“Like a rumpled wool blanket, the Nebraska Sandhills spreads out over twenty thousand square miles of north central Nebraska and is the largest stabilized dune field in the Western Hemisphere. It is also the largest intact mixed-grass prairie left on the continent.”
This description by photographer Michael Forsberg alludes to the exceptional physical geography of the Nebraska Sandhills, a place of rolling grasslands, rivers, and wetlands created by the Ogallala Aquifer that underlies the region. Home to abundant wildlife, from pronghorn antelope to sandhill cranes, the Sandhills are an ecological treasure. Dotted with ranches and small towns, the Sandhills are rich with deep cultural history, including those of Indigenous peoples, settlers, Black homesteaders, immigrants, ecotourists, and some adventurous golfers.
The Nebraska Sandhills features nearly forty essays about the history, people, geography, geology, ecology, and conservation of the Nebraska Sandhills. Illustrated with hundreds of remarkable color photographs of the area, this is the most up-to-date and illuminating portrayal of this remarkable yet largely unknown region of the United States.
Foreword
Michael J. Boehm
Introduction
My Introduction to the Nebraska Sandhills
Mary Harner
Introduction
A Kingdom of Grass – The Nebraska Sandhills
Michael Forsberg
Part I. Sense of Place
1. Tantalizing Clues as to Indigenous Peoples’ Lives in the Sandhills
1a. Humphrey Site Reveals Sandhills’ Apache Presence
John R. (Rob) Bozell and Courtney L.C. Ziska
2. The Turtle at the End of the World
2a. Skidi Pawnee Mythic Journey
Roger Echo-Hawk
3. Cheyenne Sanctuary: The Northern Cheyenne Exodus, Mari Sandoz, and Lost Chokecherry Lake
Emily Levine
4. Settlers: Ranchers, Homesteaders, Immigrants
Andrew Pollock
4a. The Black Homesteaders of DeWitty
Richard Edwards
5. Town Life
Mark Harris
6. Nebraska’s Human-made National Forest
Carson Vaughan
7. An Abandoned Stone Schoolhouse in the Nebraska Sandhills
Ted Kooser
Part II. Land
8. Physical Setting of the Sandhills in Maps
R. Matthew Joeckel, Clayton L. Reinier, Paul R. Hanson, Jesse T. Korus. Troy E. Gilmore, and Aaron R. Young
9. The Sandhills Through Time
David Loope, James Swinehart, and Joe Mason
10. What It takes to Form a Giant Dune Field
David Loope, James Swinehart, and Joe Mason
11. The Last Five Million Years of Grasslands and Grazers
11a. Where the Buffalo Roam … or Not
Chris Widga
12. Sandhills Grassland, Large Grazers, and Conservative Use
Al Steuter
13. Sandhills Soils – Interactions among Topography, Water, Sand, Vegetation, and Grazers
Martha Mamo
Part III. Water
14. Groundwater – How the High Plains Aquifer Shapes the Sandhills
Erin Haacker
15. Sandhills Streams and Rivers as Influenced by Groundwater, Climate, and Humans
15a. The Niobrara -- a National Scenic River
15b. March 2019 Floods
Jessica Corman and Troy Gilmore
16. Sandhills Lakes in Space and Time
Sherilyn C. Fritz
16a. Sandhills Alkaline Lakes
David Dunigan
17. Diverse Groundwater-Fed Sandhills Wetlands
Ted LaGrange
17a. Fens
Ted LaGrange and Gerry Steinauer
18. A River in Motion: Platte Basin Timelapse
Michael Farrell, Michael Forsberg, Kim Hachiya, and Mary Harner
Part IV. Climate and Weather
19. The Times They are a Changing – Seasonal, Inter-annual, and Long-term Variability in Sandhills Temperature, Wind, Rain, and Drought
Martha Shulski
20. How and Why Storms Form in the Sandhills: Location, Location, Location
20a. Storm Chasing
Adam Houston
21. When Too Much Water is the Problem: 2019 and the Flooding of the Sandhills
Bethany Johnston
Part V. Sea of Grass
22. The Unique Diversity and Habitat Structure of Sandhills Grasslands
22a. Are the Sandhills Resilient or Fragile?
Chris Helzer
23. Sandhills Prairie
Gerry Steinauer
23a. Blowout Penstemon
Cheryl Dunn
24. Grazing Management for Beef Production and Wildlife Habitat
24a. Grazing, Landscapes, and Greater Prairie-chickens
Walt Schacht and Larkin Powell
25. Irrigation in the Sandhills
Jerry Volesky
Part VI. Ranching
26. Ranching Through the Seasons: Planned for the Worst. Hoped for the Best.
Sara Sortum
27. Leopold Award Winners
Douglas Norby
28. Rotational Grazing and Sustainable Grasslands
Jim Jenkins
Part VII. Wildlife
29. Birds of the Sandhills
29a. Wilson’s Phalarope
29b. Long-billed Curlew
Larkin Powell
30. Sandhills’ Inconspicuous Mammals Make the Region Unique
Shaun Dunn
30a. Kangaroo Rats’ Habits Enhance Plant Diversity
Keith Geluso and Jeremy A. White
31. Sandhills’ Sweet Water Lakes are Productive Fisheries
31a. Common Carp: Invasive Scourge
Daryl Bauer
32. Herpetofauna Adapt to Sandhills’ Idiosyncratic Landscapes
Dennis Ferraro
32a. Blanding’s Turtles: Sandhills Smileys
Ashley Forrester
33. Diverse Landscapes Enrich Insect Diversity and Numbers
Jeffrey Bradshaw
33a. American Burying Beetle
33b. Giant Skipper
33c. Sandy Tiger Beetle
Steve Spomer
Part VIII. Future of the Sandhills
34. Sandhills Task Force
34a. Eastern Red Cedar
Shelly Kelly
35. Economy, Ranching, and Ecotourism in the Sandhills
Richard Edwards and Katie Nieland
35a. World-Class Golf Courses
Douglas Norby
36. Demographics of the Sandhills Over Time
Dennis Bauer
37. Local Knowledge and the Future of the Sandhills
Mary Ann Vinton and Jay Leighter
38. Alternative Futures of the Sandhills
Craig Allen and Caleb Roberts
Selected Books for Further Insights into the Sandhills
Author Information
Acknowledgements
