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Dave Heineman, GovernorBoard of TrusteesDistrict I |
We are well into summer and have managed to miss the high 90’s and 100’s so far and the State continues to get more rainfall than normal in most places. Let’s hope we all get timely moisture without the frozen stuff or the tornadoes. Our third quarter board meeting is coming up on July 30th and 31st at the beautiful Ponca State Park overlooking the Missouri River. We will get to see the “green” cabins that we helped fund, a waste water system project we participated in and a land acquisition. The forests along the bluffs and the wetlands and prairies along the river will be a welcome atmosphere. The roundtable to discuss our funding categories at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Kearney on June 26th was a great success. We had over 100 people including 10 of our 14 board members. We have sent out a follow-up survey to get additional information from those attending the event. Have a safe and enjoyable summer. Mark A. Brohman
The Trust five-year funding category Roundtable Survey Form has been e-mailed to all attendees to provide Nebraskans with an interest in the grants administration an opportunity to voice their thoughts and opinions. Those who did not attend the Roundtable but would like to have an opportunity to participate may complete the survey form that is currently on the main page of the website, www.environmentaltrust.org. You do not have to complete the questions dealing specifically with the Roundtable. Please return the survey forms to the Trust by noon, Monday, July 27, 2009.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will have a dedication and the grand opening of its Ponca State Park Green Cabin Project on July 30th, at 11.30am at the park and the public is welcome. The two energy-efficient units are made almost completely out of recycled materials. These cabins will introduce guests to "green" energy concepts and straw bale construction that can be replicated in their own homes and thereby expand environmentally friendly practices as part of their daily routines. They feature geothermal heating and cooling and straw bale insulation. Signs throughout the cabins also offer visitors a chance to learn about the importance of energy efficiency. Partners of the Green Cabin Project include the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nebraska Environmental Trust, Nebraska Public Power District, AAA Nebraska, the Cornhusker Motor Club Foundation and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.
“Don’t Tread On Me”…this motto from the American Revolutionary War is being peeped and squawked by threatened Piping Plovers and endangered Interior Least Terns all across Nebraska this summer. These birds lay their eggs in cup shaped depressions in the sand on river sandbars, sand and gravel mines, and lakeshore housing developments along the Platte, Loup, Niobrara, Missouri, and Elkhorn rivers in Nebraska. Plovers return to Nebraska in late April and early May, terns return to Nebraska in mid to late May and both finish nesting and leave for their wintering areas by early August. It takes four weeks for plover eggs, and three weeks for tern eggs, to hatch. It is another four weeks before plover chicks, and three weeks before tern chicks, are able to fly. During this time the nests, eggs, and chicks are vulnerable; they are so well camouflaged on the sand that they are almost impossible to see. It is easy for people on foot, on ATVs, in trucks, or in other vehicles to run over and destroy them. For the short time every year that these imperiled birds are in Nebraska, please, be careful and “Don’t Tread On Me”. Piping Plovers and Interior Least Terns are protected by the Federal Endangered Species Act and the Nebraska Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act. The Nebraska Natural Legacy Project lists both as Tier I at-risk species. Historically, both species nested on midstream river sandbars, but with all the changes to Nebraska’s rivers over the years, there are not many appropriate sandbars remaining for the birds to build their nests on. Increasingly, terns and plovers are nesting on the spoil piles at sand and gravel mines and on the beaches at lakeshore housing developments. By protecting the terns and plovers nesting on their properties, Nebraska’s sand and gravel mining and lakeshore housing development industries are making a positive contribution to the recovery of these two species. The Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership is here to help protect Interior Least Terns, Piping Plovers, and people alike. We believe that Nebraskans and nature can live and thrive together. We work proactively, and cooperatively, to find ways to help the birds do what they need to do and people do what they need to do during the nesting season. The Partnership is a cooperative effort between all parties with an interest in threatened and endangered species management in general, and tern and plover conservation in particular; this includes the sand and gravel mining industry, private property owners, utility companies, homeowner’s associations, real estate developers, local governments, and state and federal agencies. The Nebraska Environmental Trust is one of the funding partners for the project. For more information about terns, plovers and the Partnership, visit us on the web at http://ternandplover.unl.edu. (Contributed by Mary Bomberger-Brown, Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership)
Biofilters used to reduce odor from a hog barn will be one of the stops on a bus tour on Aug 18th. The biofilters were built as a cooperative effort of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension and pork producer Terry O’Neel of Friend, NE. Financial assistance was provided by the Nebraska Environmental Trust and the Nebraska Pork Producers Association. A biofilter uses porous organic material (e.g. wood chips) to house naturally occurring beneficial microbes that consume odorous compounds in the exhaust air, reducing odor by 80-95% in air that is treated by the biofilter. A biofilter also reduces emissions of dust, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia. Several of the materials used in construction of the biofilters were recycled products, including: chipped wood pallets for the bed material, discarded pallets for the base, and old PVC hog panels for supporting the wood chips. The biofilters demonstrate an effective, relatively practical approach to reduce a livestock operation’s odor footprint and help maintain desirable air quality in rural communities. The Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska (AFAN) is organizing the bus tour, which will highlight four Nebraska livestock operations. Individuals interested in participating in the bus tour should contact Nancy Eberly of AFAN (402-736-4691) for more details. For information on the biofilters or to arrange a visit to see them, contact UNL Extension Engineer Crystal Powers (402-472-0888).
Pork producer Terry O’Neel of Friend, NE, was one of six recipients of a National Environmental Stewardship Award given out by the National Pork Board this past year. Among the many environmentally sustaining practices that Mr. O’Neel implements on his operation is the use of biofilters to reduce odor from a swine finishing barn. Mr. O’Neel believes in being a responsible pork producer and strives to be a good steward of the land and surrounding natural resources. When he put up the new building for raising market hogs, he wanted to reduce air quality concerns for his neighbors as well as his own family. That’s where the biofilter and collaboration with UNL and the Environmental Trust played a key role. The project description is noted in the above article. To assess the benefits of using a biofilter, Terry O’Neel used the Nebraska Odor Footprint Tool to view the reduction in odor risk expected from utilizing the odor control technology. The Nebraska Odor Footprint Tool is an objective, easily visualized tool developed at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln to help livestock and poultry producers, community planners and officials, and rural residents make well-informed decisions regarding odor risk, siting of facilities, and use of odor control technology. The biofilter demonstration site is one element of a broader NET-funded project associated with demonstrating use of the Nebraska Odor Footprint Tool and odor control technology. For information on biofilters or related project resources, link to http://water.unl.edu/cnmpairqual or contact UNL Extension Engineer Crystal Powers (402-472-0888). (Both articles were contributed by Crystal Powers, UNL Extension Engineer)
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