LINCOLN, Nebraska – The Lower Platte South Natural Resources District (LPSNRD) Board of Directors held their monthly board meeting April 17, 2024, to discuss and consider a number of items including reports from various subcommittees.

During the Recreation, Forestry & Wildlife Subcommittee report, the Board approved the acquisition of a conservation easement from the National Audubon Society at the Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center. As a result, this acquisition will provide a conservation easement that secures protection for the native property and paves the way for a trail as part of the Prairie Corridor project.

The nearly 160-acre property is in natural, scenic, open, and undeveloped condition that provides unique recreational and educational resources and contains valuable wildlife habitat, including virgin tallgrass prairie, woodlands, and a riparian stream corridor. This protected property is of particular importance for migratory birds and other wildlife that are reliant on the diminishing grassland and prairie habitat which the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District is dedicated to protecting.

In addition to the conservation easement, the agreement also included a trail easement allowing a 10-foot multi-use recreational trail to be constructed as a part of the Prairie Corridor project for the purpose of providing public access and a future continuous trail connection from the Pioneers Park Nature Center to the Audubon’s Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center.