News Detail
Platte program more than halfway to goal of 10,000 habitat acres
2/4/2010 10:52:12 AM
By Lori Potter, The Kearney Hub
More than $8.8 million has been committed so far for land in Dawson and Buffalo counties that will be managed as wildlife habitat under the three-state Platte River Recovery Implementation Program.
Program Land Committee member and Central Platte Natural Resources District Biologist Mark Czaplewski gave an update at Thursday's CPNRD board meeting in Grand Island on progress made toward the first 13-year increment goal to protect 10,000 acres of habitat in the Central Platte Valley.
The program's overall goal is to enhance river flows and protected habitat used by threatened and endangered species - least terns, piping plovers and whooping cranes in the Central Platte - and allow projects in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska with federal permits or funding to comply with the Endangered Species Act.
Czaplewski's presentation came from a Nov. 24 land acquisition report Executive Director Jerry Kenney of Kearney had prepared for the program's Governance Committee.
Czaplewski said there are 3,105 acres in the sponsorship-lease category, including the Nebraska Public Power District's 2,650-acre Cottonwood Ranch between Elm Creek and Overton and 455 acres along the river southeast of Kearney that are owned by the state of Wyoming.
More than 1,900 acres on seven parcels are listed as "purchased" for $5,436,038. Another two are in the "contracted" category and total 1,115 acres for $3,372,000. Czaplewski said one of the parcels has been purchased since November, and a closing on the second could occur any day.
One property is a former sandpit that will be managed as a tern and plover nesting area, he added.
Those acquisitions would bring the total acres credited to the program to 6,137.8, leaving 3,862.2 left to meet the 10,000-acre goal. "I think it's fair to say the easy acquisitions have been made," Czaplewski said. "The cherries have been picked."
When asked how the program properties will be managed, Czaplewski and CPNRD Director Scott Woodman of Kenesaw, the Land Committee chairman, said details are being written.
"There's quite a process that goes into this," Woodman said, explaining that there must be a one-year plan written within one year of the program acquiring a property, followed by a five-year plan.
He said five one-year plans would be considered at today's Land Committee meeting in Kearney.
Czaplewski said the plans will address control of noxious weeds, fencing, management for the targeted species and public access, particularly for farmers and/or hunters who have been using the properties.
He was asked about possible program effects if a movement is successful to have the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also list the Platte River caddisfly as a protected species.
Despite a lawsuit filed by WildEarth Guardians to speed the review process, Czaplewski said it probably will take a year or two to sort out the issue because, as of recently, federal funds haven't been allocated for the USFWS study. "There's just not a lot known about this species," he said.
Also at Thursday's CPNRD meeting, Mark Hinze, Hall County's new University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator, asked the board to consider offering cost shares as incentives for farmers to install irrigation water management equipment that already is being used in other NRDs, including the Upper Big Blue and Tri-Basin.
Hinze said evapotranspiration gauges, soil moisture sensors and monitoring systems are being promoted through the Nebraska Ag Water Management Demonstration Network to reduce irrigation water use and crop production costs.
The network started in 2005 at the York-based UBBNRD, which offers a 50 percent cost share.
"Every field has a different need. ... Guessing (about crop water use and needs) can be quite expensive and wasteful," Hinze said.
He and York County Extension Educator Gary Zoubek displayed the field equipment and explained how it and Extension-produced tables are used by farmers for irrigation scheduling. Zoubek estimated equipment costs at about $600 per pivot (usually 160 acres).
Hinze said water management based on the information gathered can save several inches of irrigation water per acre and "thousands of dollars on a full field."
"I understand that we tend to err on the side of being safe (applying plenty of water). Yield is king," he said. "... This type of system takes the subjectiveness out."
CPNRD Projects Director Milt Moravek said any decisions about Central Platte costs shares will wait until budget time.
In other business Thursday, the board:
- Re-elected Jerry Wiese of Grand Island as treasurer and Jim Bendfeldt as secretary for two-year terms.
- Elected the following committee chairmen: Woodman, water resources; Dick Mercer of Kearney, western projects: Mick Reynolds of Wood River, eastern projects; and Bob Schanou of Shelton, programs.
- Approved a Water Committee recommendation to limit variance appeals to two per variance, and new information will be required to bring about a second appeal.
