A partnership between three organizations has acquired nearly 100 acres of land southwest of Pioneers Park, bringing Lincoln one step closer to completing a long-planned trail and tallgrass prairie corridor.
The City of Lincoln, the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District and Solidago Conservancy purchased the land from the Lauk family in early January. The Prairie Corridor Link property is located northwest of the West Claire Avenue and Southwest 56th Street intersection.
The land will become part of the Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch, a project publicly announced in December 2017.
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said in a statement that the acquisition supports a long-term community vision.
“By advancing the Prairie Corridor, we create more opportunities for residents and visitors to hike, bike, explore nature and experience the beautiful landscape that shapes our region's identity,” Gaylor Baird said. “We protect vital natural resources that improve water quality and help reduce flood risks downstream. And we preserve an important part of Nebraska’s natural heritage for future generations.”
With the acquisition, 70% of the Prairie Corridor trail has been secured, and 25% of the trail has been built. The new property will extend the trail from Pioneers Park Nature Center to a quarter mile from the Steifel-Johnson Trailhead in Two Creeks Prairie, about two miles north of Denton.
When complete, the trail will follow the Haines Branch of Salt Creek southwest through the village of Denton to the Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center, a 14.5-mile round trip ride. A 1.5-mile trail will connect west to Conestoga Lake State Recreation Area, and an eastern connection will link to Lincoln’s trail network via the Bison Trail.
In total, the corridor on Haines Branch will span 7,400 acres, with plans to restore nearly 2,000 acres of prairie and preserve around 3,400 acres of native grassland.
Tallgrass prairie once covered nearly 170 million acres of North America, stretching from Texas to Canada. Less than 4% exists today. In Nebraska, less than 1% of native tallgrass remains, making it one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world.
Aaron Druery, district supervisor of greenways and conservation areas for Lincoln Parks and Recreation, said the corridor will help build ecological resilience for the community.
“We need to create a web of life because the thicker and bigger a web of life is, the harder it is for that web to fail,” Druery said.
Discussions with the Lauk family began about eight years ago. The city and its partners work only with willing sellers through voluntary, incentive-based conservation agreements or outright acquisition.
The newly purchased property has several ecologically distinct features. Its low areas contain saline wetlands, and an old oxbow pond left behind by the Haines Branch Creek — conditions that could support rare plants like saltwort, a state endangered species.
The property also includes what Druery described as one of the steepest slopes in Lancaster County that he’s seen, and a sandstone outcropping with a bur oak woodland. Plateau areas on top of the slope show signs of never having been tilled, with native plants still present.
Restoration work is already underway. Prairie Plains Resource Institute from Aurora was hired to oversee seeding a former 15-acre crop field with a high-diversity mix of around 150 native species.
“You’re adding life. You're adding diversity of life. One of our objectives is to increase ecological resiliency for our community,” Druery said. “So, every time we restore a prairie, we’re doing that.”
The remaining pastureland, dominated by non-native brome grass, will require a different approach, a combination of mowing, burning and targeted herbicide application.
“It’s almost easier to reestablish a prairie from a crop field than it is from a degraded pasture. Assuming brome is the dominant grass, it’s so hard to break the cycle of that,” Druery said.
The process is expected to take three to five years before the land begins to resemble a native prairie.
Pioneers Park Nature Center conducts school hikes for more than 12,000 school children annually and runs 12 weeks of nature camps.
Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center offers school immersions programs for Lincoln Public Schools students, wildlife walks, prairie festivals and family education programs.
“We could perhaps be a part of saving or at least slowing down the failure of ecological life, because of the climate change crisis that we are living out,” Druery said. “Along with the intrinsic value to create an opportunity for education for young people and adults alike.”