Where are Nebraska’s Wild Places?

        Nebraska is primarily a state of prairies. When pioneers first settled here, they found tall grasses in the east, a mixture of medium size grasses in the central part and mainly short grasses in the west. Today farms and ranches cover the state. Only 2% of the native tallgrass prairie remains, in small remnants in the eastern third of the state.   Nebraska Wildlife Federation has searched out and identified many of the tall grass prairie remnants in eastern Nebraska.

Although most of the historic Sandhills Prairie remains intact, much of the remaining mixed grass prairie that covered much of the state has been converted to cropland. Some of the shortgrass prairie remains in the Panhandle and southwest parts of Nebraska.

        Besides grasses and wildflowers, ponderosa pine and hardwood trees also are native to different parts of Nebraska. The Niobrara Valley in the north central sand hills has ponderosa pine, cedar, birch, aspen and other hardwood trees as well as a mixed grass prairie. Ponderosa pine also grows in the Pine Ridge of northwestern Nebraska. A hardwood forest grows in the southeastern corner of Nebraska, along the Missouri River. Each region provides habitat for a variety of wildlife, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and more.

        Rivers, lakes and streams cross the state, affording habitat for wild life dependent on a body of water for survival.

         Read on to see pictures of the state parks, recreation areas and other special wild places in Nebraska, and learn about the flora and fauna in these places.

Sponsored by the Nebraska Attorney General Environmental Settlement Fund

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Nebraska Wildlife Federation Members