48 NEBRASKAland • JULY 2017
A bottomland pond created when the Middle Loup River changed its course is rimmed by vegetation, including golden glow, a
moist-soil loving sunflower.
Harold Andersen WMA is located 2 miles
north and 3 miles east of Dannebrog in
Howard County. An access road crossing
the area is open during the summer, and
a service road provides easy foot access
to the bottomland and river. The area,
purchased in 1984 with Nebraska Habitat
Stamp dollars, was named for the late
Harold Andersen, long-time publisher of
the Omaha World-Herald and Chairman
of the Nebraska Game and Parks
Foundation.
Covering 272 acres and more than a mile of
riverfront, the area is a diverse mix of habitats.
A tangle of willows and cottonwoods guard
the riverbank. Below the high bank sits a
bottomland forest of cottonwood, mulberry,
hackberry and other trees, recently thinned of
invasive cedars to improve habitat for turkeys,
and a lowland meadow. The uplands above the
river are a sandy, mixed loess prairie dotted
with shrubs, guarded by a tree row on the
west, and food plots on the northeast.
Harold Andersen
WMA
