Laserfiche WebLink
8 <br />The southern portion of the Property is contiguous to lands owned and managed by the <br />Platte River Whooping Crane Habitat Maintenance Trust Inc. (Trust) and The Nature <br />Conservancy (TNC). The Property has approximately 560 acres of farmland, grassland <br />and wetlands that are south of the historic high bank of the river. These? areas are <br />adjacent to approximately 600 acres of land owned by the Trust, which is contiguous <br />with approximately 240 acres of land owned by TNC. Much of this land is marginal <br />farmland because of high ground water tables and may be suitable for management as <br />grasslands, wetlands or wet meadow habitats. The Oversight Committee will explore <br />future opportunities to work with the Trust and TNC in developing grassland, wetlands <br />and/or wet meadow habitat. If the Trust or TNC wish to work with the Oversight <br />Committee, development and enhancement methodologies will be completed to <br />facilitate development and enhancement of these lands jointly; otherwise the <br />development and enhancement methodologies will be completed to develop and <br />enhance the Property independently. <br />Enhancement of existing weflands on the Property will be a priority. These <br />enhancements may include removal of built up silt and sediment deposits, vegetation <br />andlor increasing existing water supplies through natural, or artificial means. Old swales <br />that are still present but have been altered by past agricultural practices may be restored. <br />The design of wetland areas on the south side of the Property will include the installation <br />of groundwater monitoring wells to assess impacts on the surrounding area. Detailed <br />survey work will also be needed to insure that there are no negative impacts from surface <br />water runoff to adjacent landowners and determine if surface water can be utilized for <br />beneficial purposes. Any alteration to existing groundwater drainage systems will be <br />modeled to ascertain that no impacts from rising groundwater levels will impact adjacent <br />landowners. The Oversight Committee will obtain appropriate information before <br />finalizing enhancement and development methodologies. <br />The development and enhancement methodologies will include the extent of property to <br />be managed, responsibilities of each cooperating partner; methods to be used, and <br />monitoring and evaluation techniques. Due to the number of cooperating entities <br />involved with such a project, a longer time period may be required to develop and <br />finalize development and enhancement methodologies and no timeline will be set for <br />completion of projects done in conjunction with the Trust and TNC. Identification of <br />possible management options, information needs and development and enhancement <br />measures will be included in Phase 2. NPPD will not be required to spend any of the <br />$1.3 million (1997 dollars) on management of properties owned by other entities but <br />agrees to coordinate management of the Property with the other entities to maximize <br />benefits to the target species. <br />3.6 Bald Eagle Perch and Roost Sites <br />Objective: Protect bald eagle roost and perch sites.