Richard Plautz Crane Viewing Site - Gibbon
Central Platte NRD received two grants to assist with rehabilitation of the Richard Plautz Crane viewing site in Buffalo County at the intersection of Elm Island Road & Lowell Road. The site consists of two elevated wooden viewing decks, a 1,650-foot trail, and a parking lot to provide a safe area for the public to view Sandhill and Whooping Cranes as they migrate through Nebraska in the spring and Nebraska’s Platte River wildlife. The project was completed in Spring 2022.
Grants Received: $259,500.00 from the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) administered by the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, CPNRD contributed a 20% matching share. The 1,660 LF deteriorated asphalt nature trail was replaced with an 8’ wide, 6” thick concrete trail and pave the 1,033 square yard gravel parking lot with 8” thick concrete. $50,000 from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for repairs on the streambank near the viewing decks. The NRD removed two large trees, and installed 2,700 LF of erosion control silt fencing, 803 tons of quartzite riprap on the southeast side of Lowell Road bridge and 0.6 acres of seeding and mulching.
Alda Crane Viewing Site
Located two miles south of the I-80 Exit 305 along the Platte River, the crane deck provides a safe area for the public to view Sandhill and Whooping cranes as they migrate through Nebraska in the spring.
Exciting Renovations Underway this Spring
The Alda Crane Viewing site near Alda, Nebraska, will undergo renovations this spring to enhance accessibility and visitor experience. Renovations will include a new viewing platform, paving the recreational trail, and two parking lots to make the area fully ADA accessible. Other improvements will include angler access to the pond and bank stabilization.
Renovations will begin on February 19, 2024, and the site will not be accessible until June 1, 2024. Permitting complications did not allow construction to begin until this spring. Project improvements are scheduled to be completed by June 2024.
The CPNRD received two grants for the improvements. $250,000 was awarded through the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) administered by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission; in which CPNRD will provide a 20% match. The Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund (NET) awarded CPNRD $75,000 to be used exclusively for repairs on the stream bank near the deck.
The site was developed in 1993, when Central Platte Natural Resources District (CPNRD) initiated a task force in response to concerns about safety for local residents, farmers and crane watchers in the Central Platte valley, especially during early morning and late afternoon hours on local roads. Since safety was the primary objective of the task force, the project prioritized redirecting traffic away from county roads and bridges during the crane viewing season. A portion of the cost was paid under the Nebraska Department of Transportation’s Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and the remaining cost was contributed by CPNRD, Hall County and Buffalo County.
Each spring, more than 80% of the world’s population of Sandhill Cranes – around 1,000,000 birds – converge on the Platte River in central Nebraska as they migrate north to their nesting grounds. National Geographic named this annual migration as one of North America’s two greatest natural wildlife phenomena. Millions of migrating ducks and geese arrive with them. This one-of-a-kind experience draws visitors including avid birders, scientists, and casual tourists from across the country and the globe.
The Sandhill cranes typically arrive at the end of February in the eastern portion of the Central Nebraska Flyway and linger in the western portion of the Flyway until mid-April. The Alda site saw a historic number of the endangered whooping cranes last November. Up to 95 whooping cranes, one of the most endangered bird species in the world, spent several days on the Platte River in central Nebraska. It was the largest group ever documented in the United States outside of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.
Locations of CPNRD’s other free crane viewing sites:
• Richard Plautz Crane Viewing Site: 1.5 miles south of 1-80 at Exit 285 near Gibbon
• Roadside turnouts are located south and east of the Alda interchange on Platte River Drive and west of Rowe Sanctuary on Elm Island Road.
For additional crane viewing opportunities in Nebraska, the public is encouraged to contact tourist and wildlife viewing information centers in Grand Island, Alda, Gibbon, Kearney, Hastings and Funk.
To learn more call (308) 385-6282 or visit https://www.cpnrd.org/conservation/crane-viewing. Follow Central Platte NRD on Facebook and Twitter for updates on the project.
Learn more about Central Platte NRD’s crane viewing sites by calling (308) 385-6282.