Olson Nature Preserve

The Olson Nature Preserve is a nature preserve in Boone County, in east-central Nebraska. It is located on Beaver Creek, between the towns of Albion and Petersburg. The preserve covers.The preserve serves for both education and recreation. It is used by local people as an outdoor classroom for studies about natural science, local history, agriculture, and the arts; and as a recreational area providing views of the Sandhills prairie, meadows, cottonwoods, oxbow wetlands, lowland tall grass, oak forest and the loess hills by Beaver Creek.HistoryA farm couple, Grant and Bernice Olson, owned the Olson Nature Preserve. Having survived the drought and Depression of Boone County, the Olsons developed a successful cattle business with over of pasture and farm ground. Over the years they allowed their land to be used by scouts and other people who liked the outdoors. The Olsons had no children, so when they died, they left their land to the Girl and Boy Scout regional councils, to the nearby town of Albion's public school system, and to a local health care organization. In 1992, a group of Boone County citizens requested that the Beaver Creek site of the Olson property be set aside for public use. A feasibility study of the development potential of a natural resources laboratory on this land was directed by Albion citizen Norm Smith, suggesting the need for an outdoor classroom.In 1995, the Prairie Plains Resource Institute, centered in Aurora, Nebraska, took ownership of the property, agreeing to provide annual maintenance needs. Representatives of the Prairie Plains Resource Institute, educators, and community members have since then developed procedures and policies in regards to the care and upkeep of the preserve.