HALSEY – The path forward for the Nebraska National Forest is still wooly, but a pair of listening sessions held Monday at the Halsey Community Center by Nebraska Forests and Grasslands assured the community of two things: that the road to restoring the 4,189 hand-planted acres might be long, but it would at the very least be free of eastern redcedar.
The tree is one of three primary species in the experimental, hand-planted forest, and has been widely blamed for its contribution to wildfire conditions; it grows and grows, encroaching upon both native and planted species, viable grazing lands, and roads, which according to one early responder to the Bovee Fire, are crucial to mitigating damage in times of crisis.
“We were one of the first responding trucks to the fire, and when we came in on 201, we were a ways south of the fire. There was no other access to head it off. Natural firebreaks were designed for the forest, but cedars had just taken them over, and we just didn’t have access to them. It made fighting it a bit tougher.”
Nebraska Forests and Grasslands has salvage and cedar removal operations planned, some of which have been ongoing since the Bovee Fire, including fence and trail rehabilitation as well as aerial seeding operations.
The larger harvesting and reforestation projects, however, will have to wait until formal recognition by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a process in which local community input plays the very first step.
That community input ranged from innovating reseeding operations through cattle and birds to thinning undesirable species through grazing, but no matter the topic, the baseline, unspoken understanding between the 15 or so gathered in the community center was that the forest absolutely should be replanted.
The 120-year-old forest is now of the age where those living around it could not know a time when it didn’t exist; it has become as much a part of Blaine and Thomas Counties as an old neighbor, a childhood friend, or a favorite teacher.
Nebraska Forests and Grasslands Wildlife Biologist and meeting moderator Greg Wright said his team understands this, and realizes just how important the conversations around the next steps are going to be.
“We know that the forest is incredibly important for identity’s sake and its historical value. This is Halsey. The hand-planted forest is cultural. We’re not going to revert everything that was forested back into grassland.”
Replanting would be one thing, then, but community members such as Brenda Masek harbor concerns that in doing so without proper handling, the forest’s physical roots could overrun its historical and cultural ones, which to the people of the surrounding towns, are just as important.
“I’d really like to see the facts, the history. The stuff that was down by the tower about the 1965 fire, the signs, all that has to come back. We need more public education. Who today knows about the Civilian Conservation Corps? Who knows about the 1930s? Who going through school now even knows what happened during that fire?”
Kearney transplant Wilma Heinowski concurred.
“When I first started coming out here, one of the neat things was seeing all the signs that were posted, who planted which section of trees. It was really cool, this year, to see some of those signs starting to come back up.”
In addition to the historic and sentimental value, the area draws a great deal of its economic strength from the forest; the towns need a thriving forest to continue to prosper. Masek, like many others, is concerned that those outside the region may not know just how much the forest means for everyone around it.
“Three-fourths of the economy in this village comes from the forest, and a lot of Thedford’s too. The people that come here need to realize the impact they’re having. If there’s anything we can do to increase that awareness, it would be huge.”
The hour allotted for conversation was scarcely enough to get anyone’s hands dirty, as discussions about current forest usage, ideal animal habitat creation, and potential recreational opportunities were only briefly touched on. However, Nebraska Forests and Grasslands could be hosting another input meeting in Thedford as the NEPA process continues.
In the meantime, a survey through Nebraska Forests and Grasslands remains open for at least 2 more weeks to collect more information from anyone who appreciates all the forest does and can do.
