central loess hills newsletter vol. 2 issue 2

8/9/2019 Central Loess Hills Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue 2

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Newsletter Date

Volume 2, Issue 1

Inside this issue:

Platte River Caddisfly 2Conservation ReserveProgram 2010! 3

Summer Natural History SeminarSeries 3

Above: Aaron Clark, technician with

FiveNines technology group synchro-

nizes TernCam to the internet.

Right: Parents of the TernCam nest

exchange incubating roles. This pho-

tograph was taken from the TernCam

website. Note the chick and two eggs

in the nest cup.

TernCam Debut SuccessfulBen Wheeler, NNLP Coordinating Wildlife Biologist

In July, the much anticipated TernCam hit

the sands. TernCam, a wildlife outreach pro-

ject, allows individuals from around the

world to view the nesting activities and an-

tics of an endangered interior least tern. A

remote camera was set up at Ulrich Sand

and Gravel, a private sand and gravel opera-

tion along the North Loup River near Ord.

Least terns have been observed and nesting

monitored at this site for several years.

TernCam is powered by a large solar panel

and sends continuous live

images of the least tern nest

directly to the TernCam web-

site via wireless internet.

Because the least tern is

an endangered species, ap-

proaching or disturbing them,

especially while nesting could

pose serious consequences to

the birds, including nest aban-donment by adults, attraction

of predators, or the inadver-

tent destruction of a nest as

they are well camouflaged.

TernCam offers people the

opportunity to view least terns

that might otherwise never

see this bird. We have estimated that the

TernCam website was visited about 2,000

times through its broadcast and we have

received reports of visitors from at least 28

states. In addition, the University of Ne-

braska-Lincoln (who maintained the website)

has informed us that visitors to the TernCam

page came from 14 different countries in-

cluding USA, Australia, Canada, United King-

dom, India, Ireland, Philippines, Bangladesh,

Spain, Indonesia, Japan, Maldives, Romania

and Germany.

When people become aware and appreci-

ate these birds, the first critical steps to re-

store their habitats and populations have

been achieved. Hopefully, TernCam will be-

gin to give the Loup River and its associated

channels the recognition it deserves as a

healthy river system and biodiversity hotspot

of Nebraska.

The TernCam project is a result of a part-nership between the Nebraska Natural Leg-

acy Project, Tern and Plover Conservation

Partnership, Nebraska Game and Parks

Commission, US Fish and Wildlife Service

and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

The TernCam is expected to broadcast

again next summer from the Loup River.

July 2010July 2010July 2010

Central Loess Hills NewsletterCentral Loess Hills NewsletterCentral Loess Hills Newsletter


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in our backyard!

The PRCF is not known for

being particularly showy, but its

lifecycle is something to admire.

The sloughs in which the PRCF

lives are intermittent wetlands

that remain wet for most of the

year, but often go dry during the

summer. While most caddis-

flies live in water through the

time they emerge as adults, the

PRCF spends three months on

land aestivating (insect hiberna-

tion) before hatching as an

adult. It is thought that thePRCF leaves the water to avoid

the stress of dry periods that

often occur during Nebraska

summers.Since the PRCF is the only

caddisfly known from backwa-

ter sloughs in central Nebraska,

it may be considered an impor-

tant indicator of wetland health

in this region. Owing to its life-

cycle and fantastic camouflage,

finding this insect can some-

times be difficult! But, survey

efforts are underway along the

major drainages in Nebraska,

including the Loup River. If you

are interested in learning more

about this insect, or want to

help survey, contact LindsayVivian at lind-

[email protected].

The Platte River caddisfly(PRCF), Ironoquia plattensis, is

a small, moth-like insect found

in central Nebraska backwater

sloughs. The PRCF was discov-

ered com-

pletely by

accident in

1997 along

the Platte

River near

Grand Is-

land. Almost

immediately,

the peculiar-

ity of thisinsect was

noted. Most

caddisflies

are known

from running

mountain

streams

where anglers simulate caddis-

fly emergence events to catch

trout. However, a few caddis-

flies have adapted to live in

stagnant backwater habitats,

and one of them happens to be

Above: An empty caddisfly case

found on land (summer 2009).

Most caddisflies construct cases

around their abdomen as larvae

for protection from predators.Some caddisflies use sand and

grain material, while others use

leaf material. This often depends

on their surroundings.

Left: The Platte River caddisfly can

be found in backwater sloughs

very similar in appearance to the

one shown here near Gibbon, NE.

Central Loess Hills Newsletter

Wildlife SpotlightPlatte River CaddisflyLindsay Vivian, University of NebraskaKearney

Above: Not known for its beauty,

the Platte River caddisfly does

have a unique lifecycle that is

worthy of its own reputation.

Photo by Dr. Wyatt Hoback, UNK.

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Below: NGPC biologist Joel

Jorgensen explains a long-billed

curlew tracking project to an audi-

ence at the Summer Natural

History Seminar Series in Broken

Bow.

Page 3Volume 2, Issue 1

Conservation Reserve Program 2010!Tim McCoy, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

The Conservation Reserve

Program (CRP) is nearing its 25year anniversary! In Nebraska,

the CRP has clearly been the

most successful conservation

program during this time, reduc-

ing soil erosion, improving wa-

ter quality and quantity, and

providing terrific wildlife habitat

on private lands throughout the

state. During its 25 years, CRP

has continued to change to

better meet the natural re-

source needs of Nebraskas,

and the nations, landowners.

Originally, the CRP was focused

primarily on reducing soil ero-sion, and through time as

changed to focus on meeting

soil, water, and wildlife resource

needs on enrolled lands.

CRP is a voluntary conservation

program which gives landown-

ers an opportunity to enroll in

contracts to take highly erodible

or environmentally sensitive

lands out of agricultural produc-

tion. In exchange for 10 to 15

year contracts, landowners get

an annual rental payment and

cost-share for establishing and

managing permanent cover onenrolled lands.

Nebraska at one point had

nearly 1.4 million acres of CRP,

and currently has more than 1

million acres currently enrolled.

With CRP expirations this fall,

Nebraska is poised to drop be-

low the 1 million acre mark for

only the second time since

1988 (the last time this hap-

pened was in 1996). From a

wildlife perspective, CRP has

been tied to benefits for pheas-

ants and is now much of thecore for pheasant hunting in

Nebraska. Additionally CRP has

provided benefits for bobwhite

quail, sharp-tailed grouse, and

greater prairie chickens in the

state, as well as providing habi-

tat for grassland songbirds and

nesting areas for wild turkeys.

There currently is a CRP general

signup underway throughout

the country, the first general

signup opportunity for landown-

ers to offer enrollments since

2006. Sign-up runs for August

2-27th at your local Farm Ser-vice Agency office. Landowners

interested in successfully mak-

ing a general CRP offer are en-

couraged to maximize the wild-

life habitat benefits on enrolled

lands, which will also increase

their likelihood of getting a CRP

contract. General CRP enroll-

ments are a national competi-

tive process, and offers are

ranked through the Environ-

mental Benefits Index; in that

index the two things landown-

ers can directly control are the

wildlife habitat cover they enrolland cost. New for this general

signup are options for landown-

ers to incorporate pollinator

habitat into certain CRP prac-

tices and receive a higher EBI

score.

Beyond the general competi-

tive CRP signups, certain high

value environmental practices,

such as enrolling wetlands,

riparian buffers, filter strips,

and field borders for wildlife,

are available

for landown-ers to enroll

in at any

time. These

are called

Continuous

CRP

(sometimes

referred to

as CCRP)

practices. In

many cases

CCRP prac-

tices also

come with

additionalincentive

payments to

encourage the enrollment of

these high value practices.

Basic eligibility require-

ments for the CRP include lands

being privately owned, owned

by the CRP contract holder for

at least one year, and for most

of the practice land must have

cropping history for 4 of the 6

years between 2002 and 2007.

There are a few CRP practices

that can be available on wet-

lands and marginal pasture-land, but the majority of CRP

enrollments and practices apply

to lands with cropping history.

For more information about the

CRP contact your local USDA

Service Center, or go to http://

www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/

webapp?

area=home&subject=copr&topi

c=landing

Above: Planning for a high diver-

sity CRP planting can increase

your CRP application score and

also provide high quality habitat

pheasants, quail and other

wildlife.

plovers, river otters, long billed

curlews, and bald eagles.

Presentors represented a

variety of groups including the

Nebraska Game and Parks

Commission, US Fish and

Wildlife Service and the Tern

and Plover Conservation

Partnership.

Beginning in May, monthly

summer seminars by area

wildlife experts about wildlife

were presented in Broken Bow.

These seminars were free and

open to the public. Seminar

topics included: whooping

cranes, least terns and piping

Summer Natural History Seminar SeriesBen Wheeler, Nebraska Natural Legacy Project


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Upcoming Events

Ben WheelerCoordinating Wildlife Biologist1617 N. 28th StreetOrd, Nebraska 68862Office: 308-728-3244Cell: 308-750-2652Email: [email protected]

September 14 Quail Management, St. Paul

Reminder!!!It is never too early to begin planning your upcoming prescribed fire. If you are anticipating conducting aprescribed fire in the spring of 2011, start organizing your plans for equipment, assistance, and sitepreperation. Also, make sure to develop a burn plan and make arrangements for acquiring a burn permit.If your upcoming prescribed fire is in conjunction with a federal, state or private program, discuss yourplans with the appropriate program office.

central loess hills newsletter vol. 2 issue 2

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