MARQUETTE, Neb. (AP) - Officials with a Nebraska land trust say they are within $200,000 of buying a 650-acre, $1.9 million ranch near Marquette.
Prairie Plains Resource Institute Director Bill Whitney hopes to raise the remaining $200,000 by Nov. 25, The Grand Island Independent reported (https://bit.ly/1O1Comu ) Saturday.
Whitney wants to begin making plans for the management of the Sherman Ranch, which he says will add educational and recreational opportunities for thousands around the region.
The ranch originally belonged to Tom Sherman, a native of Peru, Nebraska, and former county extension agent who settled on the land with his family.
Before he died last year, Sherman left an option for the ranch to be made available for public use.
Prairie Plains owns 5,800 acres of land in several locations, but Whitney said Sherman Ranch offers something unique.
The land has a diverse habitat and a mile of Platte River frontage. The purchase would also allow Prairie Plains to protect the unique land from private development, keeping it open for biking, hiking, horseback riding, camping and hunting.
“Now the reality is sinking in that it’s going to happen,” he said. “But you don’t want to drop the ball.”
Much of the funding for the purchase so far has come from organizations with deep pockets. The Aurora-based trust received $450,000 from the Nebraska Environmental Trust, $350,000 from Ducks Unlimited, and $100,000 each from the J.A. Woollam Foundation and the Heuermann Foundation. More than $400,000 came from member donations and family memorial gifts, and smaller amounts came from other foundations and trusts.
The get the remaining $200,000, Whitney said Prairie Plains will have to cast a wider net.
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Information from: The Grand Island Independent, https://www.theindependent.com
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