DEER CREEK
76,183 Acres | Northwestern Nebraska
A living laboratory where two of the Great Plains’ most important ecosystems meet, creating a diverse landscape that supports wildlife, resilience, and ecological discovery.
WHERE TWO WORLDS MEET
Some of nature’s richest landscapes are found where ecosystems overlap.
Deer Creek Ranch sits at the intersection of two distinct Great Plains ecosystems. The southern portion of the property lies within Nebraska’s iconic Sandhills, where rolling dunes are stabilized by native prairie grasses and groundwater-fed systems. To the north, mixed-grass prairie dominates the landscape, characterized by rolling hills and sandy loam soils.
Between these regions lies a broad transition zone where the characteristics of both ecosystems blend together. This meeting place creates a rich and dynamic landscape that supports exceptional ecological diversity.
A LANDSCAPE OF DIVERSITY
The story of Deer Creek
The variety of habitats found across Deer Creek supports an abundance of native wildlife. Grasslands, transition zones, and seasonal wetlands provide food, cover, and nesting habitat for species that depend on healthy prairie ecosystems.
The interaction between Sandhills prairie and mixed-grass prairie creates opportunities for species from both ecosystems to thrive, contributing to the biological richness of the region.
WILDLIFE OF THE GREAT PLAINS
Healthy grasslands provide habitat for wildlife at every scale
Deer Creek supports a remarkable variety of wildlife, including mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, wild turkeys, pheasants, sharp-tailed grouse, and sandhill cranes. The property also provides habitat for long-billed curlews, waterfowl, nesting swans, bald eagles, and many other bird species.
These species depend on large, connected grassland landscapes that remain increasingly rare across North America. Maintaining habitat diversity helps support wildlife throughout the year and across multiple life stages.
BISON & PRAIRIE STEWARDSHIP
Restoring the Great Plains’ Native Grazer
Like the other Nebraska living laboratories, Deer Creek demonstrates the important role bison continue to play in maintaining healthy prairie ecosystems. Managed across expansive native grasslands, bison help shape plant communities through their grazing patterns, movement, and natural interactions with the landscape.
Working with these natural processes supports healthier soils, greater plant diversity, and more resilient grasslands. By combining thoughtful stewardship with ecological understanding, Deer Creek illustrates how productive working lands can also sustain thriving wildlife habitat.
LEARNING FROM THE LANDSCAPE
Because Deer Creek contains multiple ecosystems within a single landscape, it offers valuable opportunities to better understand how plant communities, wildlife populations, and ecological processes respond to changing environmental conditions.
Studying these transition zones can help scientists and land managers better understand resilience, biodiversity, habitat connectivity, and the long-term health of Great Plains ecosystems.
A LIVING LABORATORY FOR RESILIENCE
The future of the Great Plains depends on understanding how ecosystems adapt and interact over time. Deer Creek provides a unique opportunity to study those relationships at a landscape scale.
As part of the Turner Institute’s network of Living Laboratories, Deer Creek helps advance knowledge that supports healthy grasslands, thriving wildlife, and resilient working landscapes across the American West.