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Little Salt Fork Marsh

Salt Wort
Salt Wort
© C. Helzer/TNC


Tiger beetle
Tiger beetle
© The Nature Conservancy


Inland Saltgrass, C. Helzer
Inland saltgrass
© C. Helzer/TNC

Why You Should Visit
Little Salt Fork Marsh harbors numerous unusual salt tolerant plants and animals, including the rare Salt Creek tiger beetle. It is also an important resting and feeding spot for migratory water birds. The Salt marshes of Lancaster and Saunders counties are Nebraska’s most rare and most threatened natural community. An estimated 1,200 acres of the once estimated 16,000 acres of saline wetlands remain in the Salt Creek and Little Salt Creek drainages near Lincoln, Nebraska.

Location
Lancaster County

Size
200 acres

How to Prepare for Your Visit
While open to the public, due to the preserve's fragile habitat and rare species, visitation is limited. For further information, call (402) 342-0282, or e-mail nebraska@tnc.org

What to See: Plants

  • Saltwort
  • Sea blite
  • Saltgrass
  • Marshelder

What to See: Animals

  • Salt Creek tiger beetle
  • Blue-winged teal
  • Gadwalls
  • Widgeons
  • Shovelers
  • Pintails
  • Rails
  • Dowitchers
  • Snipe
  • Killdeer
  • Yellowlegs
  • Short-eared owls
  • Sedge wrens
  • Minks
  • Muskrats

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The Conservancy acquired the original 59 acres at Little Salt Fork Marsh in 1994, and another 40 acres in 1996, with the intent of restoring the hydrology in this portion of the Little Salt Creek watershed.

In 1996, Burlington Northern Santa Fe purchased an additional 80 acres adjacent to Little Salt Fork Marsh and implemented the restoration of the wetlands on the three contiguous tracts that now comprise the preserve. It also gave funds to the Conservancy to purchase additional property in the area and to increase the Nebraska Stewardship Endowment. This project is the first effort in Nebraska to create what is called a wetland mitigation bank.

Mitigation banking requires the landowner to meet stricter standards. In Nebraska, for example, BNSF has been required to restore wetlands at Little Salt Fork before it can alter wetlands on its properties. As BNSF impacts these wetlands it will draw upon credits in the mitigation bank it will have earned for the Little Salt Fork restoration.