SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Four different wildfires have destroyed more than 800 thousand acres in Nebraska — many of which are ranch land for livestock in the central and western parts of the state.
The Anderson Bridge Fire, Road 203 Fire, Cottonwood Fire and Morrill Fire have all left a heavy toll on land in Nebraska. And while the containment of the fires is increasing, a lot of grass for livestock on ranch land is now destroyed.
“I think it would be easier to tell you what we have left, which is the house and our barns,” Naomi Loomis, a rancher in Morrill County, Nebraska, said. “So we lost all our grazing, all our hay, all our hay meadows for the next year, fence lines and our corrals.”
Naomi Loomis says her ranch was one of the first ones to get burned out by the Morrill Fire. Now, they are trying to rebuild and assess what comes next.
“It’s talk at our table like what are we going to do with 450 head of cows,” Loomis said.
In an effort to help ranchers like Loomis find an answer to that question, Shannon Kubik near Winner, S.D., has created PastureMatch.com with a team of programmers in Nebraska.
The idea is that ranchers with available pasture land outside of the burn areas can list it on this website.
“People that have feedlots potentially too, if they have feedlots and feed, space they need to fill up this Summer into Fall,” Kubik said. “You know, it could take a while, if it doesn’t rain it’ll take a long time for that grass to grow.”
Kubik says her team will then work with people in Nebraska to then match that land to ranchers who have lost land due to the fires.
“It’s just meant to be a tool to help people, that’s ultimately the purpose,” Kubik said. “It’s free, I’m not doing anything with the information besides trying to give it to someone for them to help make that match. At the end of the day, it’s just about ranchers helping ranchers and that’s what we’re trying to do is help everybody.”
As for Loomis, she says they are still deciding if they want to move their cows but resources like PastureMatch are important.
“Keep the resources fresh. Keep them up and going because we’re not done, right,” Loomis said. “I mean, it’s cleanup, we’re still swimming to the top. We’ve got a long road ahead of us and thank goodness for good people.”
Other ways to help:
- Nebraska Wildfires Response Fund from the Omaha Community Foundation
- Nebraska Wildfire Recovery Fund from the Nebraska Community Foundation
- Disaster Relief Fund from the Nebraska Cattlemen Association
- Western Nebraska Wildfire Relief from the Salvation Army
- United Way Western Nebraska Fire Relief Fund
- Oregon Trail Community Foundation — Firefighter Ministry
- Oregon Trail Community Foundation Morrill Fire Relief Fund
- Nebraska Sandhills Rancher Fire Relief Fund
