32 Nebraskaland • October 2021
By Gerry Steinauer, Botanist
Restoring the Endangered
Blowout
Penstemon
on Turner Enterprises'
Spikebox Ranch
"Blowouts are sort of like anchovies
— you either love them or hate them,"
wrote the late Nebraskaland writer Jon
Farrar. Among the blowout lovers are
"ranch children who for generations
have slid down a blowout's steep
sandy slope [and] artifact hunters
who currycomb them hoping to fi nd
an 11,000-year-old Clovis projectile
point exposed by the wind." Among
the blowout haters are "Most ranchers
[who] wage war on their blowouts. To
some, they are seen as unsightly, maybe
hint at poor range management such
as overgrazing and as lost grazing. …
To some ranchers blowouts are like
dandelions in an urban lawn."
This map illustrates blowout penstemon's range in
Nebraska and where penstemon work mentioned in
this story has been conducted.
TIM REIGERT, NEBRASKALAND
Fawn Lake Ranch
McKelvie National Forest
Nebraska National Forest
Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Estimated
current range
of blowout
penstemon
Spikebox Ranch
