By: Kamrin Baker & Ben Helwig
Tucked away off 120th Street and Old Maple Road, Heron Haven stands still and steady as a sanctuary for Omaha wildlife—“even the two-legged human types.”
Sam Bennett, the president and treasurer of the Friends of Heron Haven, the nonprofit organization that manages the nature refuge, says Heron Haven provides a different experience for everyone.
“It’s a spring-fed wetland where there’s water coming in all the time and flows through the wetland,” Bennett said. “There’s a lot of uniqueness we’ve got.
Home-schoolers and community schools bring kids out for education, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts come out and do projects, college students do water studies and help us with our programs, I’ve seen couples come out and take wedding photos. We often run into veterans who have PTSD coming in and getting lost in nature.”
Heron Haven programs include educational engagements like field trips and organized hikes, Scout projects (Eagle Scouts lay gravel and help with upkeep regularly), a nature photography club, an annual wetland festival and more.
Bruce Warr, the Vice President of FOHH said he has been with the organization for years to fulfill his personal passions of bird-watching, and for his wife, gardening.
“In my own selfish way, it’s a personal refuge for observation of nature—unspoiled, undisturbed,” Warr said. “Rarely have I ever had to make room for a newcomer or someone else. That’s kind of remarkable. The trails were created in a creative way that you are hardly ever in view of the surrounding roads, with the possible exception of Maple.”
Although life seems easygoing on the grounds of Heron Haven, the small community who enjoys the sanctuary has had to fight for such peace and quiet.
The wetland sanctuary is the property of the Papio-Missouri NRD and receives grant funding from a variety of entities like Nebraska Game and Parks, but the city has had a history of infringing on the simple space.
“A few years ago, they were talking about putting up those electronic billboards,” Bennett said. “We had to send them letters and say ‘hey guys, we have wildlife that could be affected by this’ and thankfully, they didn’t follow up on it.”
This environmental advocacy stems from the FOHH founder, Ione Werthman, a dedicated environmentalist and tireless worker for the National Audubon Society.
“I understand the word ‘driven’ because of Ione,” Bennett said.
In 1991, the space that is now Heron Haven was in danger of being overrun by an apartment complex, and when the Audubon Society was called in to help, Werthman found three Great Blue Herons utilizing the land. It was then she knew the space was a special destination for Omaha’s wildlife—and those who cherish it.
“We’ve got all kinds of critters,” Bennett said. “Groundhogs, rabbits, squirrels, muskrats, raccoons, minks. We watched a deer and her fawns grow up this summer.”
“It really is thrilling,” Warr added.
Walking along the boardwalk on a brisk fall day, anyone could see a flock of geese, and true enthusiasts could spot some more rare birds in the trees behind them.
An avid photographer named Sue walks up.
“I got a shot of one eating a berry,” she said, beaming. “I love it when I catch them in the act.”
Her footsteps crunched along the path, leaves giving in beneath her, and within seconds, the birds were alone again—in harmony as the world outside rushed on.
