October 2009
In This Issue:
- Message from the Executive Director
- Two Is Better Than One at Husker Harvest Days
- Roma Greathouse from Banner County Receives Recognition
- Ferruginous Hawk Nesting Platform
- Photographer Michael Forsberg to speak at the Nebraska Nature and Visitor Center
- Upcoming Events
Message from the Executive Director
We have had an early winter with snow falling across much of the State and several weather records falling with the heavy snows and cold. The Grants Committee is gearing up to evaluate the 110 grants that were submitted. I want to thank the technical reviewers for getting their reviews completed and sent back.
You may have heard or seen one of our ads recently. We are currently running ads on KRVN radio and have commercials on NETV (PBS) and KOLN/KGIN (CBS) out of Lincoln and Grand Island. We are attempting to let the general public know about the great things we are doing with our many partners.
Our fourth quarter board meeting will be held on November 12th at 1:30 PM at the Ferguson House.
Let’s hope for a little more fall before the true winter hits.
Mark A. Brohman
Executive Director
Two Is Better Than One at Husker Harvest Days
Betty Curtis director of the Grand Island Area Clean Community System is a firm believer in the two is better than one concept. Year two of recycling efforts at Husker Harvest Days was better than year one. The first year (2008) 1,620 pounds of corrugated cardboard and 1,680 pounds of plastic bottles and aluminum cans were collected and recycled by volunteers. The second year (2009) those figures increased significantly; 30 volunteers worked 153 hours to collect and recycle 3,080 pounds of corrugated cardboard a 90% increase and 2000 pounds of plastic bottles and aluminum cans a 19% increase. The dollar value of the volunteers' services was $2,445.
Curtis says there are a few reasons for the increases: increased awareness and cooperation from vendors, the hard work of the volunteers and the new signs that helped draw attention to the recycling receptacles.
Curtis added, "The Environmental Trust was a big help, they awarded the Clean Community System a grant for the signs and ATVs that were needed for this years’ event. Mark Brohman, Executive Director of the Environmental Trust also helped with the recycling. Thanks Mark."
Roma Greathouse from Banner County Receives Recognition
With just over a mile of Pumpkin Creek running through the property, the Greathouse ranch is the first to take advantage of the High Plains Weed Management and Nebraska Environmental Trust project to remove Russian olive trees. Less than a mile from her house, Russian olive trees were being cut down and stacked and stumps sprayed in the hopes of reducing the number of water sucking trees along one and a half miles of the creek. Picture shows Roma Greathouse receiving a sign to be placed on her Banner County property showing her involvement in helping eliminate Russian olive trees.
Ferruginous Hawk Nesting Platform
The Nebraska Prairie Partners (NPP), a cooperative partnership between the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, is focused on conserving wildlife and the habitats that wildlife depends upon in western Nebraska. Ferruginous Hawk nesting platforms are designed to provide resident Ferruginous Hawks of Nebraska with a suitable nesting substrate on which they can raise their young. Ferruginous Hawks are a Tier I, highest level, species of conservation concern in Nebraska according to the Nebraska Natural Legacy Plan, which cites loss/fragmentation of native grasslands and prairie dog eradication as major population level stressors to Ferruginous Hawks. Historically, Ferruginous Hawks mostly nested on the ground or bluff ledges, but after studying this bird species in western Nebraska since 2001 we have observed an increasing number of Ferruginous Hawks nesting in trees. Initially, we used grant funding from the Nebraska Environmental Trust to install cattle exclosures around the base of trees with nests to limit structural damage to the tree and its roots from cattle trampling and rubbing.
As the number of tree nests that NPP knew about increased, as well as our observations of tree branches deteriorating that were holding active nests, we realized that the establishment of more secure nesting substrates was needed to help with the conservation of Ferruginous Hawks in Nebraska. NPP personnel were also concerned that wind farm development might displace some resident nesting Ferruginous Hawks, and felt that the installation of these nesting platforms in areas near proposed wind farms might serve as replacement nesting sites to mitigate against nest site displacement. NPP modified the nesting platform design from platforms installed on the Pawnee National Grassland in Colorado, and used large cedar trees from tree thinning projects in the Wildcat Hills of Nebraska as the more “natural” nesting substrate. The platforms are buried four feet into the ground, and stand between 10 to 12 feet in the air.
We worked with landowners throughout the panhandle to target currently unoccupied areas with optimal Ferruginous Hawk habitat, but in addition to new areas some sites were chosen to be replacement substrates for some active nests in trees that are ready to fall down. Since last fall, NPP has installed a total of 25 nesting platforms on private land throughout the panhandle. NPP worked very cooperatively with landowners in choosing sites and in installing the platforms on their land, where most landowners tagged along helped with the erection of the platform. These landowners were excited to be helping with the conservation of this threatened, native bird, and are the ones who will be checking the platforms for signs of activity and reporting back to NPP for years to come. Twenty-five is a modest number of platforms installed, but NPP wanted to ensure that these platforms will be utilized, and recorded data on a number of variables so that we can determine whether some variables positively influence the colonization of our nesting platforms. To this date we have had records of activity on two platforms, but we expect that number to rise in future years as birds become more familiar with the nesting platforms, and NPP ultimately believe that these platforms will benefit one of Nebraska’s bird species of highest conservation concern.
(Article contributed by Bart Bly, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory)
Bart Bly with Ferruginous Hawk Nesting Platform
Photographer Michael Forsberg to speak at Nebraska Nature and Visitor Center
The Nebraska Nature & Visitor Center will be hosting nationally known nature photographer Michael Forsberg at a benefit event to be held Sunday October 25.
Mike will provide a multimedia presentation base on his latest book, “Great Plains – America’s Lingering Wild”. The book came together after traveling some 100,000 miles over the last three years crisscrossing the Great Plains from Canada to Mexico. It explores the wildlife, habitats and conservation challenges in the heart of the continent.
Nebraska lies at the heart of one of the largest eco-systems on the planet, and Michael’s book beautifully illustrates this region.
The evening starts at 5 p.m. and will include a social hour with Mike and Patty Forsberg. Hors d’evours and wine tasting from Miletta Vista Winery and a print exhibition from National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore will compliment the evening as well.
Located on the I-80 Alda exit 305, the Nebraska Nature & Visitor Center exists to provide a place where people of all ages can connect to nature along the Platte River. You can register for the event by contacting the Center at 308- 382-1820 to reserve your place or go to www.nebraskanature.org <http://www.nebraskanature.org> for more information.
Board Member Feature
Mike Linder, Director
Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality
Mike Linder was appointed Director of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality in March 1999 by then Governor Mike Johanns. In January 2007, his appointment was renewed by Governor Dave Heineman.
Linder joined the Department of Environmental Quality in 1986 as an attorney. He became the agency General Counsel in 1989, and served in that capacity until his appointment as Director.
Linder currently serves as a board member of the Nebraska Environmental Trust. He is active in the national association of environmental agencies called the Environmental Council of the States, where he is currently serving as Vice President and Chair of the Local Government Forum. He is also a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Local Government Advisory Committee.
Linder was born in York, Nebraska, and raised in Brookings, South Dakota. He graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1980, and received his Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1983.
Important Dates To Remember:
- October 25, 2009 - Michael Forsberg at Nebraska Nature and Visitor Center
- November 12, 2009 - 4th Quarter Board Meeting
- December 13, 2009 - Christmas Open House, Ferguson House (Environmental Trust Office)
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