Saving Nebraska’s Sandhills, One Tree At A Time

Barb Cooksley Keeps Grasslands Open On Nebraska Ranch

The Sandhills grasslands in Nebraska are the world’s most intact prairie. It’s home to cattle and generational ranchers as well as grassland birds, antelope and many other critters. But over the past several decades, the Sandhills have undergone an unappealing change as trees multiplied across the once-open landscape.

To battle the intrusion of trees, Barb Cooksley always travels her pastures with a set of lopping shears and a collapsible handsaw.

“I’ve set a personal goal over the past eight years of personally cutting 1,000 trees. It’s so easy, it’s like cutting thistle: you see it, you take care of it,” says Cooksley, who is the co-owner of Cooksley Ranch in Anselmo, Nebraska, as well as the Region VII vice-president for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Cooksley understands the urgency of returning the Sandhills to its original status. “We’re one of the last intact grasslands left. If we lose this, it impacts our grazing and that impacts the consumers down the road,” she explains.

Working Together For A Common Goal

Pairing the joint goals of wildlife conservation and healthy grazing lands has been a win-win for Nebraska landowners like Cooksley. For instance, habitat management grant programs have helped many landowners reinstate native grasses on their ranches. This includes programs funded through the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Working Lands for Wildlife effort, says Jeff Nichols, state range management specialist for NRCS in Nebraska.

“The popular saying is ‘what’s good for the bird is good for the herd’ and that’s really true,” says Nichols. “Landowners in this area are using wildlife species to leverage dollars and get grant funding.”

“Great Plains grasslands are being lost to one of two things: the plow and woody encroachment. Only 16 to 18 percent of the Great Plains hasn’t been farmed or covered by trees,” Nichols says. 

The Nebraska Great Plains Grassland Initiative is a rancher-driven, science-based effort through NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife, that helps landowners identify and address threats to the landscapes that fuel their livelihood. This includes providing resources for landowners to reduce woody encroachment in core grasslands.

The Real Threat Of Trees In The Sandhills

The collapse of the grassland biome is a legitimate threat as prairies transition to monoculture forests of redcedar, says Dirac Tidwell, associate professor of rangeland and forage sciences at the University of Nebraska.

“We’re seeing the collapse of livestock production and we’re seeing impacts to water,” Twidwell explains. “We’re either going to figure out how to solve this or we’re going to deal with the consequences. It’s not just production on a ranch—it’s affecting a host of ecosystem services that we depend on.”

Part of Cooksley’s management goals on her pastures is to improve habitat for grassland birds like prairie chickens, which need tree-free landscapes to thrive. More birds and healthier prairies also benefit the people who enjoy recreating in the Sandhills, including hunters. “A lot of people who come out to hunt will help me cut trees while they’re out here,” she says.

Cooksley emphasizes that she doesn’t want to completely rid the Sandhills of trees, just remove the ones that don’t belong on the prairie. “I love trees, but they need to stay right where you put them. They either need to be a shade tree in a yard or in a windbreak.”

As for any trees that creep out onto her grasslands, Cooksley will readily lop or chop them down to save the Great Plains.