Since the ponca tribe of nebraskas (PTN) termination in 1966 and restoration of federal recognition in 1990, the tribe has reacquired over 4000 acres of land

The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska received a $200,000 Project Grant award from the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service (DOI FWS) under the Tribal Wildlife Grants program (CFDA 15.639), effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2027. This award funds a comprehensive wildlife and plant species inventory project designed to document the presence and conservation status of flora and fauna across the tribe's approximately 4,000 acres of reacquired lands in Knox County, Nebraska. The project will establish a baseline ecological assessment by surveying species of cultural and ecological significance, with particular focus on federally threatened and endangered species and at-risk species identified in the Nebraska Legacy Project and Nebraska Natural Heritage Program.

The inventory effort will empower the Ponca Tribe as a sovereign nation with critical knowledge necessary to guide preservation and restoration of sacred plant and animal species while informing future cultural, environmental, and economic development initiatives. By filling the substantial knowledge gap resulting from the tribe's 1966 termination and subsequent 1990 federal recognition restoration, this project directly supports the tribe's capacity to steward its natural resources and sustain ecological and cultural activities integral to tribal growth and sovereignty.

Much of the new property is situated in knox county, nebraska. IT has a diverse landscape featuring streams, ponds, forests, shortgrass, mixed grass, and tallgrass prairies, wetlands, and pastures for the tribes buffalo herd. This land also features cultural resources, including POW-WOW grounds, walking trails, a culture museum, and the potential for various recreational opportunities. Integral to all these features and ptns projected growth, are the vital plant and animal species, and other natural resources that help sustain the ecological and cultural activities essential to the tribe. With PTN only recently acquiring many of their land holdings, there is a large knowledge GAP regarding what natural resources currently exist, and their conservation status in this area. To further fill this knowledge GAP, the proposed project aims to document the presence or absence of wildlife and plant species within PTN lands to gain essential information for a baseline assessment of existing flora and fauna. The evaluation will help close the knowledge GAP that resulted after the tribe was dissolved and members became physically and culturally disconnected from their homeland. This project will empower the tribe as a sovereign nation with the knowledge of what sacred plants and animal species still inhabit the land and guide their preservation and restoration. The project will also help guide future cultural, environmental, and economic development with those species well-being in mind. Species of cultural and ecological significance will be inventoried, focusing on those species that fall under intersecting categories. Species federally listed as threatened and endangered, as well as at-risk species recognized in the nebraska legacy project and nebraskas natural heritage program, will be cross-referenced with the list of culturally important species currently held by the tribe. Wildlife of priority concern include animals such as the jackrabbit, bald eagle, coyote, FOX, buffalo, and their corresponding habitats. The tribe also holds a culturally significant plant list containing ceremonial plants of high importance such as white sage for smudging and other ceremonies, sweetgrass for braiding, and narrowleaf willow for use in tribal earth and sweat lodges. The information gained from the inventory will be used by the PTN environmental protection department (EPD) for future habitat management planning that incorporates traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and modern scientific practices to preserve and restore plant and animal populations crucial to the tribe. IT will also support continued efforts to seek and participate in funding opportunities to help implement conservation activities on PTN lands. PTN will utilize collected data and information to engage and educate the tribal community and the public on the importance of biodiversity and conservation, reconnecting citizens with their ecological and cultural heritage and resources.