VALENTINE, Nebraska – Some fans of Nebraska’s Niobrara River describe a proposal to shift management of the scenic river to state and local entities as the biggest threat to the popular paddling destination since a long-abandoned plan to dam the river.

The Norden Dam proposal – which would have flooded the now-popular stretch of the Niobrara for float trips – was eventually scrapped, and in 1991, a 76-mile stretch of the spring-fed stream was designated as a National Wild and Scenic River.

By many accounts, it’s been a success story, with an average of 75,000 people a year now paddling and visiting the river, and motels and other businesses that cater to tourists popping up in Valentine and other nearby towns.

But now State Sen. Tanya Storer, whose district includes the scenic river area, has proposed shifting the management of the river from the National Park Service to entities in Nebraska: to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission as well as the Niobrara Scenic River Council and the Middle Niobrara Natural Resources District.

Storer says that with federal funding of the Park Service in limbo, it makes sense to explore whether the state should take over. The senator adds that she feels state and local entities could manage the river more efficiently.

“There’s no intent to do anything to take away from the benefits and the value of the scenic river,” Storer said. ”It’s just putting management in the hands of local people, who frankly understand the culture better than anybody.”

Another proponent, Mike Murphy of the Middle Niobrara Natural Resources District, said that with almost all of the land along the scenic stretch in private ownership, it just makes sense to have management with local entities.

“The federal government trying to manage private property is the whole issue,” Murphy said. “Honestly, we feel that we have the things in place to manage it, instead of the feds telling us what to do.”

Fans of the Niobrara, including the group that led the fight against the Norden Dam, don’t see it that way.

They maintain that the participation of the National Park Service has added management expertise and national exposure to the Niobrara, and their work has helped to reduce the “party” atmosphere on the stream that was keeping some families away and maintained the scenic beauty of the river.

“It is a national treasure and a good fit for a national entity to preserve it forever, for the entire nation and not just the state of Nebraska,” said Sandra Washington, a retired planner with the National Park Service, now a member of the Lincoln City Council. “The federal government is well placed to continue to do that, even with budget cuts.”

An official with Friends of the Niobrara — which grew out of Save the Niobrara, the organization led the fight against the Norden Dam — said it’s not a stretch to describe Storer’s proposal as the biggest threat faced by the river since the dam.

“The National Park Service has the skillset and the resources to maintain a good visitor experience and to watch over the quality of the river,” said Kimberly Stuhr of Springfield, the president of the Friends group.

Both Stuhr and Washington said they doubt that the State of Nebraska, given its recent budget shortfalls and additional expected budget cuts, has the funds to maintain the management of the river, which now gets $1.1 million a year from the feds.

A staff of seven full-time Park Service employees do law enforcement, safety rescues, education, outreach and research programs, as well as test the water for quality and quantity.

“There’s a lot of things they do to protect the river,” Stuhr said, “and I don’t know if the state has the resources and people to do that.”

There’s also concern that state and local management will lead to additional irrigation along the river, to the detriment of flows for float trips, and that the preservation of the scenic corridor will erode — contentions that both Storer and Murphy dispute.

From the start, there’s always been some tension between the feds, who want to preserve the river from excess development that degrades the scenic views, and the locals, who don’t always like someone telling them where they can build a cabin, a shed or establish a new canoe access site.

As sort of a compromise, the federal government allowed the formation of a local committee, the Niobrara Council, to provide local input from private landowners, canoe outfitters and county officials about management of the scenic river.

Storer, who served seven years on the river Council, said it’s been a resounding success by giving voice to local landowners about river management. Others, though, like Stuhr, question how well they’ve worked with the Park Service and what, besides maintaining a couple of vault toilets, they’ve accomplished.

There also was a critical state audit report, issued in June, in which the River Council was slammed for giving $7,000 in bonuses to its two employees, and for paying out $40,000 over 21 years to its executive director, Kalli Kieborz, for allegedly unused vacation time. (State Auditor Mike Foley cited, at the time, Facebook posts that showed the executive director ice fishing during work hours.)

Kieborz told the Examiner that the concerns raised by the auditor have been addressed and resolved by the Council.

But the 16-member Council has faced funding issues in recent years and earned an “anti-government” reputation from some eight years ago when it rejected, on a 10-1 vote, a plan by the Park Service to purchase an iconic take-out spot on the Niobrara, the Rocky Ford, a set of rapids where many float trips end.

Talks of such a purchase were revived last year, but died after the Trump Administration — which is seeking to sell off some public lands — took over.

This spring, Kieborz and a member of the Council pleaded with state legislators to increase funding for its operations, given a loss of federal funding. The Council had a $100,000-a-year cooperative agreement with the Park Service, but last year it was reduced by $20,000 after an agreement over how much work the Council needed to complete could not be reached.

The cooperative agreement with the Park Service expired in April, and a federal freeze on renewing such arrangements prevents any new such contracts.

That left the Council with only $52,500 a year from the state to operate. In response, Kieborz’ position has been reduced to 20 hours a week, a part-time office helper was laid off, and the group’s operations — like maintaining the toilets and operating summer day camps — were dropped, though they’ve since been picked up by other agencies.

Public Hearing Scheduled

A proposal to have state and local entities take over management of the Niobrara National Wild and Scenic River is the subject of a state legislative interim study, LR 158.

Interim studies often result in a bill being introduced in the next legislative session, and a July 17 meeting held at the Middle Niobrara Natural Resources District office and organized by its general manager, Mike Murphy, was billed as a “move toward” bill introduction in January.

A public hearing on LR 158 is scheduled for Sept. 19. Only invited testimony will be taken, but the public can attend. A report on the interim study of taking over management from the National Park Service is to be released by year’s end.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/08/05/fans-of-scenic-niobrara-river-se...