Nebraskaland

June|Nebraskaland

NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.

Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/831879

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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.

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