Game and Parks restoring Republican River habitat

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is in the process of restoring native habitat along the Republican River. In order for NGPC to do this, prescribed burns need to be conducted.

The prescribed burn at Swanson Wildlife Management Area, which took place in September, is part of a large-scale habitat restoration directed at restoring a porting of riparian habitat along the Republican River. This restoration project is funded by NGPC and the National Wild Turkey Federation. The Swanson burn project is aimed at the "clean-up" of the site so that NGPC can establish desirable vegetation.

Historically, natural fire would have swept across the prairie resulting in rejuvenated growth. Once the fire burned out, large herds of bison would graze the lush regrowth. This natural burning disturbance is what helped shape our native grasslands and is important in maintaining native grassland communities.

Today, NGPC mimics this natural disturbance in order to manage native wildlife species and their habitat. The burning is used to control the invasion of trees and shrubs, rejuvenate decadent grass stands, and encourage the growth of new forbs.

Wildlife also benefits from prescribed burns because it creates the opening up of thick grass stands allowing for greater movement and increased forbs, which harbor more insects and halted tree encroachment. Insects are a vital food source for upland game bird chicks and halted tree encroachment is important for many species that evolved on treeless plains.

The prescribed burn at Swanson WMA was directed at accomplishing these objectives, as well as different objectives. Trees in the area were so mature that burning them would have resulted in damage to desirable species such as cottonwood and willow. Therefore, the trees were mechanically cut down and allowed to dry before the prescribed burn. Smooth brome and reed-canarygrass was taking over the desirable species of grasses, forbs and shrubs.

In September, the prescribed burn at Swanson WMA began as a "small part of the large project directed at improving habitat for game and nongame wildlife on nearly 30,000 acres of public land in southwest Nebraska," says Brian Perks, NGPC Wildlife Biologist.

In the spring of 2007, the eradication of exotic and invasive Russian olive and selective thinning of eastern redcedar was also accomplished as part of the overall "clean-up" project.

Smaller projects of the larger project are the completion of a prescribed burn to reduce debris from cut trees and stress highly invasive grasses like smooth brome and reed-canarygrass, utilize timely herbicide treatments on regrowth to eradicated invasive grasses, reseed the site with a highly diversified grass and forb mixture, as well as establish random native shrub plantings, and establish grass strips around crop fields to improve cover for game species using the Swanson area. Revegetation of the burn site is expected to be completed by Spring of 2008.

"NGPC acknowledges that this site may appear disturbed during the approaching hunting season. However, the long term benefits of this project will prevail over any immediate inconveniences," says Perks.

NGPC expects to accomplish similar projects in the future. Notable projects are sandsage prairie restoration on the south side of the area, riparian habitat improvements along the Republican River, establishment of additional grass strips around crop fields and a greater density of crops, and the utilization of prescribed fire and grazing to manage the area.