6 NEBRASKAland • BEAUTIFUL NEBRASKA: A Collector's Edition
I n t r o d u c t i o n
Not one of Nebraska's 77,000 square miles of land and
water features an ocean or mountain view. For many, this
is the excuse for staying on Interstate 80 and getting in
and out of our state as quickly as possible. But those of
us who live here, and a few regular visitors, know better.
We've been to the Sandhills in spring, fl oated the Niobrara
River in the summer, watched the leaves change along the
Missouri River in autumn, and witnessed snow blanket the
Pine Ridge in winter. We know that regardless of how many
times we've taken an alternate route and seen the world
from a diff erent gravel road, we are seldom surprised when
we fi nd another spectacular view.
You're never quite sure what you're going to see in the
Great Plains. Which is why NEBRASKAland wanted this
edition to reveal some of those places, and the species
inhabiting those places: to not only confi rm this state's
beauty but also encourage you to slow down and take a
detour down a dirt road during your travels.
For we see these NEBRASKAland photos, including the
winners of our photo contest starting on page 82, as a
starting point for a list of places you can spend your free
time in our great outdoors. But there's no way we could
cover it all. So we urge you to soak in each landscape and
every species in this book and then place your copy on the
coff ee table and return only a er seeing that Nebraska scene
with your own eyes.
en you'll understand why it's okay that you can't hear
the ocean as the sun sets, as long as you have a fi eld of
sunfl owers or bluestem blowing in a prairie wind nearby.
