A wildfire in progress north of Riverdale on Saturday, March 22, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
NEBRASKA — Nebraska has faced devastating wildfires over the past two decades, significantly reducing its green infrastructure.
In response, landowners are participating in a cost-share reforestation program led by the Nebraska Forest Service (NFS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and Natural Resources Districts (NRDs). The initiative covers 90% of replanting costs, making restoration affordable for landowners in the Wildcat Hills, Pine Ridge, and Niobrara Valley regions.
Seedlings, sourced from the Charles E. Bessey Nursery in Halsey, Nebraska, are stored at the Middle and Upper Niobrara White NRD facilities before being planted. Experience shows that potted trees, which retain moisture longer, have a higher survival rate, especially when supported by timely rains.
Reforestation efforts began after the 2006 and 2012 wildfires, which reduced Nebraska’s ponderosa pine forests from 500,000 acres to approximately 250,000. In recent years, thousands of trees have been planted, including 19,500 in burn areas from the 2021 Hackberry and Buffalo Creek Fires and the 2022 Smokey and Carter Canyon Fires in the Wildcat Hills.
Mark Johnson, whose Cherry County ranch was ravaged by the 2023 McCann Fire, participated in the program, helping plant 30,000 pines in the Niobrara Valley. 80,000 trees were planted in the Pine Ridge region in spring 2024.
“Without this project, those trees never would have come back,” Johnson said.
With plans to continue for at least five more years, the program aims to restore Nebraska’s forests while ensuring future generations benefit from these landscapes. “We’re not doing it for us,” said one landowner. “We’re doing it for our kids.”
