The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service will direct nearly $19 million to restore Nebraska's grasslands and curb the invasion of eastern red cedar, with management practices on about 100,000 acres through 2030.
LINCOLN — The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will contribute nearly $19 million to help Nebraska landowners implement conservation practices that keep grasslands productive and tree-free.
Laura Rubeck, state coordinator of the initiative, described the investment as "unprecedented." "If we don't start taking care of our grasslands, we are going to be losing out on wildlife habitat," she said, adding that the impact is widespread: "We are all interconnected."
The initiative, called Growing and Expanding Nebraska's Grasslands Cores, brings together partners such as the Grand Island-based Rainwater Basin Joint Venture, Nebraska Game and Parks and a coalition of public and private stakeholders.
The aim is to keep grasslands productive and functional for both agricultural activity and wildlife, reversing woody encroachment, particularly of eastern red cedar and other trees, which harms grasslands by reducing forage production and raising the risk of wildfires.
The funds, available through 2030 to eligible landowners who apply, will support management practices on roughly 100,000 acres of grassland statewide. Participation is voluntary, and the target core areas are identified under the Great Plains Grassland Initiative.
Preserving Nebraska's prairie is important for many reasons, Rubeck said, among them protecting the wildlife whose existence depends on grasslands. The western meadowlark, Nebraska's state bird, is among the species at risk, along with the loggerhead shrike, the burrowing owl, the regal fritillary and the monarch butterfly.
Tourism would also be affected without adequate grasslands. Out-of-state visitors come to see the mating dance of the greater prairie chicken. As Sarah Sortum of Calamus Outfitters wrote on the Great Plains Ecotourism Coalition website: "By stomping the ground, erecting pinnae feathers, flutter jumping, and sounding their trademark booming call, they connect age to age on the sweeping prairie."
Rubeck said she has never met a Nebraskan who dislikes the flute-like whistle of the western meadowlark's song. "So do we want to hear more of this or less?" she asked.
The funds arrive as the United Nations has declared 2026 the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. That is why, both in Nebraska and around the rest of the world, efforts are intensifying to raise awareness of the importance of conserving grasslands.
"We're definitely hoping to make a big impact on restoring grassland," Rubeck concluded about the Nebraska initiative.
