Niobrara Council short of funds for preservation deals BY DAVID HENDEE
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

MAHONEY STATE PARK, Neb. - Ranchers are lining up for land preservation agreements in the Niobrara River valley, but no one can show them the money.

David Sands of Lincoln told his Niobrara Council colleagues Wednesday that 13 landowners representing 25,000 acres of land along the popular remote canoeing river in north-central Nebraska are interested in selling conservation easements to the Niobrara Council.

The hitch, however, is that the organization doesn't have money to immediately buy more easements or development rights.

The council currently holds only one conservation easement, an 80-acre tract southwest of Springview purchased last December.

But the council could be back in the easement market next year if it wins bids for federal, state and foundation funding.

In anticipation, the council plans to be ready to act with a new policy establishing guidelines for ranking prospective land for protection. The council, charged with overseeing licenses, permits and activities in the 76-mile Niobrara National Scenic River corridor, reviewed a draft of the document Wednesday.

"This will help us separate the wheat from the chaff," said Sands, who is executive director of the Lincoln-based Nebraska Land Trust. "I don't know if there's such a thing as a bad easement in the Niobrara valley, but certainly with limited funding you want to be able to select the very best."

The draft document assigns values to a dozen areas of remarkable natural values and five cultural values to help the council objectively and fairly select and pursue property for preservation.

Criteria for natural values include property that includes one or more of the six native ecosystems found in the valley, rare species of flora and fauna, open space that contributes to scenic enjoyment and land that fronts the Niobrara National Scenic River.

The list of cultural values includes supporting economically viable cattle, bison or elk ranches, reducing financial pressure to subdivide and sell land for development, and preserving lands with historic and archaeological significance.

Sands said natural values outweigh cultural values by 2-to-1 when scoring property.

To fund future conservation easement purchases, the council is pursuing a $1 million grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust and $500,000 from a U.S. Senate subcommittee on Interior Department appropriations.

"Raising funds to buy easements is one of the huge challenges up on the Niobrara, but we aren't putting all of our eggs in the federal basket," Sands said. "There are other foundations in Nebraska that are sympathetic to preserving land in the Niobrara valley."

The Niobrara Council isn't the only organization at work preserving scenic land in the valley. The Nature Conservancy, for instance, has more than 56,000 acres of land involving more than 40 miles of riverfront under easements.

Tim Knott of Lincoln, a member of the Friends of the Niobrara organization, said the idea of outsiders buying land threatens many valley landowners, but conservation easements are a way for ranchers to protect their property from development while keeping ownership and use of the land.

"That's why we need money," he said.

Congress designated the stretch of river valley in 1991 as meriting special protection and recognition.

John Ravenscroft, the council chairman and a Nenzel rancher, said the organization met at Mahoney State Park to acknowledge the large number of people from Omaha and Lincoln who float the river every year.

Gov. Mike Johanns stopped briefly at the meeting to encourage the council to continue its work to preserve the Niobrara.

"It truly is one of the most beautiful places in the world, not just the state," he said.

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