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GUIDE TO NEBRASKA'S WETLANDS
Sociological Research 1988). Activities from highest
to lowest participation rates included picnicking,
nature hikes, observing wildlife, swimming, fi shing,
camping, boating, and hunting. A separate study
indicated that up to 80,000 crane watchers fl ock to the
Platte River each spring and benefi t the local economy
with more than $40 million (Lingle 1992). However,
a more recent study suggests that closer to 50,000
crane enthusiasts come to the Central Platte annually
and have a resulting economic pact of about $14.3
million regionally (Dority et al. 2017). Estimates vary
depending on the techniques used, but regardless, the
economic impact is signifi cant.
Conservation Success Stories
Conservation efforts by numerous entities began
in the mid-1970s and continue today. These efforts
include protecting instream fl ows, restoring and
protecting lowland grasslands and embedded wet
meadows, and restoring and maintaining open
braided river habitat. The result has been that
conditions have improved moderately, and a number
of areas have been conserved, including nearly 14,000
acres by the Platte River Recovery and Implementation
Program over the past 15 years. As an example,
Krapu et al. (2014) documented a 32% increase in
lowland grasses between Chapman and Lexington
between 1982 and 1998 within 5.6 kilometers of the
Platte River, and a lot of additional conservation work
has occurred since that study was completed. Caven
et al. (2019a) similarly documented a 3% increase in
meadow-prairie land cover within 800 meters of the
main channel of the Platte River between 1998 to 2016.
In both cases, improvements in habitat conditions
were concentrated around lands owned and managed
by conservation organizations. Many distinctive
techniques for habitat restoration have been
developed within the region over the past 40 years
(e.g., Pfeiffer and Currier 2005). Habitat management
actions, such as clearing invasive European common
reed and woody vegetation, and disking sandbars
to mimic historic scouring, improves and maintains
functional braided river area (Farnsworth et al.
2018, Caven et al. 2019a). The efforts of all these
partners give hope that the amazing benefi ts of this
reach of the Platte River can be sustained for future
generations. Websites: rowe.audubon.org; cranetrust.
org; platteriverprogram.org; nature.org, search
"nebraska"; ducks.org/nebraska.
Contacts
A number of organizations and agencies have
During the spring, over one million sandhill cranes, comprising 80-85% of the mid-continent population, have been counted along the
Central Platte River. ETHAN FREESE, PLATTE BASIN TIMELAPSE
