NEBRASKAland Articles

By Ted LaGrange, Wetland Program Manager When my oldest child was in elementary school in the 1990s, I was invited to give a class presentation on wetlands. When I asked the students if Nebraska had any wetlands and whether any cool animals lived in them, I was shocked to hear them say, “No.” They knew more about the Everglades of Florida and the Amazon of South America than they did about wetlands in their own state. I wanted to fix …

At-risk Species Spotlight is a new, monthly blog post that will highlight one Nebraska animal that is at risk of extinction, with the goal of bringing awareness to the incredible diversity of wildlife we have in the state. See the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project to learn more about the conservation needs of these animals and the efforts to conserve them.    By Olivia DaRugna, Watchable Wildlife Biologist Owls are captivating and mysterious creatures of the night. Rarely seen but often …

By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska Kearney was booming in 1889 when city boosters commissioned a promotional book The City of Kearney, Nebraska. A copy of this boastful, lavishly illustrated book is in History Nebraska’s collections. Divided into brief sections, the book covers topics such as “Why Kearney Must Become a Railroad Center,” “Why Kearney Will Be a Large Manufacturing Center,” “Why Kearney Will Become a Second Minneapolis,” and others. Most pages also feature beautiful engravings of local scenes. Kearney …

Surveying and Monitoring Nebraska Species By Leslie Reed, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Elusive creatures of the night, bats fly silently and erratically in the dark. They hide in nooks and crannies and caves. Because of these ghostly qualities, humans often don’t realize when bats are nearby. A University of Nebraska–Lincoln scientist is working with the U.S. Geological Survey, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and other federal and state agencies to use acoustic detectors to survey bat species and populations in …

Story and photos by Renae Blum The tree sap begins to flow. It looks — and almost tastes — like water. But, after being boiled for an hour, it reduces into what Dan Hejl calls “liquid gold” — syrup he collects himself. It’s a tradition Hejl looks forward to every year. The Pleasant Dale, Nebraska, man collects sap from the same woods he hunts in, and gifts landowners with a jar of the highly prized black walnut syrup. Black walnut …

Story and photos by Eric Fowler With pheasant and quail season heading into its third and final month, roughly one-third of upland hunters have packed it in for the year. Not Mike Plate and Aric Werner. Plate grew up in Kimball, hunting pheasants and quail behind his father’s pointers around the Panhandle. Werner hunted pheasants in central Nebraska with his father while growing up in Grand Island, sans dogs. The two, who live in Alma and Republican City, respectively, have …

By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley Servings: 4 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes Ingredients: • 1 pound of venison stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes • 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but cold • Salt and freshly cracked pepper • 4 tbs. all-purpose flour, separated • 1 pound of baby bella mushrooms, quartered • Cooking oil • 1 medium onion, chopped • 1 medium to large carrot, peeled and large diced • 2 anchovy filets packed in …

By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska We take bridges for granted, but river-crossing Nebraskans mostly relied on ferries into the 20th century. The ferry was a seasonal operation. When the river iced over, you could simply drive your team across, as long as you trusted the thickness of the ice. During the westward migration along the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails, emigrants first had to pay ferrymen to take them across the Missouri River. Early ferries were rafts propelled by …

By Eric Fowler While on a hunting trip in the Pine Ridge in northwestern Nebraska in 2010, I photographed a picturesque butte in northwestern Sheridan County. When I got back to the office, I looked, as I often do, at the U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps to see if it was named. I couldn’t believe that, in the 21st century, a feature could still carry a name that was both sexist and racist. It no longer does. In September, the …

Grassland habitat doesn’t always equal an abundance of cover. Some of the most barren places in the Sandhills attract a lot of wildlife, including a broad diversity of small creatures that think bare sand looks pretty dang hospitable. Story and photos by Chris Helzer Blowouts in the Nebraska Sandhills need a better public relations agent. They’re unpopular with ranchers, who tend to focus on the reasonable fact that bare sand contains very little cattle food. Among the other residents of …