Overview

""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 underlying 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 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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Monica Norby ,  Judy Diamond ,  Aaron Sutherlen ,  Sherilyn C. Fritz
Publisher:   University of Nebraska Press
Imprint:   University of Nebraska Press
ISBN:  

9781496235831

ISBN 10:   1496235835
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   01 April 2024
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

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  

Reviews

"""By the book's end, the reader will be familiar with the history, geography, and topography of the region as well as the daily lives of the hardy cattle ranchers who now reside within. . . . The book should appeal to anyone residing within driving distance of the Sandhills.""—J. Kemper Campbell, Lincoln Journal Star"

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