Wildcat Hills Wildlands Conservation Initiative
Project Description
This project conserves and manages Nebraska’s critical Wildcat Hills habitats on both conservation-owned and private lands through partnerships and with support of local landowners and communities.
Project Map
County: Banner County, NE; Scotts Bluff County, NE
Project Size:
- 17350.0 acres
Project Sites
- Bead Mountain Ranch
- Buffalo Creek Wildlife Management Area
- Carter Canyon Ranch
- Cedar Canyon Wildlife Managment Area
Goals and Targets
Primary Motivations:
-
Public Benefit
-
Conservation Mission
Consistent With Plans:
-
State Wildlife Action Plan
Targeted Habitats:
- Forests and Woodlands
- Conifer Forests
- Shrublands and Grasslands
- Alpine and Subalpine Habitats (Meadows, Parklands and Shrublands)
- Grasslands
Targeted Species:
- Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
- Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis
- Brewer's Sparrow Spizella breweri
- Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia
- Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii
- Ferruginous Hawk Buteo regalis
- Fringe-tailed Myotis Myotis thysanodes pahasapensis
- Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
- Matted Prickly-phlox Leptodactylon caespitosum
- Pygmy Nuthatch Sitta pygmaea
- Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus
- Swift Fox Vulpes velox
- White-throated Swift Aeronautes saxatalis
Conservation Actions
Action | Status | Start Year | End Year |
---|---|---|---|
Conduct prescribed burns | Completed | 2007 | 2009 |
Control encroaching species | In Progress | 2009 | 2009 |
Vertebrate monitoring | In Progress | 2007 | 2009 |
Education | In Progress | 2007 | 2009 |
Outcomes
Is the success of this project's actions being monitored? YesMonitoring Activities
Once annually we are surveying along a transect line, with established photo points, for avian wildlife species. Other wildlife species of note are documented as well.
Lessons Learned and/or Suggestions for Similar Activities
Conducting prescribed burning in timber and ponderosa pine thinning is a new concept to most landowners. There is a reluctance to accept these conservation practices. With this current project we have provided several examples to landowners as to what such practices look like, how they are conducted, and what they might expect on their own lands should they choose to participate.