Nebraskaland; Best of Nebraskaland - Pledge Special

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I'm talking about, but I don't know what I'm talking about, but I don't know what I'm talking about the Upper Nia Brea River on this special best of Nebraska land. The Major Funding for Nebraska Land is provided by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, publishers of Nebraska Land Magazine, additional funding by Smith

Klein Beacham Animal Health, makers of animal health products for pets and livestock on behalf of veterinarians in your community, and by Nebraska's for public television. I'm Merlin Klaus, welcome to the best of Nebraska Land. Each month Nebraska Land features people who enjoy nature and the great outdoors. Tonight we'll look back at some of our most memorable moments. We'll begin with a refreshing look at wintering eagles. Now for most of the year bald eagles live in the mountainous states to the north, but each winter they venture south right here to Nebraska, where despite the cold they find open water and plenty of food. Last year I met an eagle enthusiast who showed me two places where you and I can get close enough to see the power and beauty of these majestic birds. I just love to watch them. I mean they're absolutely beautiful magnificent

bird and you get this great feeling when they come soren over and you watch them do things, but in other regards they're kind of like a beautiful vulture too. This county that you live in is one of probably the top 20 places in the world to see bald eagles. Mark Payton teaches science at Gothenburg High School. He loves the outdoors and shares his enthusiasm and knowledge with his students. If we had a bald eagle in class and we put his feet right here on this line that I have drawn his head would be up here. That's pretty good size bird. And if we spread his wings out we go all the way from here to here 80 inches and so that's pretty good size 7 foot long bird. But yet we put this huge bird up here on the wall it only weigh about 8 to 12 pounds and that's another misconception. People see this huge bird and they think gosh what is it way it's got to be massive. Fat things don't fly. You might as well remember that. Anytime you see something flying it's not very fat. Mark's involvement with eagles

extends far beyond the classroom. He takes part in the nation's annual eagle survey helping to count the birds that winter in Nebraska. It's fair to assume that where I live that I can go from North Platt to Carney and I think probably a person could count over 200. The females tend to be larger. If there are a couple birds up there and one's quite a bit larger than the other when you've got a pretty good bet that one's a male and female. The juveniles, the young birds, they don't have the white head. They start out dark and they slowly develop some white in the breast and wings and then about the 50 year they develop the nice bright white head and tail. In the late afternoon eagles return to their roost trees to spend the night. Mark has located one of these areas. What you can do is you can snow it a little bit hard to see,

but places where they've been feeding and feathers and places where they've gone to the bathroom in the morning that are here and you can find these are pellets, what happens when they feed they'll digest everything but the fur and the feathers and when the birds pray, feed on things that have fur and feathers, they can't digest the fur feathers or the bones and say what at the stomach compacts it and they regurgitate it and you can tear them open and a lot of times evaluate what the bird was eating, here's a little bone, but this one of course is frozen solid so it's kind of hard to get into it, but this is predominantly fur, there is some bone in there that this one was feeding on. Sitting quietly in a small blind, Mark will wait for the eagles to roost. Often, man -made structures are associated with destruction

of wildlife habitat. Ironically, the hydroelectric power plants near Lexington and Ovalala provide an important source of food for the eagles and waterfowl. They built the power plants to bolster the economy of the irrigation district, basically and the way they've started to benefit the eagles, twofold, actually one, the process of the water coming through the plant and the turbulence that ensues from that keeps the trail down canal from the plant open when it gets real cold like it was here this winter and everything else freezes up, that quarter mile or half a mile of canal is open and so the birds have open water where they can collect fish. The second thing is that the fish coming through the turbine, if they're not already dead, if they haven't winter stress killed, then the turbines can stun them, can disorient them, even kill them, and so here you've got a very susceptible food supply bubbling out at the bottom,

eagles don't store a lot of fat and they can't go a long time without eating and remain good health. So getting food with as least energy expenditure is possible is absolutely critical for them. It's cheap, easy food and it may very well be the difference between life and death or successful reproduction. In order to provide easy access for the public, without disturbing the birds, the central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District has set up viewing stations at two of their plants along the Platte River, one at Lexington and another near Ogolala. One of the things the district wanted to do was to make sure that when people came there and asked questions, there was somebody there to answer them and here I was wandering up down the river looking at eagles and so one thing led to another and I started going over there on weekends just to act as I don't know a host of sorts and answer questions if I could. Look

at that, he's going to come right over here and sit down right in front for everybody I wish to. No, all right. Here's a place where you can drive to, you can sit in a relatively warm place and you can see eagles and the eagle was the bird that we thought we were going to lose here in the 48 states and it's made a tremendous comeback but it's still on the endangered species list and they're still at it, you know, the draw, the intrigue of an endangered species that I can go see. It's fun to watch them a lot of times, one bird will be sitting somewhere, seemingly mining its own business and all of a sudden another bird will just come in and land right there and force that one off the branch. That's just a way of reestablishing Pec order which in most species of birds is extremely important. Pec order determines who gets the best place to roost, who gets the best nest sites, possibly who gets the best food gathering location and generally the older, bigger,

stronger birds are up higher on the Pec order. They tend to hunt the wounded sick, the injured, the ducks that don't behave properly. So the healthy ducks and geese, they're quite capable of flying and making the chase fairly difficult and so if there's other food available, the eagles will more or less just ignore them. Nearby, other predators scavenge the area keeping a respectful distance. Here again, coyotes are quite capable of injuring an eagles fairly severely and eagles are quite capable of damaging coyotes and a lot of predators have a great deal respect for other animals that can injure them. They have a lot of flight behavior, most of it's around court shit, they'll have a chase behavior, one will chase the other and it's almost like a follow the leader type, you know, aerial acrobats,

the bird will be flying and you'll be watching through the camera lens or through the binoculars, you won't see the other bird and all of a sudden they'll flip over and make an attack display toward the other bird and scare it off. You know, you watch a bird do something, you're trying to explain why is it flying so crazy, why is it doing all that kind of thing and it comes back to mind, well why do kids do what they do? Play is a learning activity and I don't know why birds can't play and why they can't act kind of goofy at times and very, you know, very possibly is testing out new abilities by playing and by flying and doing some aerial acrobatics and you know, it's just like a lot of times the bird will take off from a perch and just fly around and fly around and come back and land and you go, why, you know, and it just maybe felt like flying and it was the thing that it wanted to do.

Last winter we saw over a hundred eagles one morning at Lake McConaughey's Kingsley Dam. It was an incredible sight. Now let's travel west to the Pine Ridge where a giant herd of buffalo roams free once again with the help of a few modern buffalo wranglers. Before North America was discovered, buffalo herds covered nearly one -third of the company. Some scientists estimate there were 60 million buffalo at the peak of their population. As American civilization pushed westward in the late 1800s, the great herds were almost completely exterminated. Why the turn of the century only

1 ,000 buffalo remained? Today, in the Pine Ridge, game and park staff and local ranchers prepare for the annual roundup of buffalo at Fort Robinson. Then I just open this gate here until everybody gets out and then shut it. Then go over and open that gate over there in the bottom. The buffalo at the Fort are managed much like a domestic cattle herd. Today's roundup will bring the buffalo in for health tests. On this mild December morning, Jim Lemon is saddling up to lead the roundup. You ready?

They're basically, you know, not near domesticated as a beef cow. So they, of course, run faster and they're harder to handle, they're harder to turn. And if you're, you know, working them, if they work better in a bunch than they do one or two, one or two is just pertinent impossible to handle about all you can do is rope them or something then. Originating in 1973 with only 13 buffalo, the herd now numbers over 2 ,000, and roam over 3 ,500 acres of fenced -in land. Buffalo are not only a tourist attraction at the Fort,

they also provide the meat, which is served at restaurants in the state park system. Gary Schlechtmeyer of Game and Parks has helped with the roundup for years. We were fortunate that we have some people with ranch background, cattle backgrounds. Most of the guys are employees of the commission. Occasionally, we have a neighbor that comes over and gives us a hand. I guess we've done it so many years now that the ones that are still here are pretty seasoned and understand our operation. How'd it go? Not too bad, pretty good, pretty good. Just like we wanted it. But it went real well and the weather's real good. Sometimes when it's real nice like this, they don't handle as well, but this was pleasant for both us and the buffalo. Sometimes though, the

herd's disposition can quickly change. Now comes the hard part. Moving the buffalo into corrals, so calves can be weaned and health tests conducted. Buffalo are unpredictable, it's pretty difficult to tell. Just how they're going to work, sometimes they just seem to do everything the way you want it. And then the next time seems like everything goes wrong. This is the best part of the whole thing right here, eating this. The hard work completed. It's time for man and animal alike to enjoy a little lunch. In the afternoon, Dr. Butch Sahara, a local veterinarian,

supervises the health check. We have a program on these buffalo where every four years, we test the entire herd for tuberculosis and for brusolosis. Brusolosis is a disease that probably 35 years ago in Nebraska was present in all of the cowherds or most of the cowherds. And this disease, when it is found in a herd, causes what we call late -term abortions on these cattle or bison. And we can see it to be an infreshly infected herd where it may affect up to 10 to 20 % of the animals and cause abortion in them. To prevent brusolosis, a bang's vaccination is given to the calves. You can see that in working these buffalo were using tractors with pushers on them. Nobody gets down in the area to handle the buffalo. It takes a facility like Fort Robinson is built up to handle these buffalo. You just don't go out in the herd and cut out one animal and bring it back in to do anything on it. You pretty much have to bring the whole herd to

do anything on any member of that herd. I've seen quite a few different sets of crows throughout the United States. And I believe we're the only one that has what we call this roller gate. And you can see how that works, how we roll it down. Let a few buffalo come through and are able to push a few head up towards the hub. And then we work them in the hub and then we're able to sort them off either into the shoots, turn them loose in the pasture or whatever and load them in trailers, whatever we want to do. There's a pretty good demand for buffalo now. There isn't a great lot of number, but there is a lot of buffalo in the United States at this time. We sold buffalo a year ago to Pennsylvania, Ohio. Every state partner has got buffalo now. I think that the decision to put buffalo at Fort Robinson was a good decision. It's just one of them cases where it's just been a combination of efforts that we've been able to put together a successful program.

As they work to protect the buffalo from extinction, they're also helping to preserve a special part of our heritage in the Great Pine Ridge. Up next meet Desiree Haney of Columbus, a wildlife artist whose love of nature and pure talent have really changed her life. Every fall, many of the areas

250 wood carvers gather in Omaha. This art exhibit, presented by the Mid -America Wood Carvers Association, is a time for regional artists to promote carving and exchange ideas. Wood carvers are a diverse group with a variety of unique talents. Desiree Haney is one of only a handful of women carvers at the exhibition, with only a few years experience as a wildlife artist. Desiree is rapidly earning national recognition for her work. How long does this take you to do? Well, the idea came about two years ago and then we worked and worked on it. It's three boards laminated together this way and then it's carved as one piece. It's one of those where I get mad at it and then I push it away on the shelf and work on something else for a while. Saw this all like the first carved in there? That's done with the wood burner, the

detail or the feather burners and stuff. That's great. Thank you. Yeah, you did good work. Thank you. How long have you been doing this? Well, I started carving in 7980. I just started teaching high school kids art and I was trying to draw them into the art world, which was in Bassett, Nebraska, which is in San Hilary, which all the kids are, you know, ranching. It was a ranch community and art was sussified. It was one of those things where you don't take art. That's not practical. So what I did is decided to introduce something that they could use and wood carving was one of the subjects I knew nothing about. So I bluffed my way through and I fell in love with it and so did my students and insisted on it, you know, year after year after year in the curriculum. So that's how I got into carving. The first wood carving project that I really worked on was a walnut table. It was going to be a wedding gift for my husband, but I didn't finish it until two years after we were married. I used exacto knives and the big chisels that you get from the lumber yard used hammers on them, which you're not supposed to do. You're supposed to use mallets, but I didn't know what a mallet was.

Oh, I lucked out. I married the right guy who believed in me enough. When Jeff was born, I was teaching and it was hard for me to leave him at the babysitter. So when we moved to Columbus, Bernie and I worked out a deal to see if the artwork would work for a year. We worked out a budget and I was working for a t -shirt company and a printing company and freelance for a card company that was in Washington, D .C. And I even drew patterns for other carvers. And the wood carving just started taking off for us and got to stay home with my little guy and make the mistakes and raising him instead of blaming somebody else. I get an idea and I go through sketchbooks and I even look at videos and then I do a cartoon sketch. I exaggerate and get the movement in through a stick and circle type drawing. The woods, I like to use gel u

-tone and bass wood. They're blank wood. They don't have a lot of heavy grain. So I can put my own marks with the wood burner. It's a shame to cover up any beautiful grains that's naturally in the wood. Plus it's harder to paint over. So I like bass wood and gel u -tone. Plus they're easier to carve. Usually when I'm drawing on a piece, I have someone in the back of my mind and sometimes I'm not even aware of it. In my family or something we've come across that we've really enjoyed or gotten angry with. And I somehow put their personality into the animal that I'm working with. My son is in a lot of my carvings. My husband is in a lot of our carvings. There is one piece dedicated to my husband. He's a special education instructor. It was called the special educator. It was the baby sitter wolf in the pack. And the pups all around him were just being on it. He was yanking on his tail and when was scratching by him real close. And they were all being pretty hungry.

Each animal, especially mammals, have different faces on each. Like if it's a mother or any young, I want a feminine looking face. If I want it to be snarling, I'm going to find one that's really rough looking. Once the final shape and features are complete, fur texture is added with a wood burning process. Desiree has a natural talent for expressing the most delicate details in her wildlife subjects. This skill, combined with a courage to take creative risks, has earned her many honors in national competition. I'm going to do a process called dry brush. And all it is is you don't dip your brush into the water at all. You just skim the paint across the surface, which has been roughed up by the burner. You just barely bring it across and what it does is it picks up the highlights and proves that there is texture there and it emphasizes muscles and fur.

It's fun to do something that everybody says there's no way you can do. You take a chance with your life and you know we took a big chance doing this as a business and it's working. It's about it. Thank you very much. Did you get the name tag there and everything for this? Well, I think her work is exceptional. I do wood carving it myself. I just think that it takes exceptionally talented individuals that come up with such beautiful works of art or anatomy is just excellent. I don't know. Expression just seems like you're alive. Very nice work. That's gorgeous. Thank you. My favorite thing to do especially like in a mall show is when you're watching people go by and suddenly someone grabs the person that they're with and says,

whoa look at this and they back up and they start laughing or they point and they really look at it. It actually stops them for a moment and they enjoy you know something that you've worked so hard on and they'll take a moment and if you put a smile on someone's face or a thoughtful look or an amusement you know when they see a pup or a kitten doing something crazy. That's what I like. I like to touch someone like that. Have them see something for an instant smile, giggle. Today, Desiree continues to show her work in galleries and art shows across the country. It's people like Desiree that make our state special and it's special folks like you who help bring local programs like Nebraska land to ETV. Now we're going to pause and take a short break. This is a chance for you to show your support for programs like Nebraska land. Give us a call. We have folks in the studio waiting to take your pledge.

And when we return, you'll witness the spectacular sand hill crane migration to Nebraska. Then watch the lead jungle grow right before your eyes. But first become a member of NPTV. See you soon. Welcome back to the best of Nebraska land and thanks for your kind

support. Let's continue with one of nature's most amazing sights and sounds, the return of the sand hill cranes. For 10 million years, the sand hill cranes have crossed North America. For untold centuries, they have stopped at the Platinum to feed, mate, and fatten up for the long journey north to Canada, Alaska, and even Russia. This is the longest standing great migration on the continent. In recent years, small numbers of the human species have taken an increasing interest in this event. Very impressed. Yeah, I didn't expect this number of cranes. I thought I'd see half a dozen maybe. I didn't expect anything on this scale and the noise. I just didn't expect this noise. One or

two at a time. This is just amazing. The sand hill crane migration can be seen in many places along the Plat River between Grand Island and North Platinum. But one of the very best viewing places is at Fort Carney State Park near Carney, Nebraska. A pedestrian bridge has been built and is a prime vantage point for viewing cranes without disturbing them. Another advantage to this location is that there is a nearby visitor center, staffed by State Park personnel, where you can get background information on much of the area's wildlife. But with an inviting concentration on the sand hills crane. After all, it's the cranes that draw visitors here from nearby

and from far away. Do you want the big glasses? Yeah. You have your camera and the tripod. And become from Michigan. However, I'm originally from Germany. And I will take some of the information and post respect to Frankfurt when I go there in April to visit my family and tell them all about what we have seen here. This is the major stop for the cranes on their northward journey. They will stop each day as they travel northward for the night in various places along the migration route. But this is the one place where almost all the sand till cranes on this migration route gather for an extended period of time. And the reason that they're here is to get the nutrition that they need, both for the remainder of the journey and for the nesting

season ahead of them. Ken Strom is the manager of the National Audubon Society's Roe Sanctuary, along the Platt River south of Gibbon. One of the sanctuary's main purposes is to protect habitat for the migrating cranes. On the river itself, the plans among these various groups, including Audubon, is to try to maintain the open channel characteristics that these birds are attracted to. The broad reach of river that you can see here, which attracts these birds, that is free of vegetation and has sand bars that the birds are attracted to in the evenings. They're an unusual bird and a fascinating bird to watch because of a lot of their social behavior. I think that's why people really enjoy coming out here and seeing the birds and are captivated by them. They mate for life and the pair of sticks together year round.

At this time of the year you can also see in many cases a family group of three birds where last year's chick is still flying with the adults. This is also the time when the mated pair renew their bond through what we understand to be something of a courtship dance. And as you look at the birds in the fields, you will occasionally see pairs facing off to each other and going through a bowing and a scraping and a tossing of corn cobs or sticks into the air and fluttering about. And this is all part of a ritual that we believe is related to the mating of the birds. People need to realize that they don't have to come out to a blind to enjoy these birds. There are a lot of people for whom a field trip at dawn or at dusk is a little bit too strenuous but who can still enjoy the birds by simply observing the fields from the roadside throughout the day. The best that you can do

is to stay inside your car as you watch these birds. By all means, don't get out and try to walk across the field. The birds are very wary, they're only going to fly away from you. And the closest that you're likely to get to them is while you're in your car. We need to know how many birds are worth. They were asking how many birds there were. Oh, 7 ,062 in that bunch. One of the easiest ways to view sandhill cranes is on a guided tour. A guide can offer background and perspective on the birds. But viewing the cranes is an activity that can be done on your own. Here they come, they're certainly coming now. Especially with the aid of convenient viewing sites such as the bridge near Fort Carnie. Oh, spectacular. She told me when I called to book that she said, oh, don't miss it, it's great. I just told her it's an understatement. It was simply spectacular. No one should miss it. We had a very wonderful sunset over the river.

I couldn't believe the colors because I had seen the paintings here in the gift shop. And I thought, oh, there is all this lavender. This just comes from the painter's brush, but it was really there. And then this morning we went out early at 5 .30 and saw the sunrise and then this crescendo of the voices of the cranes and then an eagle flew over and they all took off. It's just unique. This is a magnificent gathering for all. 80 % of the world's population of sandhill cranes come to the plant. And if the majesty of these crane flocks is apparent that it is equally clear that the plant river habitat is crucial to their continued success. The cranes put on average about a pound of additional body weight in the form of fat. They put that on here on the plant. And the biologists who have been studying them

are convinced that without the nutrition they get here on the plant, these birds would not successfully reproduce on the nesting ground. The plant, of course, has a great historic significance as the first re -west for most of the traders and trappers and pioneers who settled this land. But we're discovering more and more that it has been a keystone in the gatherings of wildlife on this continent as well. The great plains used to hold the greatest gatherings of all kinds of wildlife, the vast herds of bison, and other large mammals and the huge flocks, not just the cranes, but of ducks and geese and shorebirds, such as curlies and sandpipers and the like. Today the cranes and the geese probably represent the last of these great gatherings and they are part of our natural heritage. To see the cranes in a modern setting makes them seem less exotic and more common. But the crane migration is a strong link with our ancient natural history. This will always make the sand hills crane a treasure.

Each spring the sand hill crane migration attracts thousands of visitors to the Platt River to witness this natural wonder. Next, a man made wonder that's attracting much attention. Let's take a trip to a faraway land that's not all that far away. A rainforest grown right here in Nebraska. The wind is a tree, not a tree. When

it's in a jungle that's not a jungle. But that's exactly what the Henry Durley Zoo is creating. A jungle under glass. Until recently it has been a dream. Now it's becoming a reality. It will be called the lead jungle. And it will be the largest indoor rainforest in the world. For more than five years, the Zoo's director, Dr. Lee Simmons, has been laying out plans for this unusual project. When you're standing here, you're right behind and underneath the waterfall. The water comes right straight down here. Just like in the old cars. Do you have a rope swing? Now the closest thing we got to a rope swing is rope bridge. It looks pretty substantial right now. But all of this metal gets covered up. So this will look like it's being tied on one end to an old rotten tree on one side and a piece of rock over here. Or you can take the cowards

away, which is this tunnel. Dr. Simmons has a vision that this bare bones construction site will one day become a botanically accurate rainforest. The lead jungle has required extensive research. But it's also been fun. Simmons has traveled to rainforests in Costa Rica, Peru, Malaysia, and Thailand to gain an understanding of how to capture the feel of a natural rainforest in an artificial setting. Recreating a jungle habitat is an important priority for the zoo. Since rainforests throughout the world are perishing at an astonishing rate. To create the illusion requires a combination of technology and artistry. Teams of construction workers and sculptors have used ton upon ton of concrete, iron, and fiberglass to transform walls into rock formations and

building supports into lifelike trees. It's a melding of nature with art. In nature, rainforest growth would take up to a century. But at the lead jungle, technology will create it in just over a year. It's September

1990. After nearly a year of construction, the first living inhabitants of the jungle finally arrive. Before this is all said and done, we will have 50 or maybe 60 semi -trailer loads of plants. How do you feel right now? Good. I mean, we've been waiting a while after all of these years of they dreaming and a year and a half of pushing hard at the building, all of a sudden we've got plants. As plants continue to stream in, lines are beginning to take hold with a little help from construction artists. Forty feet above the ground, an artificial tree is being fitted with real plantings that will eventually grow around its massive trunk. In elsewhere, a welder is adding hundreds of roots to create a lifelike curtain big tree.

By November, the last of the big trees arrives. A canopy has begun to take shape. We've seen so many trees that they're all blurring in the big green. That's why we can't see the trees for the forest anymore. It's beautiful. A year has now passed and the jungle beauty is in full bloom. Rolling mists are creating an enchanting mood, but it's practical too. High humidity and rainfall, so necessary to maintain rainforest life, are artificially supplemented in the lead jungle. And now, the first animals have moved in and begun to test out their new surroundings. The lead jungle has

now opened. While it can't replace the loss of the earth's rainforests, it may be the only rainforest that many people will ever have the chance to visit. Our primary rule is one of educating the American public and the western public. But we're not going to accomplish all of this in the next one. Six months or years, three years, whatever. The realities of life are that the final chapter on rainforest will be written probably by the kids who are in grade school now. A full -length documentary featuring the creation of the world's largest indoor jungle is currently in production. Local documentaries and programs like Nebraska Land rely on the support of Nebraska's for public television for funding. Now is your chance to show your support for these types of programs, simply speaking, these programs would not exist without your help.

We're going to take a studio break, but when we return, we'll canoe down a stretch of the Niagara River that few have seen, the challenging Upper Niagara. And then we'll take a moment to enjoy the beauty of big horned sheep roaming free once again. See you after this short break. Welcome back to the best of Nebraska

land, and thanks for your support during our last break. In America, it's rare to find the wide open spaces and quiet natural beauty found in Nebraska's sand hills, and one of the sand hills' most popular destinations is the Niagara River. This season, thousands of vacationers will leisurely canoe down the Lower Niagara. But for a few, this isn't nearly challenging enough. Adventurous explorers head for the more difficult Upper Niagara River. In Western Nebraska, there is a natural treasure. The Niagara River has been called one of the top 10 canoeing rivers in the country. When you canoe down the river, you've got to realize that you're canoeing down the middle of some place that doesn't exist anywhere else. This is the only place

that's kind. The Niagara River is definitely a jewel to Nebraska. On one side of the river, the north side of the river, you have the Dakota Clay Structure. On the south side of the river, you have an environment that's completely unique in the whole world, and that's the sand hills area. When most people think of Northwest Nebraska, they think of the sand hills and cattle ranching, and most people know about the Niagara River. In the summer months, the tourist dollar is the lifeblood of the economy and valentine, and the focus of most of this tourism is the river. Eight different outfitters cater to the river's visitors, most of whom use the same stretch of river. This is the lower Niagara East of Valentine. It

is the easiest stretch to canoe and has the best access. This makes it very popular and on summer weekends, very busy. We have people go down the river anywhere from two years old to 99 years old. It's amazing. Families can do this. Single people can do it. Groups can do it. The lower stretch is a lot safer trip. You can send people have never got in a canoe in their life, and you can send them down the lower stretch, and they're relatively safe. The upper stretch, there's no in the world you can send these people down in a canoe, expecting to make it down alright. As an outfitter, Doug Graham is responsible for getting this group of people through a two -day trip down a 28 -mile stretch of the more difficult upper Niagara. Some of the group is experienced, and others are novices. They can prepare for some things, but especially on this part of the river, they can't prepare for everything. When you go down the river today,

it's important that you watch for rocks. The first thing to remember is always go down the river straight. Don't go down the river sideways. Then what you need to remember is to, as your canoe floats down the river, upside down sinking, get around your canoe and get upstream from your canoe. Because if you go down and hit another rock, you don't want to be caught between the canoe and a rock. It's called the bear trap. You will not get out of it. You will pin you up against that rock like a mesh cat. Well, here we go, guys. But the only time we've been hung up is because of my supposed

pilots back there. I've got a guidance and power, and do the whole thing up front. He's been standing up in the boat, looking over like this. He has no idea what he's talking about. What does that say on his shirt? A Rubin. He has no idea what a Rubin means. On trips such as these, there are long periods of relaxing, watching the scenery, listening to the river. And these long pauses are punctuated by moments of panic at the fear of flipping over. I dropped down that water, and Jesus, I mean, that was cold. It was very cold. So, and I didn't have a life jacket, so, life jacket, safety. But as the day goes on, people learn to confront obstacles, things such as rocks.

Fences. And sandbars. All right. Good deal. You're kind of low, but that's all right. The hot sun makes the cold water seem like less of a threat, and the group fights the heat with cold drinks and several rest stops. Besides an opportunity to rest or cool off, these stops help keep the group together, since some are more expert canoeists and keep getting ahead of the group. Some of the people were experienced canoeers, and it's great for us to have people like that around. Some of the other people have never conned before. On the beginning of these kind of trips, nobody knows anyone. Conversations are minimal. I actually get down the river a little farther, and hit a few rocks, and help people get

off rocks, or help people without sandbars, and offer somebody a tea or a lemonade or a soda pop, and kind of get to visiting with everybody. And by the time the end of the trip is on with, everybody's pretty good friend. The afternoon of the first day gets increasingly hot, with the temperature reaching 100 degrees. There are spills and setbacks, but everyone works together to make it to the next stop. This is a portage, which means a place where the canoe must be carried. It's called Galloway's Swimming Hole, and it's a place where the Upper Nair Brera shows its character. This spot, like most of the Upper Nair

Brera, has no other visitors on this day. The river is running so fast here that the current overcomes you. And people become very playful. Back on the river, the hot sun begins to fade the memory of that pool swim, and the challenges of the river make many people yearn to reach the camp. Finally, as some of the group begins to get worn down, they do arrive. Many are ready for a welcome rest, but the outpitter and his crew must keep up the pace. It's a very important feature. These people that went on this trip this weekend, the hardest thing they had to do was get in and out of their canoe and canoe down the river and try to miss rocks. We did all the work. They all went up and got their personal belongings out of the suburban. And we went back down the river. We flipped all the canoes over. We took all the gear out. They had all the jackets and paddles up so they were dry. So they weren't wet for the next morning

when we started out. These people got a maid when they go on these trips. They don't have to do any work, but that's the idea, but that's what they like. When they don't have to do any work, when they don't have to cook, clean, set up tents, tear down tents, this gives them the opportunity to enjoy what they're doing. I'm in the right line for the right food. The outfitters have done their job well. The food was excellent and plentiful. After 17 miles of canoeing, sleep would come easily for most of this group. The next morning still left 11 more miles to travel on the river. At camp, everyone had to contend with some inconvenience. This was a primitive campsite. Everything here had to be brought in. After a day of sun and deer flies, these travelers had to sit where they could and face the inconvenience of no running water and no toilets. Well, you appreciate a shower when you get home. You can stand the inconveniences for a couple of days. Well, I tell you, it's a lot more than

me than I thought it would be. I mean, we've been down the platic couple of years ago and camped on a sand bar. This is like Santa Maria compared to that. Although most of the group was prepared for this form of roughing it, enthusiasm for this kind of vacation was not unanimous. Is this your idea of a vacation? No. No, what's your idea? The Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands, huh? In a condominium? Yeah. Watch the sand off. As the group prepared for their final day on the river, they traded pointers with their new friends. And he's got a technique there, the alternate lacing. You go every other lace because that lets the sand out. And you're walking and then the sand can boil back up out of the deal. And so, with newfound confidence,

full stomachs and dry clothes, the challenge of the Upper Niobrero River is again faced by this intrepid group of canoeists. The second day of the river was visited by more clouds offering relief from the relentless sun. But it was still warm. And by midday, most of the time, the weather was getting better. The second day of the river was visited by more clouds, offering relief from the relentless sun. But it was still warm. And by midday most of the time, the water was going down. the group was grateful to reach the confluence of the snake and niobrera rivers. Here was another opportunity to swim, and it was also a chance to

explore. Hey, hey, just take this out. Yeah, this is quite a place to stop and look for Indian artifacts, arrowheads, spearheads, petrified wood, bones of all kinds, three -toed camels the whole bit. But soon the group was anxious to get back to their trip, and the final mile proved to be especially eventful. When the clouds rolled in, we didn't expect it. When you're in the valley, the river valley itself is very difficult to see what's going on around you. And all of a sudden the clouds started to roll in and it started to rain. The wind blew 50 miles an hour plus. We got out the river just in the nick of time, there was a lot of lighting around. Just a little topping for the trip, it was great. It was exciting, everybody enjoyed it. For the veteran canoeists, this trip was a chance to relax and make

some new friends. And for the newcomers, it was a chance to face a challenge and succeed. But for everyone, it was two days of beautiful scenery, good times, and a fond memory of a beautiful river. Please remember that tackling the Evernabra era is tough for even the most experienced canoeist, so it's best to go with a trained guide. We'll close our Nebraska land special with a brief look at Big Horn sheep that roam free along the hillsides of Fort Robinson State Park. Tonight's Nebraska land moment. Well, that closes this best of Nebraska

land special. We're going to return to the studio now for a few words on how you can become a member of Nebraska's Republic Television. Remember that your pledge will help support programs like Nebraska land, so please give us a call and help celebrate our Nebraska land. Thank you very much. The New York City is a great place to live. The New York City is a great place to live.

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