MAY 2016 • NEBRASKAland 29
equipment and a dump station. Half of
the sites may be reserved online while
the others are first-come, first-served.
Back to Nature
While the forest may not look like it
did five years ago, Chadron State Park
still features numerous islands of green
pines and a healthy stand of hardwoods
along the creek bottom. Each spring
brings green grass and blooming
wildflowers among some of the state's
best scenery.
Thinning efforts, in conjunction
with the Nebraska Forest Service,
have made much of the forest within
the park a lot healthier than it is in
other areas of the Pine Ridge where
suppression of wildfires has resulted
in thick stands of ponderosa pines
susceptible to catastrophic damage. The
park in the 1990s was one of the first
places to take an active approach to
thinning, and that work has received a
lot of credit for firefighters being able
to stop the flames of the 2012 wildfires
from traveling farther east.
While some trees have been planted
by Boy Scouts and park employees,
foresters are hopeful they can maintain
the islands of green pines – somewhat
of a challenge. Many of the battle-
weary trees have become susceptible to
destructive Ips beetles, for instance.
More welcomed creatures have also
moved back into the park, however.
It's common for park visitors to get a
look at bighorn sheep which love the
high country west of the park. Other
common visitors are white-tailed deer,
wild turkeys and mallards and a wide
Shell-leaf penstemon (Penstemon grandiflorus) blooms on a rocky ridge top in the
park. Hikers of the park's extensive trail system are sure to enjoy natural wonders of
various shapes and sizes.
