Digital Commons Network^™

Mortality Of Cranes (Gruidae) Associated With Powerlines Over A Major Roost On The Platte River, Nebraska, Gregory D. Wright, Timothy J. Smith, Robert K. Murphy, Jeffery T. Runge, Robert R. Harms

The Prairie Naturalist

Two 69-kilovolt powerlines spanning the Platte River in south central Nebraska are suspected to cause substantial mortality to sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) and pose a threat to endangered whooping cranes (G. americana) that roost overnight on the river during spring and fall migrations. Most studies of crane collisions with powerlines in the region have focused on counts of carcasses away from night roosts on the river and none have accounted for potential biases in detecting carcasses. We found 61 carcasses of sandhill cranes below over-river segments of the two powerlines during 4 March to 7 April …

Nebraska School Facilities: Educational Adequacy Of Class Iii School District Structures, John M. Weidner, Sr.

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In 2009, a replication of the Pool study was conducted. This study, however, focused on the school systems classified as Class III districts. Nebraska has 252 Class III districts. Compared with Class II (21), Class IV (1), and Class V(1) districts, the Class III districts offer a wide array of school settings, from urban to extremely rural, and from the third largest school system in Nebraska to a single school district occupying a county in the western sandhills.

The survey responses were sorted and analyzed by five indices: Class, Quartile of Valuation per Pupil, Population Change Category of the 2008 …

Tourist Attitudes Toward Elk Management In The Pine Ridge Region Of Northwestern Nebraska, R. Daniel Crank, Scott Hygnstrom, Scott R. Groepper Mr.

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

We interviewed 200 tourists at Fort Robinson State Park and Chadron State Park in the Pine Ridge region of northwestern Nebraska during July and August of 1997 to determine attitudes toward elk (Cervus elaphus) and elk management in Nebraska. Fifty-nine percent of the respondents were aware that elk occupied the Pine Ridge, 95% favored free-ranging elk, and 55% favored hunting as a means of managing the population. Nebraska residents were more aware of elk and elk hunting in the Pine Ridge than were nonresidents. Also, more residents had observed elk and were willing to drive longer distances to …

Long-Term Agricultural Land-Use Trends In Nebraska, 1866–2007, Tim L. Hiller, Larkin A. Powell, Tim D. Mccoy, Jeffrey J. Lusk

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Although landscape changes from anthropogenic causes occur at much faster rates than those from natural processes (e.g., geological, vegetation succession), human perception of such changes is often subjective, inaccurate, or nonexistent. Given the large-scale land-use changes that have occurred throughout the Great Plains, the potential impacts of land-use changes on ecological systems, and the insight gained from knowledge of land-use trends (e.g., to compare to wildlife population trends), we synthesized information related to land-use trends in Nebraska during 1866–2007. We discussed and interpreted known and potential causes of short- and long-term land-use trends based on agricultural and weather data; farm …

Nebraska Grout Task Force In-Situ Study Of Grout Material 2001 - 2006 And 2007 Dye Tests, Susan Olafsen Lackey, Will F. Myers, Thomas C. Christopherson, Jeffrey J. Gottula

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

On The Road Again: Photo Students Search For The "Real" Nebraska, Bruce Thorson

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

"Migrant Mother," a photograph by Dorothea Lange that showed a mother struggling to survive with her three children in a lean-to in a migrant camp, became the iconic picture that symbolized the Great Depression in the 1930s. Today, our nation's economy has fallen to a historic level not seen since that traumatic period. Financial and housing markets and automakers have crumbled; unemployment has soared. This national recession has touched every American, including those who live in Nebraska.

The objective of this project is to produce photographs, audio slideshows and video that document how this economic upheaval has affected Nebraskans. We …

Nebraska Wind Power: A Comparitive Study Of Knowledge And Attitudes, Cameron Helgren

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract The goal of this project is to assess the knowledge and attitudes of Nebraskans on the issue of wind power. The point of this research is to learn whether the presence of wind power has a positive effect on a person’s knowledge about and attitudes toward wind power and wind turbines. Using mail surveys, qualitative and quantitative data were collected from the towns of Pierce and Ainsworth Nebraska. The surveys aided in seeing patterns of knowledge about wind power and wind turbines and positive and negative attitudes and major concerns regarding wind power.

Applications And Potentials For Biogenic Methane Recovery Operations In Nebraska Agriculture, Industry, And Economic Development, David Micheal Dingman

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

ABSTRACT: This thesis report illustrates the applications and potentials of biogenic methane recovery in Nebraska’s agricultural and industrial sectors and as a means for increasing sustainable economic development in the state’s rural communities. As the nation moves toward a new green economy, biogenic methane recovery as a waste management strategy and renewable energy resource presents significant opportunities for Nebraska to be a national and world leader in agricultural and industrial innovation, advanced research and development of renewable energy technology, and generation of new product markets. Nebraska’s agricultural economy provides a distinct advantage to the state for supporting methane recovery operations …

Changes In Producer Attitudes Towards Windbreaks In Eastern Nebraska, 1983 To 2009, Kim Tomczak

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract Windbreaks are rows of trees or shrubs arranged on the landscape to reduce wind speed. In agricultural landscapes we find them as farmstead windbreaks, livestock windbreaks and field windbreaks. While farmstead and livestock windbreaks are well accepted by the agricultural community, field windbreaks are often viewed differently. A 1982 study of the attitudes of farmers in Eastern Nebraska indicated that many of the producers were around the age of 50 and that they used different types of windbreaks. This study repeated that survey in the same. When compared to data from 1982, farmers today are not educated about the …

Water Quality Variability In A Bioswell And Concrete Drainage Pipe, Southwest Lincoln, Nebraska, Jessica Shortino

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract The goal of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of bioswells in protecting water quality from urban runoff. The hypothesis tested in this project is that water in bioswells improves water quality. Water quality in both a bioswell and an underground concrete lined ditch, both containing ground and surface water, were tested for certain water quality parameters. These parameters consisted of: Dissolved Oxygen, pH, water temperature, weather temperature, Total Dissolved Solids, Specific Conductivity, Alkalinity, Total Dissolved Carbon, Chemical Oxygen Demand, and depth and width of the sampling site. An additional contaminant that was looked at was motor oil. …

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Geologic Resources Inventory Report, J. Graham

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

This report accompanies the digital geologic map for Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska, which the Geologic Resources Division produced in collaboration with its partners. It contains information relevant to resource management and scientific research. This document incorporates preexisting geologic information and does not include new data or additional fieldwork.

Formerly a working ranch in sparsely populated northwestern Nebraska, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is one of the most important paleontological sites in the world for studying Miocene-age mammals and the evolving Miocene world which existed around 20 million years ago. The main bonebeds at Carnegie Hill …

Development Of A Healthy Farm Index To Assess Ecological, Economic, And Social Function On Organic And Sustainable Farms In Nebraska's Four Agroecoregions., James R. Brandle

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

First Record Of Pseudorabies In Feral Swine In Nebraska, Sam Wilson, Alan R. Doster, Justin D. Hoffman, Scott E. Hygnstrom

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In 2007, two new populations of feral swine were discovered in Nance and Valley counties, Nebraska, USA. Necropsies and serologic testing was done on two individuals from the Nance County herd. Results indicated that a lactating sow had positive antibodies for pseudorabies virus (PRV). Investigations conducted by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Law Enforcement division confirmed that the infected individual was transported illegally to Nebraska, USA, from Texas, USA. All domestic swine herds located within an 8 km radius of the infected individual tested negative for antibodies to PRV. Our results provide a clear example of how diseases can spread …

Long-Term Agricultural Land-Use Trends In Nebraska, 1866–2007, Tim L. Hiller, Larkin A. Powell, Tim D. Mccoy, Jeffrey J. Lusk

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Although landscape changes from anthropogenic causes occur at much faster rates than those from natural processes (e.g., geological, vegetation succession), human perception of such changes is often subjective, inaccurate, or nonexistent. Given the large-scale land-use changes that have occurred throughout the Great Plains, the potential impacts of land-use changes on ecological systems, and the insight gained from knowledge of land-use trends (e.g., to compare to wildlife population trends), we synthesized information related to land-use trends in Nebraska during 1866–2007. We discussed and interpreted known and potential causes of short- and long-term land-use trends based on agricultural and weather data; farm …

Historical Winter Diets Of Mink (Mustela Vison) In Nebraska, Justin D. Hoffman, Sam Wilson, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Currently there are no published accounts of the specific diets of mink (Mustela vison) in Nebraska. Herein, we present findings of an historic data set on the winter diets of mink in Nebraska. Gastrointestinal (GI) tracts of mink were collected by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission during the 1946-1947 fur trapping season. The contents of the GI tracts were identified as specifically as possible and percentage of occurrence and percentage of total volume was calculated for each prey item. Mammals and bony fish were the most encountered items. Among mammals, rabbits and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) …

Open To Horror The Great Plains Situation In Contemporary Thrillers By E. E. Knight And By Douglas Preston And Lincoln Child, A. B. Emrys

Great Plains Quarterly

From the agoraphobic prairie where the father of Willa Cather's Antonia kills himself, to the claustrophobic North Dakota town of Argus devastated by storm in Louise Erdrich's "Fleur," to Lightning Flat, the grim home of Jack Twist in Annie Proulx's "Brokeback Mountain," much Great Plains literature is situational, placing human drama in the context of historicalor contemporary setting. Isolation, fierce weather, and inherent pressures on survival remain primary, and the Plains is a character in itself that appears as a presence, whether foregrounded or ghostly, in works that cannot help but evoke the Great Plains then and now. The Plains' …

Cultural Survival And The Omaha Way Eunice Woodhull Stabler's Legacy Of Preservation On The Twentieth,Century Plains, Elaine M. Nelson

Great Plains Quarterly

In the summer of 2004 I pulled into the rock and gravel driveway of a small blue home in Walthill, Nebraska, a community in the northern part of the Omaha Indian reservation. Feeling nervous about the large and unavoidable sign reading "BEWARE OF DOG," I knocked on the screen door. I was welcomed with wild barking from inside before I heard a man's voice yell, "Rambo! Hush up! Rambo, get down!" Startled, I nearly dropped my books and tape recorder. The door swung open. I expected to be faced with a Doberman/German shepherd/ pit bull mix; instead, I looked down …

Ec09-167 Weeds Of Nebraska : Russian Olive, Robert Wilson, Mark Bernards

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Extension Circular 09-167 discusses weeds of Nebraska, the Russian Olive.

Year Five Of Implementation—2008-2009 Nebraska Reading First Annual Report, Guy Trainin, Mindy Murphy, Kristin Javorsky, Kathryn A. Wilson

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

The 2008-2009 Annual Reading First Progress Report reflects on the final year of implementation for Round I schools and the third full year of implementation for Round II schools. This report focuses on the effect that Reading First implementation has had on selected schools across Nebraska with a special focus on vulnerable populations: English language learners, students of different ethnicities, special education students, and economically disadvantaged students.

Ec09-219 Nebraska Swine Report

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Extension Circular 09-219: 2009 Nebraska swine report including nutrition, health, genetics, and management

Sustainability In A Time Of Climate Change: Developing An Intensive Research Framework For The Platte River Basin And The High Plains. Proceedings From The 2008 Climate Change Workshop, May 19-22., University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Office Of Research

Office of Research and Economic Development: Publications

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are developing a research partnership to better understand, adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change in the Platte River Basin and the High Plains. The Climate Change 2008 Workshop, “Sustainability in a Time of Climate Change: Developing an Intensive Research Framework for the Platte River Basin and the High Plains” was designed to inventory our mutual research strengths and resources in this area and to bring key stakeholders and decision-makers into the process to build further partnerships.

The native grasslands and farmlands of Nebraska comprise one of …

Recent Occurrence Of An American Black Bear In Nebraska, Justin D. Hoffman, Sam Wilson, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

We report on a young male, cinnamon-phase American black bear (Ursus americanus) that was collected in northwestern Nebraska on May 12, 2008. This specimen represents the first black bear taken in Nebraska since 1907. Cranial characteristics and mass of the individual indicated a 15–16-month old bear. This bear may have dispersed from the Laramie Mountains in southeastern Wyoming along the North Platte River into western Nebraska. This record adds to the growing number of cases where large carnivores are reinvading previously occupied territory in the Great Plains. These reinvasions potentially have broad ecological implications to local prey populations …

Probabilistic Movement Model With Emigration Simulates Movements Of Deer In Nebraska, 1990–2006, Charles J. Frost, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Andrew J. Tyre, Kent M. Eskridge, David M. Baasch, Justin R. Boner, Gregory M. Clements, Jason M. Gilsdorf, Travis C. Kinsell, Kurt C. Vercauteren

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Movements of deer can affect population dynamics, spatial redistribution, and transmission and spread of diseases. Our goal was to model the movement of deer in Nebraska in an attempt to predict the potential for spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) into eastern Nebraska. We collared and radio-tracked >600 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in Nebraska during 1990–2006.We observed large displacements (>10 km) for both species and sexes of deer, including migrations up to 100 km and dispersals up to 50 km. Average distance traveled between successive daily locations was 166m for …