Prairie Blade - Nebraska Wildlife Federation · The Prairie Blade is the official newsletter of the...

The Prairie Blade Newsletter of the Nebraska Wildlife Federation

Board of Directors

Jim Johnson, Lincoln

President, NWF Alternate

Steve Kryger, Papillion

Vice President Administration

Marge Kennedy, Malcolm

Vice President Programs, Secretary

Gene Oglesby, Lincoln

NWF Delegate, Leadership Chair

Dr. Russ Souchek, Seward

Immediate Past President,

Public Policy Chair

Bruce Kennedy, Malcolm

Conservation & Education Chair

Christine Kuhn, Lincoln

Organizational Development Chair

Buffalo Bruce, Chadron

Mike Coe, Crete

Patrick Hartman, Lincoln

Dr. Marian Maas, Omaha

Fran Siedhoff, Crete

Jarel Vinduska, Gretna

Staff

Duane Hovorka

Executive Director

Carolyn Butler

Conservation Outreach Director

Cristina Colling

Energy Consultant

National Wildlife Federation

Brian Bashore, Sioux Falls, SD

NWF Board Region 9 Representative

David Ellenberger, Denver

NWF Regional Outreach Coordinator

***

Nebraska Wildlife Federation

PO Box 81437

Lincoln, NE 68501

(402) 477-1008

www.NebraskaWildlife.org

Nebraska Loses Conservation Leaders

Ione Werthman passed away at

age 89 in February in Omaha.

Werthman was a long-time volunteer

with the Audubon Society and other

organizations. She fought a proposal

to destroy a wetland in west Omaha,

helping to found Heron Haven to

protect the wetland as a refuge for

waterfowl and other wildlife. She

worked to establish a nature center at

the site, and lead Heron Haven Na-

ture Center for decades.

Ione fought tirelessly against pro-

posed dams on the Platte and Nio-

brara Rivers, working to designate a

portion of the Niobrara as a National

Scenic River. She was involved early

in efforts to craft a basin-wide ap-

proach to Platte River conservation

that became today’s Platte River Re-

covery Program.

In 2014, Nebraska Wildlife Federa-

tion honored Ione with a Lifetime

Achievement Award, and we will

miss her dearly.

Prairie Blade Spring, 2016

The Prairie Blade is the official newsletter of the Nebras-

ka Wildlife Federation, an independent state affiliate of the

National Wildlife Federation. Copyright 2016, Nebraska Wild-

life Federation. Contact the Federation office for reprint rights.

On the Cover: A Greater Prairie Chicken on the grasslands of

Valentine National Wildlife Refuge; photo by Dave Menke,

US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Walt Bagley passed away in Febru-

ary at age 99 in Lincoln. Bagley was a

retired forestry professor who helped

found Wachiska Audubon and provid-

ed Raptor Recovery Nebraska with its

first home.

He helped pass Nebraska’s conserva-

tion easement law, then in 1982 ob-

tained the first easement under the

new law. The easement protects 145

acres of land east of Lincoln that he

and his wife Virginia had planted with

trees, shrubs and grassland plants.

In 1992 the Bagleys donated their land

to the University of Nebraska. The site

is now Prairie Pines Arboretum, and

will be a lasting tribute to Walt and

Virginia’s stewardship.

Lynn Berggren of Broken Bow

passed away in February at age 65.

Berggren was appointed to the

Game & Parks Commission in 2007

and served until his death. Berggren

loved wildlife and the outdoors, and

worked to improve fishing access.

He had a passion for pheasants and

helped guide creation of a new

pheasant plan at Game & Parks.

Berggren will be succeeded on the

Commission by his son, Pat Berg-

gren, also of Broken Bow.


The Nebraska Wildlife Federa-

tion 46th Anniversary Annual

Gathering is set for Thursday,

May 26, at 6:00 pm at the Chalco

Hills Natural Resource Center,

154th and Giles Road in Omaha.

Join us for an entertaining and edu-

cational evening as we help the

National Park Service celebrate its

100th birthday. Get an update on

Nebraska Wildlife Federation work

to conserve Nebraska’s wildlife

and wild places, and help elect our

officers and board members.

Tickets are just $20, and include

dinner, free parking, and a fun

evening. We hope to see you there!

If you would like to volunteer to

serve on a Federation committee,

or to serve on our board of direc-

tors, contact me — we are always

looking for people who want to get

involved.

Your Nebraska Wildlife Feder-

ation has been hard at work on

many fronts recently.

The Legislature is about to finish

up a whirlwind 60-day session, and

we have been involved in many

Message From the President

water, wildlife, energy and other

issues (see page 7).

We worked to bring together a

Monarch and Pollinator Stakehold-

er Meeting, and are part of a core

team helping to develop a state

conservation plan for monarchs

and other pollinators (see page 5).

Wild Adventure Day at Pioneers

Park in Lincoln is set for April 30,

so please join us for a fun, free,

family-friendly event full of hands-

on outdoor activities. (see page 4).

Our work to protect the Platte, Ni-

obrara, and other Nebraska rivers

never ends, and we are pleased that

an agreement to protect Niobrara

flows is moving forward in and out

of the Legislature (see page 6).

The National Wildlife Federa-

tion 80th Annual Meeting is set

for June 16-18 in Estes Park, Colo-

rado. It is a great place to learn

about NWF’s work to

conserve wildlife, see

what other NWF state

affiliates are doing, and

socialize with people

who are as passionate as


Annual Gathering

Thursday, May 26, 6:00-9:00 pm Chalco Hills Visitors Center

8901 South 154th Street, Omaha

Celebrate the National Park Service 100th Anniversary with a special

presentation, get updates on Federation priorities, and vote to elect

Federation officers and directors.

Tickets are $20 per person. For reservations, contact the Federation office at (402) 477-1008, send a check to NEWF, Box 81437, Lincoln, NE 68501

or email us at [email protected]

To Lincoln Day May 26, 2016

Donate to Nebraska Wildlife Federation on May 26 and

the Federation will receive a share of matching funds. LINCOLN COMMUNITY

F O U N D A T I O N

give

James “JJ” Johnson

Federation President

you are about wildlife and wild

places.

Estes Park is the front door to

Rocky Mountain National Park,

and the facility at YMCA of the

Rockies is wonderful. If you are

interested in car-pooling with Ne-

braska Wildlife Federation board

members who plan to attend, con-

tact our office at (402) 477-1008.

See more information and register

for the NWF annual meeting at:

www.NWF.org/who-we-are.aspx

and click on ‘annual meeting’.

Shop at Whole Foods in Lincoln on Tuesday, May

10, and a share of the day’s proceeds will be

donated to the Nebraska Wildlife Federation!


Wildlife Week Nebraska celebrates

the Monarch butterfly, one of nature’s

most amazing phenomena.

Teachers across Nebraska asked their

4th, 5th and 6th grade students to

draw posters based on the Magnifi-

cent Monarchs! theme, and then sub-

mitted entries to Nebraska Wildlife

Federation’s 2016 Wildlife Week

poster contest.

The best of the lot will be recognized

at Wild Adventure Day on Saturday,

April 30, at Pioneers Park Nature

Center in Lincoln.

Wild Adventure Day is an event with

free, fun, family-friendly outdoor ac-

tivities provided by area agencies and

organizations. The hands-on activities

Wildlife Week: “Magnificent Monarchs!”

next two weeks, then emerges

as a beautiful butterfly that

continues the journey north.

Several generations of Mon-

arch butterflies are needed to

make their way north. The but-

terflies sip from nectar-rich

plants, then find a milkweed

plant for their eggs.

In late summer, a generation of

monarchs is born that heads

south, making the journey back

to Mexico in a single genera-

tion.

Monarch Challenges

Monarchs have seen their num-

bers drop by some 90% over

the past two decades.

Increasingly effective pesti-

cides and herbicides, loss of

over-wintering habitat in Mex-

ico, loss of native prairie and

other grasslands in the USA,

and other factors have been

linked to the decline.


is working with other Ne-

braska agencies and or-

ganizations to reverse the

decline in Monarchs and

other pollinators through

habitat conservation, edu-

cation and policy.

are designed to show families the

fun they can have in the outdoors.

Magnificent Monarchs!

Monarch butterflies lay their eggs

on the underside of milkweed

leaves. The eggs hatch into color-

ful, striped caterpillars that eat

milkweed leaves — and only

milkweed leaves.

Milkweeds contain cardenolides,

a toxic chemical that when eaten

by the caterpillars makes them toxic to

birds and other predators.

Most of North America’s monarchs —

including those that migrate through

Nebraska — spend the winter high in

the Sierra Madre mountains of Central

Mexico.

In the spring, a

new generation

of butterflies

heads for Texas,

the first stop on

their long migra-

tion. They find

milkweeds, lay

their eggs, and a

new generation is

hatched.

The caterpillars

eat and grow,

then attach them-

selves in a pro-

tected spot and

change into a

chrysalis. The

caterpillar trans-

forms over the

Wild Adventure Day! Saturday, April 30, 10 am to 1 pm

Pioneers Park Nature Center, Lincoln Join us for free, family-friendly hands-on activities

and learn the fun to be had in the great outdoors!

US FWS


Nearly 80 representatives of gov-

ernment agencies, non-profit or-

ganizations, colleges, schools and

others gathered in Lincoln Febru-

ary 23-24 to discuss solutions to

address the declining numbers of

monarch and regal fritillary butter-

flies, bees, and other pollinators.

The stakeholder meeting was the

result of months of planning and

coordination. Last summer, Ne-

braska Wildlife Federation met

with conservation agencies and

organizations, academic experts

and others in a series of discus-

sions about ways to reverse the

rapid decline in monarch butterfly

populations, and similar declines in

native bees and other pollinators.

The meetings fostered new part-

nerships and highlighted the need

for a statewide conservation plan

for monarchs and other pollinators.

The stakeholders meeting was or-

ganized as an important step to-

wards that plan.

Monarch expert Chip Taylor from

Kansas University, founder of

Monarch Watch, provided a key-

note speech outlining the plight of

the Monarch and the reasons for its

decline. Other speakers provided

additional insight, and group dis-

cussions focused on conservation

needs on public and private land,

research and monitoring, and edu-

cation and outreach.

Other kinds of pollinators are also

in decline in Nebraska, including

the Regal fritillary and Iowa skip-

per butterflies, American bumble

bee and yellow bumble bee.

One out of three bites of food con-

sumed in the USA comes from

Monarch & Pollinator Stakeholder Meeting Outlines Need for State Plan

Federation to Host Monarch & Pollinator Workshops

plants that need pollinators, so

the loss of these species is an

issue that should concern every-

one.

In March, a core group of part-

ners met to begin to craft a state

monarch and pollinator conser-

vation plan from the results of

the stakeholder meeting.

Implementing the plan could

help restore vital habitat for

Monarchs and other butterflies,

honey bees, native bees and oth-

er pollinators.

Financial support for the stake-

holders meeting was provided by

Game & Parks, Pheasants Forever,

the US Fish & Wildlife Service,

and Friends of the Niobrara. Game

& Parks, Nebraska Wildlife Feder-

ation and other organizations pro-

vided staff support to organize the

meeting. Contact the Federation of-

fice if you would like to get in-

volved in the Federation’s efforts to

conserve pollinators.

With funding from the Nebraska

Environmental Trust Fund, Ne-

braska Wildlife Federation will be

hosting habitat workshops in the

coming months to show people

how to establish and maintain high

quality monarch and pollinator

habitat in their backyards,

schoolyards, churchyards, busi-

nesses and other sites.

The Federation is planning at least

15 backyard habitat workshops and

5 regional schoolyard habitat

workshops, primarily in eastern

Nebraska. Eastern Nebraska has

been identified as an important part

of the core habitat area for mon-

arch butterflies, although monarchs

and other pollinators occur

throughout the state.

The free workshops will provide a

recipe for creating and maintaining

high quality habitat, including sev-

eral species of milkweed (the host

plant for monarch larva), a variety

of nectar-rich flowers that bloom

throughout the growing season,

and sustainable gardening practices

that avoid pesticides and herbi-

cides harmful to butterflies, bees

and other pollinators.

Contact the Federation office for

information on the workshops, or

visit www.NebraskaWildlife.org.

Ryan Hagerty, US FWS

Nebraska continues to lose native prairie and

milkweeds at an alarming rate.

The Nebraska Department of En-

vironmental Quality has squandered

an opportunity to hear what Nebras-

kans think about clean energy, cli-

mate change and air pollution.

The Department had scheduled 18

meetings in 9 communities around

Nebraska to take public input on

new Clean Power Plan rules de-

signed to reduce carbon pollution

from electric power-plants.

Then, just days before they were

scheduled to begin, the Department

abruptly cancelled the meetings,

hours after the US Supreme Court

put a temporary hold on the Envi-

ronmental Protection Agency rules

the state rules would implement.

Most other states are moving ahead

with rules to reduce carbon pollu-

tion from electric utilities, recogniz-

ing they are needed to avoid the

worst impacts of climate change.

Despite our state’s lack of action,

State Drops Ball on Clean Power Rules

Niobrara River Agreement Moves Forward


Nebraska Wildlife Federation and a

network of conservation, farm,

faith, and civic groups are moving

ahead to broaden the discussion of

clean energy solutions.

Together we plan to organize com-

munity conversations around Ne-

braska to educate Nebraskans about

affordable clean energy solutions,

and to seek their input on Ne-

braska’s energy future.

Fortunately, clean energy solutions

like wind, solar and energy efficien-

cy are more affordable today than

ever. The cost of coal has climbed

rapidly, and research has document-

ed more and more damage done by

pollution from fossil fuels to wild-

life, our health, and the planet.

Subscribe to our clean energy email

update to get information on the

events as they are scheduled, or

check out our web site at

www.NebraskaWildlife.org or

www.CleanEnergyNebraska.org.

A new building at the Boy Scout camp

near Humboldt has solar PV panels and

will soon have solar hot water, demon-

strating clean energy solutions.

Last September the Nebraska

Game & Parks Commission, Ne-

braska Public Power District

(NPPD), and five natural resource

districts in the Niobrara River wa-

tershed reached an historic agree-

ment on a plan that could protect

river flows for fish, wildlife and

recreation for future generations.

Under the agreement, NPPD will

sell Spencer Dam, a small hydroe-

lectric dam with an old water right

on the lower Niobrara, to a consorti-

um made up of the five NRDs and

Game & Parks.

Game & Parks and the NRDs will

jointly manage the water right to

protect flows in the Niobrara need-

ed for fish, wildlife and recreation.

They may also use the water right

to meet the basin’s other Integrated

Management Plan needs.

To accomplish that management,

current state law needs to be

changed to allow a hydroelectric

water right to be converted to a wa-

ter right that can be used for multi-

ple purposes. Legislation to accom-

plish that, LB 1038, is now moving

through the Legislature.

The water right at Spencer Dam, if

managed correctly, should protect a

portion of the water that benefits

fish, wildlife and recreation far up-

stream from the dam.

To protect flows for fish, wildlife

and recreation below Spencer Dam,

an instream flow water right request

was filed with the Department of

Natural Resources. In March, the

Federation provided comments to

the Department in support of the

application.

To complete the deal, Game & Parks

and the five NRDs must still com-

plete an operating agreement that

will spell out details of how the wa-

ter right will be managed, and $9

million must be secured to purchase

the dam — on top of passage of the

legislation and approval of the in-

stream flow water right. The Federa-

tion is working to support each of

those elements.

There is much left to do, but for

now, thanks to an innovative ap-

proach, the future of the Niobrara

River looks brighter than ever!

D.Hovorka


Legislature Tackles River, Funding Issues

Blue Ribbon Panel Calls for Wildlife Funding

The Legislature’s 60-day session

adjourned April 20.

Niobrara River: Senator Al Da-

vis introduced LB 1038 to allow a

hydroelectric water right to be

transferred and used to protect riv-

er flows needed for fish, wildlife

and recreation. The Federation

supported the bill, which was ap-

proved 48-0 on April 12. The bill

will allow for the transfer of Spen-

cer Dam on the Niobrara, and its

water right, to the Game & Parks

Commission and five Niobrara

natural resource districts to help

protect river flows.

The Legislature added a provision

to the bill which makes the Gover-

nor’s appointments to the Niobrara

Council subject to confirmation by

the Legislature.

Conservation Funding: Senator

John McCollister introduced LB

745 to allow the Game & Parks

Commission to raise hunting, fish-

ing, and state park fees. The Feder-

ation supported the bill to provide

needed funding for parks and wild-

life programs. The bill was ap-

proved April 12 on a 45-3 vote.

Energy Efficiency: The Legisla-

ture approved LB 1012 on April 7

on a 45-0 vote. The bill was intro-

duced by Senator Heath Mello to

give cities an option to provide

financing for residential and busi-

ness energy efficiency and renewa-

ble energy investments, which

would be repaid through annual

property assessments. The Federa-

tion supported the bill, although an

amendment reduced the focus on

energy efficiency.

Renewable Energy: The Legis-

lature passed LB 824, introduced

by Sen. John McCollister, to

streamline the permitting for wind

farms. The Federation worked with

the bill’s sponsors and committee

members to ensure that the bill will

not eliminate the current Game &

Parks review of wind farm siting to

address bat, bird, and other wildlife

issues.

The Revenue Committee refused

to advance a bill by Sen. Al Davis

that would have provided a pro-

duction tax credit for wind or solar

energy produced in a low-

population county.

Mountain Lions: The Natural

Resources Committee killed a bill

by Sen. Ernie Chambers (LB 127)

that would have taken away the

Game & Parks Commission au-

thority to hold a hunting season on

mountain lions. The Federation

believes the Game & Parks Com-

mission should retain authority

over hunting of mountain lions and

other wildlife, but believes the cur-

rent population of mountain lions

in Nebraska is too low to justify a

hunting season. The Game & Parks

Commission did not hold a hunting

season on mountain lions in either

2015 or 2016.

Sign up for our Wildlife Action

Network email list for up to date

information on state legislation.

In March, Nebraska Wildlife Fed-

eration executive director Duane

Hovorka was in Washington, DC,

meeting with members of Ne-

braska’s Congressional delegation

to discuss the critical need for fed-

eral funding for wildlife and wild

places.

Hovorka joined representatives

from other National Wildlife Feder-

ation state affiliates and many con-

servation partners in the annual

Teaming With Wildlife fly-in.

The group also marked the release

of recommendations from the Blue

Ribbon Panel on Sustaining Ameri-

ca’s Diverse Fish and Wildlife Re-

sources. The panel of conservation

and business leaders, co-chaired by

Bass Pro Shops founder John Mor-

ris and former Wyoming Governor

David Freudenthal, asked Congress

to dedicate $1.3 billion annually to

implement State Wildlife Action

Plans. NWF President Collin

O’Mara was a member of the panel.

State Wildlife Plans have identified

12,000 species in need of conserva-

tion efforts to maintain healthy pop-

ulations. Without adequate funding,

many more wildlife species will

end up needing protection of the

Endangered Species Act.

For more information on the Blue

Ribbon Panel, visit fishwildlife.org.

Membership level:

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Water a Key for Backyard Wildlife

Water is a key component of any

backyard wildlife area. Like people,

birds, mammals and other wildlife

need clean, fresh water to survive.

Your options for providing water

are limited only by your space and

your imagination, but here are some

ideas.

Bird Bath: Birds need water to

keep their feathers clean, and a bird

bath will provide some protection

from cats and other predators. Keep

the water fresh (and reduce mosqui-

to problems) by dumping and re-

filling it every day. Clean feathers

provide better insulation, so a heat-

ed bird bath will help birds survive

the winter.

Stream: The gurgling

sound of running wa-

ter should put a smile

on your face and will

please wildlife as well.

If you are lucky

enough to have a natu-

ral stream on your

property, treat it care-

fully.

Maintain buffers of

native vegetation on

the stream banks to

reduce erosion. Leave

some branches that

fall into your stream to provide hab-

itat for larvae of dragonflies and

damselflies. Rocks and gravel can

provide a mix of pools, runs and

riffles to provide diverse habitat.

Pond: A pond is a nice addition to

almost any backyard, providing

habitat for fish and frogs, but ponds

require management. A plastic liner

is usually required, and a pump will

provide oxygen in the water and

keep the pond from going stagnant.

Floating plants like duckweed, and

submerged pots of water lilies,

pondweed and arrowhead can pro-

vide oxygen for the wa-

ter and shade for fish. If

you stock non-native

fish like koi in your

pond, be sure the pond

won’t overflow into a

stream or lake in a

heavy rain.

Wetland: Homeowners

and businesses are in-

creasingly using water

gardens with native wet-

land plants to capture

and filter rainfall from

roofs and driveways.

Toads will benefit from these areas.

Mud Flat: Many butterflies obtain

water from mud rather than open

water. Clear vegetation from a

space near your pond or bird bath

and splash water on it to create a

natural mud flat, or fill a shallow

dish with sand and soil to create a

container mud flat.

Evening grosbeaks. Photo by

G.Gentry, USFWS

Ste

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Hil

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rand

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SF

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Join the Federation … or Give a Gift Membership

Mail to: Nebraska Wildlife Federation

Box 81437, Lincoln, NE 68501-1437

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