A few weeks ago on election night, I was nowhere near a newscast or voting booth (I voted early). Instead, I was in the Pine Ridge on a 2,400-acre ranch east of Chadron. At the family’s invitation, I had been there to view elk on three previous occasions, but not one had indulged my desire to see them. This time, I had reason for high hopes. An hour before sunset I had climbed into a new viewing blind with the ranching couple who love these elk and are hoping to permanently preserve their habitat through a conservation easement with the Nebraska Land Trust (NLT).

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