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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 1994)
UNL plans center to specialize in grasslands studies By Angela Jones Staff Reporter Nebraska has extensive grass lands that are representative of the Central Great Plains States, making it an ideal location foraCenter for Grass land Studies, an official from the Col lege of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources said. Steven Waller, associate dean of the college, said grasslands covered about 95 percent of Nebraska before it was developed for agriculture. Today grasslands make up 60 percent of the state, and much of the world’s land mass, he said. “Half of the world is a grassland,” Waller said. “It is the largest land resource we have.” A Center for Grassland Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been discussed for over 10 years, Waller said. Several groups within UNL work directly or indirectly with grasslands, including agronomy, animal science, forestry, fisheries and wildlife, horti culture and biological sciences. A cen ter was needed to bring together grass lands researchers in different depart ments and areas, he said. Resources from areas beyond the campus, such as information from the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory near Whitman, will be available through the center. Waller said. The lab is a 13,000-acre experimental rangeland where researchers are try ing to manipulate calving times to correspond with warm-season grass growth. The center will also strengthen ties and develop partnerships between groups associated with grasslands and turfs. These groups include cattle feed ers, the Soil Conservation Service, nursery managers, golf course super visors and sod producers. “One sod producer said his feeling is that in 10 years, his business would be totally dependent on low-mainte nance lawns because of public de mand,” Waller said. The demand for low-maintenance groundcovers is also shared by the Omaha Public Power District for land it manages, and by the Nature Conser vancy for their area of the N iobrara, he said. Jason LovKulich/DN Prairie grass blows in the wind on East Campus. The Center for Grassland Studies would combine disciplines that study grasslands. — 44 One sod producer said his feeling is that in 10 years, his business would be totally dependent on low-maintenance lawns because of public demand. — Dr. Steven Waller, Associate Dean, College of Agriculture Sciences and Natural Resources --ft - One low-maintenance groundcover caught the attention of former-profes sional golfer Ben Crenshaw. Crenshaw recently visited UNL’s east campus to look at buffalo grass, which he is considering for a golf course he’s planning to build near Mullen. Buffalo grass requires less water and fewer chemicals to main tain than traditional golf course grass es. Enhancing public awareness of the role of grasslands and turfs in improv ing the environment is one purpose of the Center, Waller said. He said that the Center would help address the concerns of both urban and rural peo ple about turf and croplands. The Center would establish Ne braska and UNL as a leader in grass land study and as a source for grass land information, Waller said. “We would be providing a point of contact tor the public, so that they would be able to receive information on grasslands by calling directly into an office.” Waller said. “We need to ensure that everyone has a continuous level of philosophy, that does not change from one office to the next.” The Center would serve the local as well as the global community. There are seven types of grasslands, from semi-arid to areas within deciduous forests, Waller said. Most of these are found in Nebraska, he said, so Nebras ka’s information can be applied to other areas of the world. “Some of the largest grasslands arc in Africa,” Waller said. “China also has a lot of grassland, and the Middle East is interested because of the Sandhills.” The Center for Grassland Studies will be paid for by the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The Center willoffer opportunities for grants, which are expected to pay for future expansion, Waller said. Waller also said that there would be no need for any new facilities for the center. A “listening session” held in Janu ary brought individuals from institu tions, colleges, government agencies and the private sector together to dis cuss their concerns over grasslands and turfs, and their ideas about the center. “We got some strong support from clientele. The stewardship ethic is strong in Nebraska,” Waller said. “With the listening session, we were able to bring the citizens into the decision process,” Waller said. “This was a benefit both to the community See GRASS on 10 UNL’s recycling effort soars [ By Rebecca Oltmans Staff Reporter Finding the money isn’t the biggest prob lem when starting a recycling program. It’s finding people with the right personalities to support the program, an expert on recycling said. Dale Ekart, the University of Nebraska Lincoln’s recycling coordinator, said since the start of recycling collection services in October, UNL has been very supportive. “The enthusiasm on campus has been extraordinary,” Ekart said. “People are try ing to get things going faster than we can keep up.” The recycling program began picking up cardboard in October at 20 different loca tions and is now receiving over 1000 pounds per day, Ekart said. In April they also started collecting mixed office paper from 20 locations and newspa Eers from 12 locations, he said. The 20 uildings collecting office paper are produc ing eight tons of paper per week, Ekart said. The recycling program is expanding, Ekart said, with more collection sites, more promotion and more education. Some Daily Nebraskan drop-off sites will have blue re-deposit containers right beside them to encourage recycling of the newspa per, Ekart said. “Hopefully, that will eliminate some of the debris on the floor,” Ekart said. “Stu dents can walk back by and re- deposit the papers right where they picked them up.” There arc currently eight Daily Nebras kan drop-offsites that have blue containers with plans to add four tosix more, Ekart said. Mixed office paper collection will also expand, he said. “Just about everybody will be involved in collecting this,” Ekart said. “We’ll have collection sites in almost every building.” Collection sites won’t be as necessary if the other area of expans ion—education — is successful, Ekart said. 1 “We’re going to have programs teaching the right types of purchasing and re-use, Ekart said. In addition to talking to groups and put ting information in the phone book, the recycling office is installing an information hotline called UNL Fax Facts. ft’s similar to NRoll, Ekart said, but instead of registering for classes, students can call and get information on how to recycle. "That will be in place hopefully by the fall session,” Ekart said. Educating people about recycling should come before recycling collection gets start ed, Ekart said. “It seems a little backwards to put educa tion second,” Ekart said, “but it’s easier to get collection services going first because people can see more immediate resul ts from that.” The recycling program hopes to sec re sults in many items of collection besides paper, Ekart said. Right now items such as aluminum cans, motor oil and glass jars arc being collected to some degree, with plans to increase collection. “We hope to collect a lot of other types of materials, Ekart said, like oils, semi-hazard ous wastes, glass, etc.” “Basically just look in the back of a garbage truck,” Ekart said. “We hope to recycle most of that.” James Mehsling/DN |
