Interested in oaks

Dear Editor,

I am a botanist doing research on the distribution of the bur oak in western Nebraska. I hope that this letter might put me in contact with local people in Red Willow and neighboring counties who might be knowledgeable about natural oak populations in their county or in southwestern Nebraska.

I am interested in wild, native bur oaks, not in trees planted by property owners. If anyone knows of small groves of bur oaks in Red Willow County or elsewhere in western Nebraska, I would appreciate it if they would contact me, either by telephone (303-442-5662) or email (allan.taylor@colorado.edu). Likely candidates would be trees growing along streams or beside springs, in a wild setting with other native trees such as green ash, black walnut, hackberry, and American elm. The trees should also be very large, mature trees, likely to be at least 150 years old.

Any help will be sincerely appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Allan R. Taylor

University of Colorado, Boulder