Inventory & Monitoring at Homestead National Historical Park

Visitor Center at Homestead National Historical Park (previously known as Homestead National Monument of America)

NPS

Established in March 1936 to commemorate the Homestead Act of 1862, HOME is located in southeast Nebraska. The 211-acre park includes 163 acres of the original Daniel Freeman homestead and the Freeman schoolhouse.
The park lies within the glaciated Drift Hill Region of Southeast Nebraska. The vegetation at HOME is roughly two-thirds prairie, reconstructed in 1939, and one-third woodland that follows Cub Creek. The approximately 100 acres of reconstructed tallgrass prairie, includes dominant grass species such as big bluestem, little bluestem, and Indian grass. Common forbs include goldenrods, sunflowers (Helianthus spp.), leadplant (Armorpha canescens), and roundhead lespedeza (Lespedeza capitata). This is the second oldest prairie restoration in the nation.
About 60 acres of the park are deciduous riparian forest, dominated by oaks, silver maple, hackberry, and cottonwood (Populus sp.). An inventory documented a rare mesic bur oak forest at HOME. A report by Mlekush and DeBacker (2003) contains a complete discussion of the woodland community. The understory is nearly absent of shrubs and dominated by a dense herb layer of graminoids, prominent early in the season, and tall coarse perennials, prominent as the season progresses. Native edge plants include wild plum (Prunus americana), dogwood, and coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus).

Monitoring Reports

Source: Data Store Saved Search 3507 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Inventory Reports

Source: Data Store Collection 4260 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Check out the links below for other interesting science information about your park:

Air Quality in Parks
Learn about the air quality at your park and how it has changed over time.

NPS Geodiversity Atlas
An interactive map to explore the full variety of natural geologic (rocks, minerals, sediments, fossils, landforms, and physical processes) and soil resources and processes that occur in your park.

NPSpecies
Find out what plants and animals are present in your park or other parks.