Nebraska's Forests

Since inheriting the family pine tree farm in Louisiana in 2003, my interest in trees, forests and forestry has increased dramatically.

One result of that interest was learning Nebraska has two national forests. That alone, makes Nebraska, a Great Plains state, somewhat unique. Not every state can claim a national forest. Nebraska’s national forests are also unique in where they are located (in the Sandhills) and how they came to exist.

Because I believe many Nebraskans are not aware of the uniqueness and history of their national forests and the importance early Nebraskans attached to trees, I wrote an essay on these topics that appears in the June issue of Lincoln’s Prairie Fire newspaper. I invite you to read that essay and hope you find it interesting and informative.

More on Prairie Chickens

My last post mentioned a report on Nebraska’s first Prairie Chicken Festival. That report has been written and submitted for publication. I understand the report was favorably received and may appear in print next month.

In the meantime, I urge you to visit the blog, “A Land Ethic,” alandethic.blogspot.com, for an excellent post about one of the Festival’s Friday night performances that had meaning beyond its entertainment value 

The blog’s author, Larkin Powell, Professor of Conservation Biology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, also made presentations at the Festival. One of them addressed habitat for Prairie Chickens in Nebraska and included reasons to be positive about Nebraska’s Prairie Chicken population and future.

Despite his optimistic comments, the May-June issue of Audubon magazine—in highlighting efforts being made in Missouri to preserve prairies noted Missouri’s Prairie Chicken population may have declined 80% from the early 1970s and may now number less than 250,000—brings home that habitat preservation should not be taken for granted but instead, be continually encouraged.