June 2020 • Nebraskaland 43
acres of thinning and logging on lands primarily
between East Ash Creek Road and Bordeaux Road.
Silver Linings
Rick Arnold, a Game and Parks wildlife biologist
who oversees the Pine Ridge WMAs, notes a silver
lining in the cloud of 2012.
"Most of the WMAs that were burned in 2012 have
tree regeneration that I do not see from other large
fi res like in 2006 and 1989," Arnold said. "You can walk
through the '12 footprint and fi nd 1- to 2-foot pines
coming in."
Also on the bright side, the wildfi res of 2006 and
2012 garnered a lot of attention and prompted needed
funding for some of the region's forestry demands.
The pines are tall, the terrain is rough, and the
equipment is large, so thinnings are not cheap. Various
factors play into it, but thinning projects generally
range from $300 to $950 per acre.
"With the land being appraised at very close to the high
end of those project costs, it is hard to do a landscape-level
job without several partners and adjacent landowners doing
projects as well," Arnold said.
Money from the Nebraska Environmental Trust has
been critical. Support from the trust, which operates
with proceeds from the state lottery, dates back more
than two decades, and it has contributed well over
$1 million to Pine Ridge forest management since 2006.
The trust grants often require a sizable match, and that
Contractor Alex Gomez uses a skidder to pile cut pines at Gilbert-
Baker Wildlife Management Area.
Game and Parks employees Steve Masek, at left, and Greg Schenbeck burn a pile of pines, a fi nal step in the thinning process.
SOURCES:
ESRI,
DIGITALGLOBE,
GEOEYE,I-CUBED,
EARTHSTAR
GEOGRAPHICS,
USDA,
USGS,
CNES/AIRBUS
DS,
AEX,
GETMAPPING,
AEROGRID,
IGN,
IGP,
SWISSTOPO,
AND
THE
GIS
USER
COMMUNITY
