The Western Nebraska Community College Powerline Construction & Maintenance Technology program recently helped a local veterinarian build and install three nesting boxes for eagles near Alliance.
Dr. Thomas Furman, of The Animal Center in Alliance, first began the eagle nesting project three years ago, wanting to provide a refuge and nesting area for raptors in the area. The nesting boxes are perched atop of a power pole and filled with nesting materials like branches and hay.
“It was a great experience working with the local lineman school,” Furman said. “The boys were eager, the day was cold, Shane (Homan, Powerline Instructor) was awesome, and we got the job done.”
The Powerline program students helped install two nesting boxes on existing poles, and dug in a new pole for a third box. The first, two students in a bucket truck were lifted to the top of the pole to prepare the bracing for the nesting boxes. The second, two students with climbing gear ascended the poles to prepare the bracing, and then the bucket truck lifted the box to the pole and was attached.
The third site, students used an auger attachment on a truck to dig in a new pole, attached the box while it was still on the ground, and dropped the pole into the hole where it was tamped in place.
For the Powerline students, it was a perfect opportunity to get real world experience, in real world conditions. Temperatures were in the single digits, with wind chills well below zero.
“These are the types of conditions that the students will have to work in when they get a job,” Homan, the Powerline Construction & Maintenance instructor said. “When the weather is bad, power goes out, that’s when we have to go out.”
Furman said that various species of raptors can be seen year round in the area and using the nesting boxes, with the most common being bald and golden eagles. Since the project first began, the site has hosted several private wildlife art organizations, and events with the Carnegie Arts Center and Alliance Public School Foundation. They even hosted public tours during the 2017 solar eclipse.
The nesting boxes are located on property owned by the Furman family, about four miles northeast of Alliance.