Niobrara Valley Preserve
The Niobrara Valley Preserve is a 226 square kilometer nature reserve located in the Brown and Keya Paha Counties in the US state of Nebraska . The reserve includes one of the typical river regions of the Great Plains and is now owned by the non-profit conservation organization The Nature Conservancy .
history
Before the settlement by Europeans, large herds of bison grazed in the valley of the Niobrara River . In the 19th century, Poncas settled in parts of the area , the rest of the area was used as a hunting area by Lakotas and other nomadic Sioux tribes.
European settlers began to settle in the region from 1870. The Niobrara Valley, however, proved unsuitable for agriculture, which is why most of the farms were given up again and the area was only used as pasture for cows. With the extensive abandonment of agricultural cultivation, the population in the two Counties Brown and Keya Paha also fell sharply. In 1980 the Nature Conservancy then acquired the area. It is located in the area of the 76 mile long Niobrara National Scenic River , which is maintained by the National Park Service .
features
The Niobrara Valley Preserve is now one of the largest areas of the Great Plains that are under conservation. The area includes 40 kilometers of the southern bank of the Niobrara River and 14 kilometers of the northern bank. The unique Sandhills border the nature reserve on the southern bank of the river.
The specialty of the nature reserve lies in the fact that several ecological systems border one another here. For example, the mixed forest, as it is typical for the east of North America, meets the mixed forest that is characteristic for the west of North America. Accordingly, 581 different vascular plants , 213 bird species, 86 mosses, 80 lichen species and 85 butterfly species can be found in the nature reserve . The Niobrara Valley Preserve is the easternmost natural range for the Ponderosa pine . The American quaking aspen is only found here in Nebraska and the paper birch is normally only found further north.
In 1985 bison were reintroduced into the nature reserve by the Nature Conservancy after they had not appeared in this region for more than 100 years. More than 500 bison are now grazing in two sub-regions of the nature reserve. In addition, around 2000 cattle are grazed on land that the Nature Conservancy has leased to farmers. Grazing and targeted burning by means of controlled fires should preserve the open landscape, which is typical for the Great Plains.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b "Niobrara National Scenic River" , accessed May 24, 2013.
- ↑ ”About SNR: Niobrara Valley Preserve,” University of Nebraska - Lincoln ( Memento of the original from July 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Accessed May 24, 2013.
- ^ Paul A. Johnsgard: Great Wildlife of the Great Plains . University Press of Kansas, 2003, ISBN 0-7006-1224-6 , p. 117.
- ^ The Nature Conservancy. ”Niobrara Valley Preserve” ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Accessed May 24, 2013.
