Niobrara Valley Preserve

The Niobrara Valley Preserve is a 226 -square-kilometer nature reserve, situated in the territory of the Brown and Keya Paha County in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The conservation area includes one of the typical flow regions of the Great Plains and is now the non-profit conservation organization, The Nature Conservancy.

History

Prior to settlement by Europeans grazed in the valley of the Niobrara River large herds of bison. In the 19th century settled in parts of the territory Poncas, the remaining area was used by Lakota Sioux and other nomadic tribes as a hunting ground.

European settlers settled down in the region since 1870. However, the Niobrara valley proved to be less suitable for agriculture, which is why most farms were abandoned and the area was only used as a pasture for cows. With the extensive agricultural cultivation task also, the population declined sharply in the two counties of Brown and Keya Paha. Then, in 1980, the Nature Conservancy acquired the territory. It is located in the area of the 76- mile Niobrara National Scenic River, which is managed by the National Park Service.

Features

The Niobrara Valley Preserve is now one of the largest areas of the Great Plains, which are under protection. For area includes 40 km of the southern bank of the Niobrara River and 14 km of the northern shore. The unique Sand Hills border on the south bank of the conservation area.

The special feature of the reserve is that here borders several ecological systems together. So take this example, the mixed forest, as is typical for eastern North America, on the characteristic of the mixed forest of North America. Accordingly, can be found in the nature reserve of 581 different vascular plant species, 213 bird species, 86 mosses, 80 lichens and 85 species of butterflies. For ponderosa pine is the Niobrara Valley Preserve the easternmost natural range represents the American Aspen Tree here has their only occurrence in Nebraska and the paper birch is usually only found further north.

1985 were reintroduced by the Nature Conservancy bison in nature reserve, after they had more than 100 years not occurred in this region. More than 500 bison graze now in two subregions of the nature reserve. Additionally, it contains around 2,000 cattle are grazed on land that the Nature Conservancy has leased to farmers. Grazing and targeted burning by controlled fire to get the open countryside, as they are typical of the Great Plains.