Nebraska’s Wildcat Hills are the bones of a bygone prairie and an oasis for elk, bighorn sheep and other species now rare to the cornhusker state. Wind and water sculpted the sandstone hoodoos that define this 800-foot escarpment. But in the relative blink of an eye, the hand of man has altered the surrounding landscape into a sea of plowed croplands. Only a fraction of the mixed‑grass prairie that once graced 200 million acres across North America now remains—a ratio reflected in this corner of the western Nebraska Panhandle.
Yet the Wildcat Hills have managed to shelter some of the best native prairie left in the region—and an abundance of wildlife. Thanks to a partnership between the Elk Foundation, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Platte River Basin Environments, Inc., the Wildcat Hills now host 8,100 acres of new public land that will be forever protected as a state wildlife management area and open to hunting. The partners teamed up to acquire the land, which provides vital winter range and a travel corridor for elk. It also supports white-tailed and mule deer, turkeys, sharp-tailed grouse and bighorn sheep.
Over the millennia, the Wildcats have weathered the elements, thanks to a cap of tough limestone. With continued focused conservation efforts, the wild beasts of an older Nebraska will weather the storm of human development as well.