March, 2020
Lincoln – Last year I cut out over 750 Eastern Red Cedars from our grasslands; last week I eliminated over 600 more. These are young cedars, from 6" to 6', still small enough to take out with loppers. The larger ones require an axe or chain saw, but we'll get them under control, too.
Managers of the neighboring Alexis pasture took out hundreds of cedars last year with a tractor-mounted saw. Nearby, UNL managers burned cedars and brush on historic Nine Mile Prairie. Most other neighbors are also working at cedar control.
If the cedars are not controlled they will take over the grasslands, creating dense forests inhospitable to the abundant flora and fauna of native and restored prairies.
Chelsea Forehead, Hubbard Fellow at The Nature Conservancy's prairie in Aurora, Nebraska, writes:
The magnitude of cedar invasion across Nebraska and surrounding states is daunting.
One of her suggestions is to eliminate female cedars from planted windbreaks. Apparently Nebraska nurseries distribute huge numbers of cedars for such purposes, both male and female.
There is an average of 850,000 eastern red cedar trees cultivated for distribution in Nebraska each year- more than any other state in the region.
Nurseries could help in the effort by selling only males, if it is possible to identify them as seedlings. If not, perhaps researchers could develop ways to do so.
Saving remaining grasslands from forestation will require the concerted efforts of landowners and conservation organizations alike. For those efforts to be successful, stakeholders will have to take a multi-faceted approach and consider all possible measures of combating cedar spread.
