Over the past several years, the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission have been working with private landowners to restore more than 1,000 acres of wet meadow, riparian woodland, and mixed-grass prairie along the Upper Niobrara River in Nebraska. With the help of a ConocoPhillips grant from Playa Lakes Joint Venture, the partners recently completed the restoration of an additional 300 acres.
Reductions of in-stream flow, localized water table draw down, and changes in haying and grazing regimes have altered the native plant communities in recent years. Most notable is the encroachment of non-native woody species such as Russian olive and eastern redcedar into historic wet meadows and grasslands adjacent to the Niobrara River and some of its tributaries. Restoring these areas to native wet meadow or lowland prairie and encouraging the use of haying and grazing practices that promote a diversity of grassland plant species across the landscape will improve habitat conditions for grassland birds including Bell’s Vireo, Dickcissel, Grasshopper Sparrow, Lark Bunting, Lark Sparrow, Long-billed Curlew, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Short-eared Owl and Upland Sandpiper. Landowner response to the project has been very positive, and the ConocoPhillips grant allowed partners to work with more landowners to create large blocks of habitat for these and other species.
Learn more: http://pljv.org/news/playa-post/august-2013#story1
