64 NEBRASKAland • JUNE 2017
F
rom the looks of it, this would
be a tough prescribed fire.
Highly flammable cedars grew
thick among the dry prairie grass
and the pasture's rough topography
could send the March winds swirling,
throwing embers from burning cedars
in all directions. If these smoldering
brands landed in the adjacent pastures
and started spot fires, the flames could
race across the hills to the next county
road, burning the neighbors' forage
and fence posts.
Despite the challenges, the pasture's
tenant, rancher Jon Immink, had
minimized his worries. He had
gathered a fleet of battered, old
pickups and rangers equipped with
pumper units, and his burn crew –
consisting of his son, Jacob, neighbors
and three Northern Prairies Land Trust
(NPLT) biologists – was experienced.
The latter assist with dozens of
prescribed burns each year, and their
know-how would prove handy during
tense moments of the fire.
The Immink burn was just one of
hundreds of conservation projects that
NPLT has helped implement in eastern
Nebraska prairies and oak woodlands
over the past 15 years. Working in
partnership with the Nebraska Game
and Parks Commission and other
conservation groups, their results are
exceptional.
The Partnership
The Northern Prairies Land
Trust was formed in 1999 in Sioux
Falls, South Dakota, by a group of
conservation-minded lawyers. Initially
they did typical land trust work in
Nebraska and South Dakota: helping
landowners protect prairies, streams
PHOTO
BY
GERRY
STEINAUER
Northern
Prairies
Land Trust
a partner in landscape conservation
By Gerry Steinauer, Botanist
A red-cedar-filled draw erupts into flame during a prescribed burn on Immink
Ranch in the Sandstone Prairies Biologically Unique Landscape.