2026 was the largest wildfire year on record in Nebraska, with over 1 million acres of rangeland burned. The Morrill Fire, which occurred in March in the southwestern Sandhills, was the largest single fire event on record for the state. As the growing season has progressed, perennial vegetation has begun to recover over much of the area, even with limited rainfall reducing the amount of plant growth and delaying growth of the native plants until later spring.
Immediately following the fire in March, some questions were asked on whether there was a need to reseed perennial grasses, or to aerial seed an annual cover crop, such as rye, to stabilize the moving sand. Generally, research has shown that if healthy native perennial grasses and forbs were present before the fire, there is not a need to reseed. Fire has shaped the Great Plains for thousands of years. Estimates for western Nebraska suggest that historic fire frequencies may have ranged from 4-5 years in the Sandhills to 15-30 years in the Panhandle. As such, the perennial plant community is well accustomed to recovery following wildfire. Most plants store most of their total biomass below ground in the roots and tiller growth points form below ground, which allow them to regrow when conditions are favorable following a fire without negative effects.
However, in a year like 2026, which was one of the driest springs on record, that recovery was delayed. This left hundreds of thousands of acres of Sandhills rangeland exposed to the spring winds. While moving sand was observed, especially in deposit areas like road ditches and stock tanks, this movement was likely only from sand in the very upper profiles of the landscape. Research conducted by Dr. Dave Wedin, a professor at Nebraska, at the Halsey National Forest following a dormant season wildfire in 2006 highlighted that average sand movement across multiple locations was less than 0.7 cm. The research concluded that the extensive Sandhills plant root systems just below the surface kept the dunes stabilized and limited whole dune sand movement.
While seeing bare ground over large areas in the Sandhills is difficult, reseeding in a year like 2026 would have likely provided no benefit to the recovery. With the extremely dry conditions until early June, aerial seeded cover crops would have likely failed to germinate and even if they did, they would have competed for the limited soil moisture necessary to support the native grass growth. Similarly, perennial grass seed is expensive and would have likely failed to germinate because of the drought conditions. In short, Sandhills plant communities are resilient and, if managed correctly, will recover following wildfire without reseeding.
We continue to track the recovery from the wildfires in 2026 and will have more information available as the growing season progresses. Dr. Dirac Twidwell, a UNL professor and a team at Nebraska have created a website (wildfire.unl.edu) that provides more information and data on Nebraska wildfires that have occurred over the last 40-plus years. Using satellite remote sensing technology, we can visualize what recovery looks like based on a number of different conditions (for example, timing of fire, size, etc.). Typically, perennial grass vegetation cover on wildfires in the Sandhills has returned to pre-burn levels within one to two years. Fire and drought have been extremely challenging to manage through in 2026, but healthy plant communities have weathered these challenges in the past and will continue to respond as the rains come again.
This Nebraska Recovery Roundup is brought to you by Nebraska Extension. This series provides timely information for producers and communities recovering from wildfire. Each installment highlights available resources and practical steps to support recovery.
Mitch Stephenson is an associate professor and range management specialist at Nebraska. Email Dr. Stephenson at mstephenson@unl.edu.
