LOWER LOUP NRD RECEIVES GRANT FROM THE NEBRASKA ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST

The Lower Loup NRD announced today that it will receive $46,075 from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for the "Wood Waste/Saw Log Utilization and Red Cedar Management Project." The Trust Board announced preliminary funding for the project at its last meeting on February 7 in Lincoln. The project is one of the 77 projects receiving $14,798,718 in grant awards from the Nebraska Environmental Trust this year.

The Wood Waste/Saw Log utilization and Red Cedar Management Project will provide a series of six educational workshops across the Lower Loup NRD beginning in 2008 and running through 2009. NRD and Nebraska Forest Service staff will lead the workshops and provide information regarding uses of woody biomass, merchantable timber, and red cedar management options. Utilizing the EZ Boardwalk portable band saw-mill and the Vermeer BC1500 drum-style brush chipper, the potential for rural residents and communities to create successful businesses from these under-utilized resources would be demonstrated. One method of controlling the red cedar population expansion on rangeland will be demonstrated through use of a Brush Wolf 7800 skid steer-mounted rotary brush cutter.

The project is expected to help small communities deal with the disposal of waste wood and compliment NRD work with landowners to combat the on-going problem of red cedar trees encroaching on and taking over productive rangeland. Utilizing woody biomass, round-wood, and saw-timber for various wood products and bio-fuels applications will allow the disposal and management tasks to be accomplished at an affordable cost to the community and landowner. The purchase of portable equipment will give the opportunity to take the demonstrations and information to potential audiences, increasing the amount of exposure to the concepts and ideas presented. Small communities will have a means to recycle and dispose of usable wood waste. The environmental benefits created would be a better alternative to current wood waste disposal methods. Expanding red cedar populations on rangeland would be controlled. Treated rangeland would be returned to its natural state, where native plants can grow undeterred and unimpeded. Landowners will see better land use, improved grazing and a reduction in fire danger.

The Nebraska Legislature created the Nebraska Environmental Trust in 1992. This year the Nebraska Environmental Trust and the Nebraska Lottery are celebrating 15 years of partnership in making Nebraska a better place. Using revenue from the Nebraska Lottery, the Trust has provided grants to 1035 businesses and individuals that want to protect Nebraska's natural habitat, improve water quality, or protect and restore our natural resources for future generations. You may visit the Trust's website at: www.environmentaltrust.org for more information.

This page last modified on 5/7/08.