The Nebraska Parks and Games Commission received a competitive grant to work with conservation organizations and private landowners to conserve wetlands on two parcels of land in south-central Nebraska. Conservation efforts will benefit the endangered whooping crane and threatened eastern black rail, as well as common bird and wetland species.
The two properties will remain privately owned and remain in agricultural production as non-profit organizations work with owners to conserve habitat.
The Nebraska Crane Trust will partner with the property owner on a 285-acre parcel along the Platte River in Hall County. Wetlands America Trust will partner with the owner to manage a 95-acre parcel in the Rainwater Basin in Clay County.
The nearly $600,000 award from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, through the Department of the Interior, comes from the Endangered Species Conservation Cooperative Fund’s Reclamation Land Acquisition grant program. Nebraska, 15 other states, and Guam received grants to conserve at-risk species through programs focused on habitat conservation.
The grant is authorized by the Endangered Species Act and partially funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund.