Conserving the Wildcat Hills

Wildcat Hills, Nebraska
© Chris Helzer/TNC

The Wildcat Hills landscape is a rocky escarpment that rises several hundred feet on the south side of the North Platte River in western Nebraska. It consists primarily of sandstone, siltstone and volcanic ash. The north bluff of the escarpment is steep, with deep incised canyons. North-facing slopes support ponderosa pine woodlands. Mixed-grass prairie, rock outcrops, and scattered patches of rare sandsage prairie occupy the remainder.

The Hills’ mosaic of pine woodlands and mixed-grass prairie remains remarkably intact ecologically. The state’s largest stands of mountain mahogany occur here along with one of only two bighorn sheep populations in the state. Tier 1 at-risk species that reside in the Wildcat Hills include the swift fox, the burrowing owl and Nuttall’s desert parsley. At least 17 Tier 2 at-risk species are also present.

Bighorn rams in the Wildcat Hills, Nebraska

Bighorn rams, Wildcat Hills, Nebraska
Photo Courtesy of Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

There is a high level of urgency to protect habitat in the Wildcat Hills. The advanced age of many ranch owners and an exponential increase in residential development pressure predispose much of the Wildcat Hills to fragmentation and loss of habitat. Additionally, the cost of purchasing land is well beyond the net income potential of traditional cattle ranching. Developers subdivide land into ranchettes that eliminate wildlife habitat, close off migration routes, introduce invasive species and promote overgrazing, leading to soil erosion.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Bighorn Sheep Management Plan prioritizes the Wildcat Hills for conservation as it offers the most high-quality habitat in the state. The tract specifically targeted by this proposal serves as a primary use area for bighorns, especially during the lambing season.

The Wildcat Hills Wildlands Initiative (WHWI) has conducted conservation planning to identify the most strategic tracts to acquire for effective conservation of this ecosystem. Consisting of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the nonprofit Platte River Basin Environments, Inc. and The Nature Conservancy, the WHWI’s mission is to conserve the Wildcat Hills ecosystem by maintaining, enhancing and restoring native plant communities and the wildlife they support while promoting compatible recreation and income-producing opportunities in support of ecological management. WHWI projects include land acquisitions, research, private lands habitat management, conservation easements and bighorn sheep reintroductions.

WHWI partners currently own 20,000 acres of habitat, and have a five-year goal to own 50,000 contiguous acres. Collaboration to manage these lands as a single ecological unit enhances cost effectiveness, maximizes the biological diversity conserved and increases recreational opportunities for the public. The large core of WHWI lands are already being used to catalyze habitat improvements on neighboring private lands, achieving conservation on a larger, more viable and sustainable scale.