Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Inc.

Our land management is focused to obtain the experience and knowledge to ensure suitable habitat for cranes and grassland bird species, at the time that sustainable land use is performed. Grazing, farming and haying practices are important part of land use and management in order to achieve ecosystem health and land productivity. Continuous monitoring and evaluation of land use and restoration practices have been implemented to develop the expertise needed in real world conservation.

Our land management activities are focused on maintaining and improving the conditions of our native grassland, restoring degraded areas, and maintaining open and more natural conditions of our prairies and the river. Grasslands are managed through a combination of prescribed fires and livestock grazing. The Trust owns crop lands that are leased to local farmers. Wetland areas are restored or created to maintain permanent aquatic environments for a variety of aquatic and wetland plants and animals. River management should maintain open and un-vegetated areas that provide roosting areas for migrating cranes and potential nesting areas for terns and plovers.

HISTORICALLY, the Platte River was comprised of numerous wide, braided, sandy channels with extensive wet meadows along the channels and on the islands between them. Trees were sparse and usually occurred in scattered clumps along the riverbanks. Spring floods, from melting snow in the Rocky Mountains, brought huge amounts of water down the river, churning and moving sediment, depositing it onto sandbars, and scouring trees and other vegetation from the river bottom. During the spring and fall, these areas of shallow water around sandbars provided abundant roosting habitat for whooping cranes and sandhill cranes. When flows dropped during the summer, the sandbars were exposed and provided nesting and feeding areas for least terns and piping plovers. Sparse vegetation, sandbars surrounded by water, and a wide river channel protected the birds from predators.

The Platte’s native grasslands and riparian wet meadows were dominated by grasses and sedges but also contained a high diversity of forbs, insects, invertebrates like earthworms and snails, amphibians, and even fish. The meadows provided resting, loafing, nesting, and especially feeding habitats for migratory birds. Both species of cranes and numerous species of waterfowl made extensive use of wet meadows during the spring migration. During the summer, numerous other species of birds came to the Platte and nested in the meadows.

River channel Since 1982, the Trust has been reclaiming river habitat to enhance and maintain roost areas. Vegetation is removed mechanically from river islands, to eliminate obstructions in the channel, prevent tree establishment, and encourage erosion. When they occur, high spring flows then churns and distributes the sediment to form the sandbars that provide roosting and nesting habitat. It would be impossible to restore the river completely to its historic state, so our goal is to combine natural and managed areas into smaller pockets of habitat that maintain their ecosystem function and meet the roosting needs of sandhill cranes and whooping cranes. Since beginning river reclamation activities, the Trust has cleared and maintained more than 28 miles of open river channel on its property and on areas owned by the National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, and numerous individual landowners.

Grasslands The Trust has used a variety of management techniques to maintain and enhance grassland habitats for whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, and grassland birds. In general, our goals are to enhance plant species diversity and provide the vegetative structural diversity required by cranes and other birds. Enhancing native plant species diversity is important because high plant diversity corresponds to high invertebrate abundance and diversity in grasslands, and invertebrates comprise the critical food sources for cranes and grassland birds. In addition, we strive to maintain a mosaic of grassland patches with varying vegetation heights. Short stature vegetation, which is preferred by whooping cranes and sandhill cranes, is combined with areas of the moderate and tall stature vegetation required by many grassland bird species.

The Trust manages its grasslands using prescribed burning, grazing, and haying. Each management unit is burned once every 3-4 years, and approximately 1,500 acres are burned in a single year. The goals of the prescribed burning program are to reduce vegetation structure, eliminate woody vegetation from encroaching into wet meadows, suppress exotic plant species, and promote the growth of native vegetation. Approximately 5,000 acres of grassland are in grazing rotations and other management. Grazing is accomplished through leases to approximately 15 local farmers and ranchers. Haying is restricted to drier meadows with relatively flat topography, and areas that are wet or rough are grazed. The primary goal of grazing is to reduce the stature of the vegetation to levels preferred by cranes. In the rotation systems, a few areas are left unharvested each year. The tall vegetation in these areas provides the type of habitat required by grassland bird species, and it provides protected areas where cranes can find shelter during stormy and windy weather.

Cropland The Trust’s crop land (approximately 1,500 acres ) also is leased to local farmers, on a cost-share basis. This land is farmed conventionally, using crop rotations to reduce pesticide use and hopefully to improve soil conditions. The majority of the cropland is irrigated by center pivots and gravity systems, and a variety of crops is grown, including corn, soybeans and alfalfa. Besides generating income for the Trust, the cropland provides feeding habitat for cranes and waterfowl—the birds feed primarily on waste corn—and, in some areas, secondary roost sites where cranes gather in the evenings before flying to their river roosts.

Prairie restoration In some areas of the river, there are not enough native wet meadows remaining to provide The Trust is restoring habitat through clearing and replanting. sufficient habitat for cranes and other migratory birds. Therefore, to meet its habitat protection goals, each year the Trust restores wet meadows that have been drained and converted to crop land. Fields near the river that are marginally productive as crop land—due to high water table, low fertility, and/or high soil pH—are good candidates for wet meadow restoration. The Trust has experimented with several restoration techniques and has evaluated the most effective methods for developing reclaimed, functioning grasslands that resemble native wet meadows. Currently, our restoration methods incorporate land surface recontouring to restore the ridge and slough topography that is typical of native meadows, followed by high diversity plantings of 200+ native prairie species (including grasses, forbs, and aquatic plants). To date, the Trust has completed 20 wet meadow restorations totaling 1,200 acres in area. The goal, for at least the next ten years, is to restore an average of at least 50 acres of wet meadow per year.

Wetland restoration Numerous birds depend on aquatic habitats during their stay on the Platte . This is most dramatically obvious for species like the whooping crane, least tern and piping plover. For this reason, the Trust has incorporated wetland construction into its recent grassland restorations. We have experimented with several construction methods and still are learning about which give the best results. Our current approach, when a prairie restoration is initiated, is to structure the land surface recontouring so it creates the maximum possible linear length of slough with topography similar to native sloughs. To do this, we excavate a slough to a depth that is below the water table in some places and just above the water table in others. The goal is to create a few areas of permanent aquatic habitat and more extensive areas of seasonally inundated wetland. These areas provide habitat for a variety of aquatic and wetland plants and animals that, in turn, provide food for migratory birds. Plans call for wetland areas to be constructed in almost all of our future grassland restorations.


				Our land management is focused to obtain the experience and knowledge to ensure suitable habitat for cranes and grassland bird species, at the time that sustainable land use is performed. Grazing, farming and haying practices are important part of land use and management in order to achieve ecosystem health and land productivity. Continuous monitoring and evaluation of land use and restoration practices have been implemented to develop the expertise needed in real world conservation. Our land management activities are focused on maintaining and improving the conditions of our native grassland, restoring degraded areas, and maintaining open and more natural conditions of our prairies and the river. Grasslands are managed through a combination of prescribed fires and livestock grazing. The Trust owns crop lands that are leased to local farmers. Wetland areas are restored or created to maintain permanent aquatic environments for a variety of aquatic and wetland plants and animals. River management should maintain open and un-vegetated areas that provide roosting areas for migrating cranes and potential nesting areas for terns and plovers. HISTORICALLY, the Platte River was comprised of numerous wide, braided, sandy channels with extensive wet meadows along the channels and on the islands between them. Trees were sparse and usually occurred in scattered clumps along the riverbanks. Spring floods, from melting snow in the Rocky Mountains, brought huge amounts of water down the river, churning and moving sediment, depositing it onto sandbars, and scouring trees and other vegetation from the river bottom. During the spring and fall, these areas of shallow water around sandbars provided abundant roosting habitat for whooping cranes and sandhill cranes. When flows dropped during the summer, the sandbars were exposed and provided nesting and feeding areas for least terns and piping plovers. Sparse vegetation, sandbars surrounded by water, and a wide river channel protected the birds from predators. The Platte’s native grasslands and riparian wet meadows were dominated by grasses and sedges but also contained a high diversity of forbs, insects, invertebrates like earthworms and snails, amphibians, and even fish. The meadows provided resting, loafing, nesting, and especially feeding habitats for migratory birds. Both species of cranes and numerous species of waterfowl made extensive use of wet meadows during the spring migration. During the summer, numerous other species of birds came to the Platte and nested in the meadows. LAND MANAGEMENT River channel Since 1982, the Trust has been reclaiming river habitat to enhance and maintain roost areas. Vegetation is removed mechanically from river islands, to eliminate obstructions in the channel, prevent tree establishment, and encourage erosion. When they occur, high spring flows then churns and distributes the sediment to form the sandbars that provide roosting and nesting habitat. It would be impossible to restore the river completely to its historic state, so our goal is to combine natural and managed areas into smaller pockets of habitat that maintain their ecosystem function and meet the roosting needs of sandhill cranes and whooping cranes. Since beginning river reclamation activities, the Trust has cleared and maintained more than 28 miles of open river channel on its property and on areas owned by the National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, and numerous individual landowners. Grasslands The Trust has used a variety of management techniques to maintain and enhance grassland habitats for whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, and grassland birds. In general, our goals are to enhance plant species diversity and provide the vegetative structural diversity required by cranes and other birds. Enhancing native plant species diversity is important because high plant diversity corresponds to high invertebrate abundance and diversity in grasslands, and invertebrates comprise the critical food sources for cranes and grassland birds. In addition, we strive to maintain a mosaic of grassland patches with varying vegetation heights. Short stature vegetation, which is preferred by whooping cranes and sandhill cranes, is combined with areas of the moderate and tall stature vegetation required by many grassland bird species. PHOTO: PRESCRIBED BURNING HELPS RESTORE PLATTE RIVER HABITAT. The Trust manages its grasslands using prescribed burning, grazing, and haying. Each management unit is burned once every 3-4 years, and approximately 1,500 acres are burned in a single year. The goals of the prescribed burning program are to reduce vegetation structure, eliminate woody vegetation from encroaching into wet meadows, suppress exotic plant species, and promote the growth of native vegetation. Approximately 5,000 acres of grassland are in grazing rotations and other management. Grazing is accomplished through leases to approximately 15 local farmers and ranchers. Haying is restricted to drier meadows with relatively flat topography, and areas that are wet or rough are grazed. The primary goal of grazing is to reduce the stature of the vegetation to levels preferred by cranes. In the rotation systems, a few areas are left unharvested each year. The tall vegetation in these areas provides the type of habitat required by grassland bird species, and it provides protected areas where cranes can find shelter during stormy and windy weather. Cropland The Trust’s crop land (approximately 1,500 acres ) also is leased to local farmers, on a cost-share basis. This land is farmed conventionally, using crop rotations to reduce pesticide use and hopefully to improve soil conditions. The majority of the cropland is irrigated by center pivots and gravity systems, and a variety of crops is grown, including corn, soybeans and alfalfa. Besides generating income for the Trust, the cropland provides feeding habitat for cranes and waterfowl—the birds feed primarily on waste corn—and, in some areas, secondary roost sites where cranes gather in the evenings before flying to their river roosts. Prairie restoration In some areas of the river, there are not enough native wet meadows remaining to provide sufficient habitat for cranes and other migratory birds. Therefore, to meet its habitat protection goals, each year the Trust restores wet meadows that have been drained and converted to crop land. Fields near the river that are marginally productive as crop land—due to high water table, low fertility, and/or high soil pH—are good candidates for wet meadow restoration. The Trust has experimented with several restoration techniques and has evaluated the most effective methods for developing reclaimed, functioning grasslands that resemble native wet meadows. Currently, our restoration methods incorporate land surface recontouring to restore the ridge and slough topography that is typical of native meadows, followed by high diversity plantings of 200+ native prairie species (including grasses, forbs, and aquatic plants). To date, the Trust has completed 20 wet meadow restorations totaling 1,200 acres in area. The goal, for at least the next ten years, is to restore an average of at least 50 acres of wet meadow per year. Wetland restoration Numerous birds depend on aquatic habitats during their stay on the Platte . This is most dramatically obvious for species like the whooping crane, least tern and piping plover. For this reason, the Trust has incorporated wetland construction into its recent grassland restorations. We have experimented with several construction methods and still are learning about which give the best results. Our current approach, when a prairie restoration is initiated, is to structure the land surface recontouring so it creates the maximum possible linear length of slough with topography similar to native sloughs. To do this, we excavate a slough to a depth that is below the water table in some places and just above the water table in others. The goal is to create a few areas of permanent aquatic habitat and more extensive areas of seasonally inundated wetland. These areas provide habitat for a variety of aquatic and wetland plants and animals that, in turn, provide food for migratory birds. Plans call for wetland areas to be constructed in almost all of our future grassland restorations.
			Copyright © 2009 -- 6611 W. Whooping Crane Dr., Wood River, NE 68883 -- ph. 308-384-4633 -- fax 308-384-7209