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