Separate fires in 2022 burned portions of the Nebraska National Forest and Grasslands near Halsey. In May, the 201 East Fire burned 4,192 acres, the majority in the hand-planted forest. The Bovee Fire that started October 2 burned 18,930 acres, of which 5,130 acres were within the footprint of the hand-planted forest. It also burned sixteen of seventeen buildings at the State 4-H Camp and the historic Scott Lookout Tower. The Bessey Nursery, offices, and fire hall were saved, as was the town of Halsey, which was evacuated. A volunteer firefighter died fighting the Bovee Fire.
Since 1965, 89 percent of the fires in the nation’s largest hand-planted forest were caused by lightning strikes, said Julie Bain, district ranger with the U.S. Forest Service. A vehicle accidentally started the Bovee Fire.
Bain said it would be a year or longer before decisions are made on restoration. She said a salvage sale to remove as much of the dead timber as possible would be a first step. The fire consumed invasive eastern redcedar, ponderosa pine, jack pine, and some deciduous trees.
“Where does the experimental forest go next?” she mused. “It was started as an experiment. Is the experiment over? Do we want it to continue with different kinds of trees? We want to not create unintended consequences.” When the forest was planted in the early twentieth century, the destructive invasiveness of eastern redcedar wasn’t known. Now efforts to remove it are ongoing.
“Is forest the best use of this land? That’s a good question,” she said.
The forest, she noted, is well loved by the public. “It’s become iconic. Yet it’s not ecologically correct. Can we do something without the unintended consequences? I don’t know. We’re humans. The Great Plains is a fire-adapted ecosystem. Fires are inevitable.”
Public input will help inform Forest Service decisions about restoration, she said.
The Bessey Ranger district oversees the 90,170 acre Nebraska National Forest at Halsey (Blaine and Thomas Counties) and the 116,060 acre Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest in Cherry County.