May 2024 • Nebraskaland 47
and forbs, wildfl owers that vary from the dry ridgetops to the
moist bottoms. It is one of 35 Biologically Unique Landscapes
identifi ed in the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's
Natural Legacy Project, its roadmap for recovering threatened
and endangered plants and animals.
Many long-time residents tell the same story, about how,
when they were children, or when their parents were, it was
hard to fi nd a cedar to cut for a Christmas tree. And why would
you? In the Tree Planters State, home of Arbor Day, every tree
is said to be good. There were fewer cottonwoods, box elder,
ash and hackberry than there are today, and planting trees,
including cedars, was encouraged for their value as shade
and protection from wind for people, livestock and wildlife.
But eastern red cedar, a hardy, drought tolerant species
native to Nebraska and much of the Great Plains, grows fast
and produces up to 1.5 million seeds per tree. Some seedlings
will grow near that tree, but germination is improved when
the seeds are eaten and partially digested by birds. Wherever
those birds land and deposit their droppings, cedars will grow.
Research by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found
95 percent of cedar seedlings sprout within 200 yards of a
mature, female tree. That means during its seed-producing
years, a single tree can compromise 26 acres of grassland.
And each female tree that sprouts and matures puts the
next 200 yards of grassland at risk. Today, in the northern
end of the Loess Canyons, cedars cover 90 percent of some
Landowners conducting a prescribed burn in the Loess Canyons south of Maxwell sit back and watch after lighting the head
fi re on the upwind side of a 3,200-acre burn in 2020.
