60 NEBRASKAland • AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2018
The Frank & Mabel Ehlers Addition
By Justin Haag
Legacy of Commission employee lives on in public trust.
H
unters and others exploring
a portion of creekbottom
at Ponderosa Wildlife
Management Area near
Crawford do so as part of the
legacy of a Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission employee who once lived
on that land.
The easily accessible 40-acre
"Frank & Mabel Ehlers Addition" to
the wildlife area includes more than
a quarter-mile of Squaw Creek, the
coldwater stream that runs below
towering cottonwoods and other
deciduous trees. The property, which
was added to the Ponderosa in 2016,
pays tribute to longtime fixtures in the
Ponderosa neighborhood.
Not long after the Commission
purchased the Ponderosa in 1965,
Ehlers was hired to join Gary
Schlichtemeier and Lon Lemmon to
manage the property and other wildlife
areas in the Pine Ridge. He worked
for the Commission from 1967 to his
retirement in 1986. Frank and Mabel
died in 1993 and 2006, respectively.
Ehlers became known for his
ingenuity at building traps and other
tools for wildlife management projects.
He had a reputation for working hard,
in spite of not joining the Commission
until he was 50 years old.
"Frank didn't have a lot of formal
education, but he was an absolute
engineer," Lemmon said.
The Ehlers also had a deep affection
for wildlife, especially the hundreds of
wild turkeys that thrived on their place.
"Frank and Mabel loved the land,
and Frank loved his job," said Greg
Schenbeck, who recently retired as a
land manager for the Commission.
The Ehlers property, along with a
320-acre school lease, has increased
the size of the wildlife area from its
original 3,660 acres to 4,020. The
family, which includes children Sharyn
and Roy, donated a portion of the
addition. The National Wild Turkey
Federation provided funding for the
purchase and Cameco Resources
released its uranium interests in the
land.
More information about the wildlife
area may be found starting on page 42
of this month's NEBRASKAland. ■
Ponderosa Wildlife
Management Area
Frank Ehlers, shown here during one of the Commission's early bighorn sheep captures, was a longtime Commission employee
based at Ponderosa Wildlife Management Area – which now features an addition with his name.
