant fertilization. The grass is better and the cows like it
better.”
When cedars are removed and sunlight reaches plants
struggling to grow in the shade and the seeds of native
grasses and forbs that have laid dormant, in some cases for
decades, the response is instant. Annual forbs like annual
sunflowers and ragweed are the first to explode, followed by
the prairie grasses. “It amazes me how resilient that native
grass is, and how it comes back,” Stout said.
Non-native, invasive, cool-season grasses like downy and
Japanese brome grasses are also set back by spring prescribed
burns. And with native grasses, such as side-oats grama
and little bluestem, now growing where cedars once stood,
ranchers can increase their stocking rates and their bottom
line. Rather than needing 14 to 17 acres for each cow and calf
he puts to pasture, Stout needs 8 or 10 acres. For those trying
to make a living off the land, “it really does sell itself,” Stout
said.
Sundstrom put a pencil to it a different way, and figured
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Around the world, woody plants are invading grasslands.
Few places have been as successful at controlling the
invasion as they have in the Loess Canyons.
Since 2014, 180,000 acres of the region have been a working
laboratory for researchers at the University of NebraskaLincoln. With full support of landowners, students have
studied the response of grassland plants, birds, the American
burying beetle and other topics in response to fire.
The work in the canyons served as the framework for the
Working Lands for Wildlife program recently released by
the NRCS to guide grassland wildlife conservation in the
Great Plains. Now people from around the world are looking
to these landowners, researchers and partners to learn how
they did it.
“Very few groups, and none in Nebraska, have gotten to
the level where they’re using fire to manage all of the stages
[of cedar growth] at once,” Fogarty said. “I don’t want to take
away from what good work is being done in other places,
but the Loess Canyons is just the example to look up to right
now.”
Stout said landowners shrug off the attention. “It’s kind
of funny, it’s just another day for them,” he said. “They don’t
realize what they’re doing. … They’re just trying to keep their
operations afloat.”
In the process, by banding together, they are winning the
battle, melting the green glacier and restoring a unique —
and necessary — landscape. N
Bad News for the Beef State
Cows don’t eat cedar trees.
In Nebraska, the beef state, where 1.8 million cows and calves graze in pastures across the state, the cost of
eastern red cedar encroachment into rangeland is significant and growing.
In 2019, Nebraska lost 419,000 tons of range production to woody encroachment. Kansas lost 1.5 million tons
of forage that year, and Oklahoma 4.5 million tons. “We’re following the trajectory of those states, said Dillon
Fogarty, a range ecologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The lost grass could feed 88,000 cows and calves, and replacing it would require 700,000 round bales of hay.
The cash rental rates of the pasture lost would amount to $18 million. “Our rangelands are worth a whole lot in
this state,” Fogarty said. “Woody encroachment is taking an increasingly bigger piece of the pie every year.”
If you have even one seed-producing cedar tree where you don’t want more, you have a problem. The species
is spreading in every corner of the state, and even in the Sandhills, often where planting cedar windbreaks
introduced a seed source where there was none. In all, 8 million acres of intact grassland are at risk of future
encroachment.
Though control efforts
are underway, Fogarty said
the rate of encroachment
continues to increase,
a troubling fact to range
managers. Part of the
problem is that control
has often focused on
removing mature trees,
while seed from those
trees sprouted in adjacent,
intact grasslands, which
grew, produced more seed
and affected even more
acres.
The
University
and
others are now preaching
one message: Protect and
grow the core. The core
is the intact grassland,
far enough from the seed
source that it hasn’t been
Cows graze on grasses growing beneath the skeletons of cedars and other trees killed
infested. From there,
in a recent prescribed burn on the Russ Sundstrom ranch south of Maxwell.
work backward towards
the forest, or even the
windbreak, removing seedlings and seed trees. The most effective and least costly tool to use for these efforts is
prescribed fire. Once those acres have been protected, go after the scattered trees in the grassland and, finally,
the mature stands.
There are numerous sources of cost sharing assistance for cedar control efforts. Pheasants Forever has nine
coordinating wildlife biologists around the state who help landowners connect with those resources. Andy Moore
fills that role in the Loess Canyons, working out of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission district office in
North Platte. He said the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Great Plains Grassland Initiative is one source
that has grown significantly in both manpower and funding in recent years, helping offset the cost of mechanical
removal, prescribed burn planning, deferred grazing and more. The Nebraska Forest Service provides assistance
in developing fire breaks around burn units and structures within the units. Game and Parks’ Natural Legacy
Program can fill in the gaps.
Other sources of funding and technical assistance in the state include The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural
Resources Districts, the Nebraska Environmental Trust and conservation groups, including the Sandhills Task
Force, The Nature Conservancy, the National Audubon Society, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Quail Forever,
National Wild Turkey Federation and the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Seventeen formal prescribed burn
associations in the state work together to tackle the problem.
Scott Stout, a rancher and member of the Loess Canyons Rangeland Alliance, said the best time to start
controlling cedars is when you have a few. Wait, and the problem will grow like it did in his region, one of the
most infested in the state prior to widespread control efforts. “If you don’t start now, it’s going to get out of hand.”
Where the dense canopy of eastern red cedar blocks
sunlight, little, if any, vegetation grows.
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BUMBLE BEE ATLAS
By Nicole Louden
When I thought about important native species to the
Sandhills, bumble bees didn’t immediately come to mind.
Until last August.
Given the opportunity, I tagged along with Denise Pecha
and her husband, Ted Kyster, as they surveyed bumble bees
at my ranch near Ellsworth, Nebraska. Ted and Denise are
part of a volunteer group called Nebraska Bumble Bee Atlas
supported by the Xerces Society and Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission, a community science project aimed at
gathering the data needed to track and conserve bumble bees.
The survey duo worked quickly in the pasture — trapping
bees, taking photos, cataloging, then releasing the bees once
finished. While they worked, they answered my questions
about bumble bees, and why bees and the surveys are so
important.
On the prairie, bumble bees are critical pollinators of
grasses and wildflowers. Unlike honey bees — which aren’t
native to the U.S. — bumble bees can pollinate plants through
a method of “buzz pollination” or sonication. Bumble bees
grab hold of the anther of the flower and vibrate, dislodging
pollen from flowers more efficiently. Certain plants — such
as tomatoes and potatoes — benefit from buzz pollination.
Bumble bees nest in the ground or on the surface, with
most colony members dying in the fall. Only the newly
emerged and fertilized queens live to hibernate through the
Volunteers capture live bees, gather data then release them.
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Nebraskaland • May 2024
A southern plains bumble bee — an endangered species —
was found during the survey. PHOTOS BY NICOLE LOUDEN
winter each year. Then, in the spring, the queen lays eggs for
a new colony — beginning with workers. Later in the summer,
the queen produces new queens and the male drones that will
mate, reproduce, and begin the next colony.
Nebraska hosts 20 species of bumble bees, several of
which are endangered. The duo found a two-spotted bumble
bee on my ranch — a species not typically found in western
Nebraska.
“That’s part of what we are doing,” Denise explained of
the changing ranges of the bees. “If it gets too hot, they will
move to higher elevations and further north.” Similar to
birds, many factors — such as disruption of habitat, pesticide
use, and climate change — may be contributing to their
decline.
According to Katie Lemke, endangered species
conservation biologist with Xerces Society, “Six of the 20
species have not been detected during the Atlas (2019-2023),
[and] many of them have not been seen in the state since the
last monitoring effort in 1999-2001.”
Information gathered from the volunteer surveys is used
to assess the status of Nebraska’s bumble bees and design
conservation recommendations to support them. The data
may also be used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
when deciding if declining numbers on a particular species
of bumble bee — like the southern plains bumble bee —
warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Atlas is an ongoing community science project and anyone
can get involved. It is important for private landowners to
welcome survey volunteers like Ted and Denise, both for
native pollinators like bumble bees and ourselves.
For more information, visit nebraskabumblebeeatlas.org.
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STAY SAFE WHEN HAVING FUN
By Julie Geiser
Many summer fun activities in Nebraska involve being in
or around water. Remember these tips to make sure everyone
comes home safe at the end of the day.
be at least 67 degrees Fahrenheit before swimming occurs.
Water temperatures below that can affect breathing and may
induce hypothermia.
For Swimmers
• Only swim in designated swimming areas, especially
in large reservoirs where there are boaters and personal
watercraft users.
• Don’t dive into water less than 12 feet deep. Enter the
water feet-first to check for depth and to avoid head or neck
injuries or drownings. Never dive into rivers.
• Be cautious of drop-offs that can happen fast and catch
you or children off guard.
• Wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket. Small children
should always wear a life jacket while swimming. It only
takes seconds for a child to drown.
• Avoid areas with strong moving currents — which
can happen in rivers or even some lakes — and possible
underwater debris.
• Never swim in cold-water temperatures. Water should
Don’t dive in water less than 12 feet deep.
JEFF KURRUS
Life Jacket Loaner Stations
Several state recreation areas across Nebraska
are housing life jacket loaner stations. These
stations are available for anyone of any size to
borrow a life jacket for the day.
The stations are available at the Lake
McConaughy Visitor Center, and Enders, Lake
Maloney, Johnson Lake, Sherman Reservoir and
Minatare state recreation areas.
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Nebraskaland • May 2024
Children age 12 or under must wear a life jacket.
JULIE GEISER
For Boaters, Personal Watercraft Users and
Paddlers
• Always wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket.
• When recreating on a river, leave a float plan with a
friend or family member, including where you are going and
when you expect to return.
• Be sure your boat is in good running order and legally
equipped. Carry a life jacket for each person on board your
boat and a type IV throwable device. No child age 12 or under
is allowed aboard any vessel when not wearing a life jacket
that properly fits them.
• When pulling a person on skis, a tube or similar device,
you must have a person age 12 or older as an observer unless
your vessel is equipped with a wide-angle rearview mirror.
A hunter orange flag of at least 12 square inches must be
displayed when a skier/tuber is down in the water. The skier/
tuber must wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket.
• Pay attention to the weather as you recreate. Severe
weather can cause large waves and produce lightning. Exit
the water before storms arise.
Anyone born after Dec. 31, 1985, is required to successfully
complete a Boating Safety Course and possess a course
certificate while operating a boat or personal watercraft. You
must be at least 14 years of age to operate a motorboat or
personal watercraft in Nebraska.
Read the 2024 Boating Guide and know the rules and
regulations regarding state waterway markers, right of way and
navigation rules and unlawful practices — including boating
under the influence.
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ANIMAL GROUP NAMES
By Monica Macoubrie, Wildlife Education Specialist
From “schools of catfish” to a “rhumba of rattlesnakes,”
the animal kingdom boasts a diversity of collective nouns
to describe groups of animals. These imaginative descriptors
not only enrich our understanding of Nebraska’s wildlife but
also serve as linguistic snapshots that convey the essence of
their social lives.
A murder of crows.
A raft of ducks.
ERIC FOWLER
A bale of turtles.
JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY
A parliament of owls.
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Nebraskaland • May 2024
ERIC FOWLER
A murmuration of starlings.
A kettle of hawks.
JUSTIN HAAG
BOB GRIER
A romp of river otters.
A bed of snakes.
GETTY IMAGES
A scurry of squirrels.
ERIC FOWLER
An army of bullfrogs.
JUSTIN HAAG
A herd of bison.
GETTY IMAGES
A hover of trout fingerlings.
A skulk of foxes.
JEFF KURRUS
CHRIS HELZER
A coterie of prairie dogs.
JUSTIN HAAG
BOB GRIER
A kaleidoscope of butterflies.
JULIE GEISER
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KNOW YOUR MORELS
By Tim Reigert
April and May are prime morel mushroom hunting times
in Nebraska. And there is nothing as delicious as morel
mushrooms soaked in salty water and then fried in butter
and garlic.
But did you know that there are “false” morels? Many
don’t. Several species of false morels are toxic, but they are
easily distinguished from edible morels of the Morchella
genus.
False morels have wrinkled to nearly smooth heads
without distinct pits and ridges, hence the common name,
brain mushroom. False morels are usually more round and
grow closer to the ground than true morels.
The fruiting head of many false morels is thin and brittle,
not thick and fleshy as with true morels. Eating false morels
can cause illness, but those found in North America are
seldom lethal.
False morels can be found throughout the growing season.
Carefully study the illustrations below. To avoid illness,
do not consume any mushroom that you can’t positively
identify.
True Morels
The base of the fruiting head of a true morel is attached
to the stalk and the stalk is hollow.
False Morels
The fruiting heads of false morels are attached to the top
of the stalk and hang down around the stalk like a skirt.
Often, but not always, the stalk is filled with cottony or
pithy material. ILLUSTRATIONS BY TIM REIGERT
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MIXED BAG
AQUATIC HABITAT 2024
By Eric Fowler
Three years after Glenn Cunningham Lake in Omaha
was drained to kill invasive zebra mussels, the reservoir is
expected to provide excellent fishing this year.
Drawing down the 390-acre reservoir in 2019 also allowed
the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to replace
vegetation barriers and gravel on spawning beds and repair
a breakwater and fishing deck installed during a major
Aquatic Habitat Program project completed in 2008, as well
as construct a new boat ramp and renovate the fishery to
remove common carp.
Good numbers of crappies to 12 inches, bluegills to 8 inches,
and a few largemouth bass topping 15 inches, with hordes of
smaller fish, make the lake a great place to take kids. Anglers
will also have a chance of catching a 15-inch-plus saugeye,
channel catfish topping 24 inches and even a muskellunge.
Several other recent projects to improve fisheries and
access are coming into their own and producing keeper-sized
fish.
Stagecoach Lake
This 190-acre reservoir near Hickman was drawn down in
2017 to allow for a renovation of the fish population, which
was dominated by carp and gizzard shad, and construction of
a new boat ramp, kayak launch and a breakwater to protect
both from north winds. The fishery has taken off since it
was restocked in 2018, and has good numbers of bluegills,
crappies, channel catfish, largemouth bass and walleye.
reduced the volume of the pond by 60 percent was completed
in 2022. This popular put-and-take fishery, located on a
spring-fed, Sandhills stream adjacent to Calamus Reservoir,
is stocked with more than 5,000 trout throughout the year.
A sediment trap built as part of the project will allow normal
deposits to be easily removed every year or two.
Smallmouth and Perch
Big Elk Lake Recreation Area, built in 2021 in Papillion, and
Lake No. 5 at Two Rivers State Recreation Area near Venice,
renovated in 2021 to remove carp, were both stocked with
smallmouth bass and yellow perch to create unique fisheries
in eastern Nebraska. Lake No. 5 at Two Rivers, also known as
the Trout Lake, is the popular put-and-take fishery stocked
with more than 20,000 fish each spring.
Rock Creek Lake
Renovated in 2020 to remove gizzard shad, this lake now
has healthy populations of largemouth bass, channel catfish,
redear sunfish, yellow perch and crappies, and is stocked
regularly with trout.
Cub Creek 12a
This 27-acre Lower Big Blue NRD lake was renovated in
2020 and now has decent bluegills, largemouth bass and
channel catfish. The project also removed sediment and built
rock jetties that improve angler access.
Gracie Creek Pond
Lake Ogallala
Work to remove 28,000 yards of sand that had washed into
the Gracie Creek trout pond by flooding in March 2019 and
Renovated last October to remove common carp, white
sucker, gizzard shad and alewife, the lake has been stocked
with 65,000 8- to 10-inch rainbow and tiger trout that will
grow fast this spring and summer. It will be a few years before
the 46,000 3-inch yellow perch will be big enough to eat.
Fort Robinson Ponds
An Aquatic Habitat project at Cunningham Lake in Omaha
included maintenance on a breakwater and resurfacing
gravel spawning beds. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
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The seven ponds renovated at Fort Robinson in recent years
are all stocked with one or more species of trout, including
rainbow, brook, cutthroat and tiger trout. A few ponds
with warmer water were also stocked with other species of
gamefish. Cherry Creek Pond is producing a few keeper-sized
bluegills; Middle Grable Pond: bluegills and yellow perch;
North Grable: largemouth bass, bluegill, yellow perch and
channel catfish; Middle Ice House Pond: bluegill, catfish and
largemouth bass; and Lower Ice House Pond: bluegill, perch,
black crappie, largemouth bass and catfish. Cherry Creek and
Middle Grable also have smallmouth bass that need time to
grow.
May 2024 •
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PORTRAITS FROM THE PAST
Duck hunting at School House Lake
in Cherry County, 1981
Hunters Douglas Blaine Harris
(me), Larry Shaw, Joe Francis and
Marv Adamson. Being originally from
the Sandhills, I organized an annual
trip to Cherry County to open duck
season. The Lincoln group included
Joe Francis, Larry Shaw and the Harris
family. The Adamson Ranch was the
childhood home of my wife, Marge
Adamson Harris.
Children in the pickup: Kevin
Ravenscroft, Ryan Adamson, Natalie
Harris and Jake McDowell.
– Douglas Blaine Harris, Lincoln
Deer hunting near Wilber, 1992
This is a photo of my friends John Janecek in
the center, Gary Richtarik on the right and me.
John harvested this buck near his farm in Gage
County northeast of Wilber in 1992. We grew up
together and hunted and fished for many years
in Gage and Saline counties.
I still hunt the same areas and keep in touch
with John. Gary unfortunately passed in 2020
and is sorely missed.
– Rich Pomajzl, Beatrice
Fishing on a small irrigation canal, 1960
My father, Wilbur Simmons, caught this carp in August 1960 on a
small irrigation canal that flowed between Overton and Elm Creek
between what is now the interstate and the Platte River. Today, you
can still see the canal.
That day I was fishing a small sandpit nearby for carp with two
poles and later went to check with my dad. Unfortunately, when I
returned to the sandpit, both my poles were missing. My dad came
over to the pit and used a big treblehook to my line and pulled both
poles as a 5-pound carp had tangled both lines. I got a stern lecture
about leaving my poles unattended. Most of what I know about
fishing I learned from my father. He always took me fishing when he
went. He passed around 20 years ago, but I think of him often.
– Kim A. Simmons, Bellevue
Catfishing on the North Loup River
Ri er
Pictured from left: Leonard Kaslon, my dad; Keith Kaslon, me; Brian Kaslon, my third cousin; Bob Kaslon, my uncle. This
was the morning after an overnight camping and set-line trip to the North Loup River around 1987.
– Keith Kaslon, Columbus
Fishing bullheads near Rackett, 1957
This picture is of my grandmother, Helen Fickes, of Oshkosh in
June 1957. She’s holding a stringer of bullheads after a day of fishing
with my grandfather, David Fickes, and Vern and Beth Keenan, also
from Oshkosh. I believe they were fishing north of Rackett. Vern and
Beth took me on my first bullhead fishing trip in the early 1980s to
the same area, often catching two at a time, using earthworms dug in
Grandma’s backyard.
– Matt Arndt, Cheyenne, Wyoming
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 2000. 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. Text may be edited and photos adjusted for reproduction. All photos will be returned.
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THE LAST STOP
A mink pauses along a trail at Heron Haven in Omaha.
RENAE BLUM
FEARLESS
By Renae Blum
It wasn’t scared of me.
The squirrel-sized creature, its dark brown fur wet from a
recent swim, paused to stare up at me from the gravel path
just yards away. It was the most fearless wild animal I had
ever encountered, and I wasn’t even sure what it was.
I raised my camera and fired off a couple of shots, and
then the moment passed. Still unconcerned, the animal
went zipping through the grass, scampering along shoreline
branches and gliding easily along the surface of the wetland
pond nearby. It was a joy to watch it, its small body all energy.
Our encounter happened last May along the trails at Heron
Haven, a small spring-fed wetland and wildlife sanctuary
in Omaha, just off the intersection of 120th and Old Maple
streets. In my opinion, it’s one of Omaha’s best-kept secrets,
with a variety of wildlife, photography blinds and wellmaintained trails and gardens. I’d spent hours photographing
pollinators in the butterfly garden, as well as frogs, turtles and
ducks in the wetland ponds. But none of those experiences
measured up to the one with this furry mystery creature.
The next week, I reached out to Sam Wilson, the furbearer
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Nebraskaland • May 2024
and carnivore program manager at Nebraska Game and Parks,
to figure out what the heck this thing was. He confirmed my
uneducated guess: It was a mink, a semi-aquatic carnivore
belonging to the mustelid family.
And the reason why it was so unafraid of me? Probably
because it was born inside city limits and has likely seen
people every day since the time it was young, Wilson said.
Mink are confident animals in general, he added, but ones
in rural areas, where people are scarcer and may hunt or trap
them, would be more fearful of humans.
I also happened to be in the right place. Because mink
are small, people don’t see them often unless you’re in
the right habitat, Wilson said — and Heron Haven is the
perfect example of that. Mink dwell near water, especially
spots with wild areas nearby where they can hunt for frogs
and crayfish. Many urban areas in Nebraska with lakes or
wetlands offer the opportunity to see mink.
Now that I know what I’m looking for, I’m keeping my eyes
peeled for more of this mink’s fearless brethren. Who knows
what awaits me at Heron Haven this year?
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Position: 626 (18 views)