Grassland Films & Media

From the rolling sea of grass to the herd of grazing animals, welcome to the grassland ecosystem! Grasslands are open areas of land where grasses or grass-like plants are the dominant species. Did you know we have grasslands right here in Nebraska? Come check it out!

Most of the grasslands in the Great Plains exist as rangelands – managed and stewarded by private landowners. Yet rising costs and the fact that ranching earns less than any other land use have cut rancher numbers in half since the 1980s. As we lose these ranchers, we lose the valuable grassland ecosystems that support their livelihoods, rural communities, water and wildlife.

Invasive annual grasses (IAGs)—such as cheatgrass, ventenata, and medusahead—are rapidly degrading western rangelands and aggressively outcompeting native vegetation, fueling catastrophic wildfires, and threatening the future of working lands.

Playlist videos: February 2025 – Our Amazing Grasslands – Grassland Loss

A series of short documentary films reflecting life across the Southern prairies of Alberta & Saskatchewan

Includes films and an information guide about the types of wetlands in Nebraska

4 videos included in this link below, including one focused on eastern red cedar in the Sandhills