November 2022 • Nebraskaland 31
The Bluff
Ecosystem
The burn unit was the bluff on the south bank of the
Niobrara River between Brewer Bridge and Smith Falls State
Park. Thousands of canoers, kayakers and tubers fl oat past
these bluff s each year as they occur within a popular 76-mile
stretch of the Niobrara designated as a National Scenic River.
Here, the bluff rises sharply from the river. Its moist, low
slopes are cloaked with deciduous woodlands of bur oak and
a lesser abundance of hackberry, basswood and ironwood.
Deep side canyons cut by spring-fed streams dissect the bluff
and harbor rare, glacial-relic stands of paper birch and aspen
trees. And ponderosa pine woodlands and Sandhills dune
The prescribed fi re moves through a thinned
ponderosa pine stand on the fl at south of
the river bluff . The trail road that served as
the south fi re line is visible in the upper right
corner of the photo. CHAD BLADOW
