Nine-Mile Prairie

At 230-acres in size, Nine-Mile Prairie is one of the largest areas of intact tallgrass prairie in the state. Its name is derived from the fact that it is five miles west and four miles north from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln campus. Irregularly shaped and adjacent to an old bomb storage facility, it features rolling terrain with upland tallgrass, ravines, and small numbers of cottonwood and willow trees. More than 80 species of birds inhabit the area and 392 species of plants have been identified. Many animals and insects are found here as well, including the rare fritillary butterfly. Given its virgin state, Nine-Mile Prairie has been the site of research since the 1920s. The most notable researcher associated with it is University of Nebraska Professor Dr. John E. Weaver (1884-1966), who is known as the "founding father of modern plant ecology." Nine-Mile Prairie was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Tallgrass prairie once covered an area of 200 million acres between present-day Manitoba and Texas. Today, only about one percent of tallgrass prairie still exists in the continental U.S. In Nebraska, two percent of the land is tallgrass prairie and most of that consists of areas 80 acres in size or less. This makes Nine-Mile Prairie especially unique. The surrounding area (referred to as the "environs") features tallgrass prairie plants, animals, and insects as well. It should be noted that while the site was never plowed, part of it was used for grazing, which last occurred in the 1960s.

The prairie was privately owned until 1953 but research began in the 1920s under the direction of Dr. Weaver, who graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1909. After earning his doctorate from the University of Minnesota, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty in 1915. He pioneered the field of plant ecology, digging trenches in Nine-Mile Prairie like an archaeologist to study plant roots. He (and his students) removed root systems and mounted them in glass cases. Weaver's research and methods remain fundamental in plant ecology.

The U.S. Department of Defense bought the prairie in 1953 so it could serve as a buffer zone for the bomb storage facility. The facility closed in 1978 and the property that would become Nine-Mile Prairie was deeded to the Lincoln Airport Authority. The airport sold it to the University of Nebraska Foundation in 1983. Contributing funds to the purchase was Marguerite Metzger Hall, who was the widow of a volunteer land manager of the prairie, Neil W. Hall. Since the 1980s, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and Nebraska Wesleyan University have conducted research at the prairie. Elementary schools take school trips to Nine Mile and participate in educational programs as well.

"John Ernest Weaver." University of Nebraska Lincoln. Accessed April 13, 2022. https://nebraskaauthors.org/authors/john-ernest-weaver.

Kaul, Dr. Robert B. et al. "Nine-Mile Prairie." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. July 30, 1986. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/86002089_text.

"Nine-Mile Prairie." Nebraska University Center for Grassland Studies. Accessed April 13, 2022. https://grassland.unl.edu/nine-mile-prairie.

"Nine-Mile Prairie Environs Master Plan." Nebraska University Center for Grassland Studies. April 2020. https://grassland.unl.edu/nine-mile/nine-mile-plan.pdf.