40 Nebraskaland • April 2022
B
illy Chromy is a big picture kind
of guy when it comes to wildlife
habitat.
That likely comes from his
background, which includes growing
up on his family's farm in the hills
near Linwood, and working as a
conservation technician, game warden
and park ranger before returning home,
where he now farms with his father
and is also a contractor who helps
landowners implement conservation
practices on their land.
An avid hunter, Chromy has been
managing the woodlands, pasture
and croplands on their farm with
white-tailed deer in mind. To improve
things for deer, he manages the
ground for quail.
"The white-tailed deer, he can live
anywhere," Chromy said. "He's proven
that he's adaptable. I didn't say he
will thrive anywhere, but if we can
grow our property for quail, you have
10 times the minimum for what the
white-tailed deer needs."
With that kind of thinking, it's
no surprise that Chromy is enrolled
in many programs offered by the
Natural Resources Conservation
Service, including one that might be
considered an oddity: placing woody
debris in a stream to improve habitat
An American bullfrog rests on a log in a pool that formed above debris
deposited in the stream by Chromy.
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
Wildlife Habitat
from the Bottom Up
