blake
Life Member
Run wild, run free
Omaha World Herald
SCOTTSBLUFF, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
</st1:State> — It's not a new state park. It's not a new hunting preserve.<O
</O But hikers, birders, photographers, hunters and anglers will soon have more than 20 square miles of new places to walk, camp, hunt or fish in one of <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1
Nebraska</ST1</st1:State>'s most ancient landscapes.<O
</O Beginning Saturday, more than 13,000 acres of rugged canyon land, wetlands and riverland will open to the public in western <st1:State w:st="on">Nebraska</st1:State>'s rocky Wildcat Hills and along the lazy, braided North Platte River.
<O
</O It's the single-largest opening of wild lands to free public access by a private organization in <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1
Nebraska</st1:State> history.<O
It's unprecedented,'' said Rex Amack, director of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
The opening is the latest accomplishment by a group of western <st1:State w:st="on">Nebraska</st1:State> sportsmen who two decades ago grew alarmed at deteriorating conditions of important wildlife habitats and natural areas in the <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1
North Platte</ST1l</st1:City> basin.<O
</O “In western Nebraska, it's easy to take waterfowl and big game for granted,'' said Hod Kosman, a third-generation Scottsbluff bank president who organized Platte River Basin Environments nearly 20 years ago to preserve wildlands from development.
<O
</O “I'm a banker. I want our region to grow and prosper,'' he said.
“But in the west, one of the disturbing trends is the 40-acre ranchette. That kind of development, while beneficial, really disrupts wildlife corridors. It adds things to the landscape and ecosystem that aren't really compatible.''
The Wildcat Hills and its adjoining prairie are a unique landscape widely known for <ST1
Oregon Trail landmarks Courthouse Rock, Jail Rock, Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff. Conservationists say the hills are biologically endangered.<O
The rocky slopes and grasslands stretch east 55 miles from near the <st1:State w:st="on">Wyoming</st1:State> state line into <st1:State w:st="on">Nebraska</st1:State> to <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1
Bridgeport</st1:City>.<O
</O Plant and animal species from the prairies and mountains overlap and flourish in the hills.
<O
</O Bighorn sheep, elk, wild turkey, bobcat, coyote, deer and an occasional mountain lion roam the ridges and canyons. Pheasants frequent the uplands, ducks and geese the wetlands.
<O
</O “It's one of the last great places in <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1
Nebraska</st1:State>,'' said Jim Douglas, Game and Parks wildlife manager.Kosman said generations of <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1
North Platte</ST1</st1:City> valley ranchers and farmers were outstanding stewards of the land. But many aging landowners don't have heirs for their ranches. Some of these families decide to sell their property to an organization that will preserve it in its natural state.<O
</O They don't want to see their legacy land fragmented by rural housing developments. So they turn to Platte River Basin Environments and its habitat partners, Nebraska Game and Parks, the Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever and others.
<O
</O Keith and Normalee Hampton of Gering sold their 8,700-acre Carter Canyon Ranch to Platte River Basin Environments. The ranch is one of four parcels making up the 13,000 acres opening to the public Saturday.
“This ranch began in 1892 when my grandfather homesteaded,'' said 82-year-old Keith Hampton.
<O
</O “I've worked on this ranch my entire life, except for two years I was in the Navy during World War II. Although it was a hard decision to let go, we knew it was the right decision. The important thing was that this beautiful land would be preserved and enjoyed by future generations.''
<O
</O This weekend's opening brings to nearly 20,000 acres, or about 31 square miles, the amount of land in and along the Wildcat Hills that have been opened to the public by Kosman's group.
<O
</O “This all becomes part of our heritage,'' Kosman said. “We like to say that what we do is forever, and forever is a long time.''
Last edited: