The Nebraska Sandhills

The area I’m most excited to see on my prairie trip is the Sand Hills in Nebraska.  Covering up to nearly one quarter of the state, the Sand Hills is, not coincidentally, one of the least populated areas in the US and most ecologically intact grassland landscapes on the continent.  They are also one of the least well-known areas of the country; a Google search didn’t uncover much for me to refer to.  Wikipedia has decent synopsis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Hills_(Nebraska)), including some significant tidbits:

“Minimal crop production has led to limited land fragmentation; the resulting extensive and continuous habitat for plant and animal species has largely preserved the biodiversity of the area.”

“…the largest and most intricate wetland ecosystem in the United States…”

“720 different species of plants are found in the Sand Hills. Of these, the majority are native, with only 7% exotics — half the percentage of most other prairie systems.”

One of the most frequently recognized indicators of ecological degradation is if habitat fragmentation.   Few places remain where ecosystems persist unbroken on a large scale.  The reason I’m taking this trip is because the Great Plains is the area where prairies exist in the largest blocks.  The Sand Hills is the biggest and based on the above statement about the lack of invasives, it’s some of, if not the, best.

The assertion is reiterated in the following quote from the World Wildlife Fund (http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/na/na0809_full.html):

"It is estimated that as much as 85 percent of the Sand Hills is still intact….Degradation of the tallgrass prairie is less in the Sand Hills than in other grassland ecoregions;…"

The best and largest prairies hold the most promise for seeing the highest diversity of grassland birds in the largest numbers existing as they have for thousands of years.  That’s what I want to see.

My Prairie Pilgrimage will begin in the tallgrass prairie

My prairie pilgrimage will begin at the The Nature Conservancy’s Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in NE Oklahoma.  The preserve lies at the southern end of a geologic feature know as the Flint Hills.  The Flint Hills are home to the largest remaining tracts of tallgrass prairie.  The Nature Conservancy and the US Fish and Wildlife Service are working with local ranchers to protect this place where the prairie still survives on a truly landscape scale.

Kansas State University (in association with TNC) maintains a research station at the northern end of the Flint Hills at the Konza Prairie.  Konza is Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site and the source of an enormous amount of important research in a broad range of topics about tallgrass prairie.

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/oklahoma/placesweprotect/tallgrass-prairie-preserve.xml

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/kansas/placesweprotect/flint-hills-initiative.xml

http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/planning/lpp/ks/flh/flh.html

http://kpbs.konza.ksu.edu/

Government funding

After months of rhetoric and political posturing, we finally have a federal budget.  The details of which I can’t say with much certainty, but the consensus is that it’s not particularly favorable to natural resources concerns.  That’s not very encouraging.  Actually, “not encouraging” is an understatement.  It’s just plain disappointing.  Our environmental needs are no less this year than last. 

We rely on those funding sources to purchase lands and manage systems of lands for the mutual benefit of wildlife and people (we can’t afford to continue to see our needs as different from wildlife; clean water, clean air and biodiversity are necessary for all life).  Just as importantly, governmental (fed and state) funding is a reflection of what we hold to be important as a society.  The political pendulum will swing and budgets will change, sometimes for the better and for the worse at others.  It’s critical that our commitment does not swing. 

Unfortunately, even during the times of plenty federal and state conservation dollars will be lacking.  There are not enough tax dollars to do all the things we believe need to be done.   We need to continue to show our support for birds and our native ecosystems regardless of the degree to which governments fund them.  We need to show that support through our voices and our actions.  We demonstrate our commitment not only through our participation in the political process, but in how we spend our time and where we spend our money.  The most important thing we can do might just be to spend our money locally when we go birding.  Voting is important, but so is individual action.  And our actions must say “birds are important.”

 We can’t allow ourselves to say “it’s their responsibility.”   It’s our responsibility.  If they don’t do it, do we accept the loss of birds?  Negative.  We can’t afford to.  It’s not simply government or private citizens that need to make it happen.  It’s not either-or.  It requires action from all directions.  We need to demand action from government, but we need to make sure it happens either way. 

If we lose a species, will it be sufficient to say “It wasn’t my fault”?  Gone is gone.

A friend sent me this link today.  It’s a newspaper article about Delaware Bay and its place within the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.  At the very end of the article the subject refers to the government not being able to solve all the problems.  His answer: volunteers.

http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2011/05/delaware_bay_celebrated_as_sit.html