Establishment (1959-1970): The Preserve was established in 1959 when Arthur and Antoinette Allwine donated the 65 ha (160 acre) Glen Haven Farm to the Biology Department at UNO (then Omaha University) for use as a wildlife preserve. The farm remained in cultivation until 1970 when Allwine Prairie Preserve was created with the seeding of 52 ha (130 acres) to tallgrass prairie and 5 ha (11 acres) to mixed-grass prairie.
Development (1970-2008): Since 1970 (and continuing today) seeds of locally collected prairie grasses and forbs (i.e. herbaceous flowering plants other than a grasses) have been scattered throughout the restored prairie. These efforts, in conjunction with sod transplanted from threatened local prairie remnants, resulted in today’s diverse plant communities and the animals they support. In 2000, with the financial support of the Nebraska Environmental Trust, three farm ponds and surrounding volunteer trees were removed and 2 ha (5 acres) along Glacier Creek were graded and restored to lowland prairie with the goal of approximating the historic prairie creek channel referred to in the 1856 section line survey.
Expansion (2009-Present): In 2009, 50 years after the original donation of Glen Haven Farm, the Preserve was expanded with the purchase of 34 ha (84 acres) to the east and northeast of Allwine Prairie Preserve. This addition was named the Papio Tract. With the expansion of the original preserve, the combined tracts, consisting of the Allwine Prairie Tract and the Papio Tract, was named Glacier Creek Preserve after the springs associated with glacial-based soil (i.e. glacial till) that maintains the small Glacier Creek that bisects the Preserve. Financial support for the purchase of the Papio Tract was provided by the Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET), the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (NRD), and UNO. This purchase, which connects Glacier Creek to the Big Papillion Creek to the east, is scheduled to be restored to wetland and stream habitats by the NRD to serve as a stream and wetland mitigation bank.
In 2013, the preserve was expanded again with the purchase of an additional 31 ha (76 acres) abutting the preserve on the north. This tract, originally called the North Viewshed, was subsequently named the Barbi Hayes Overlook. Importantly, this addition eliminated concerns about runoff coming on to the Preserve (and flowing into Glacier Creek) from the housing development scheduled for the site at the time. Aesthetically, acquiring the Barbi Hayes Overlook also ensured a future prairie view essentially from hilltop to hilltop (e.g. horizon to horizon). The purchase of the Barbi Hayes Overlook, was made possible by donations from Barbi Hayes, the NET, the NRD, and UNO. Support by UNO’s Dean of Arts and Science, Dr. David Boocker, was recognized by giving the name “Boocker Point” to the high point of the Barbi Hayes Overlook.
In 2015, an additional 41 ha (101 acres) abutting the preserve on the west were purchased with funding from Barbi Hayes, the NET, the NRD, UNO, and the Audubon Society of Omaha. Named the Bouteloua Tract, this addition incorporated in the Preserve essentially the entire upper drainage of Glacier Creek, including its headwaters. The expansion also incorporated a small, historic wetland.
Most recently, the 2019 purchase of 42 ha (104 acres) expanded the Preserve to the northwest. Importantly, this expansion incorporated within the Preserve the entire hill mass and its subsurface hydrology that maintains the springs that occur throughout much of the Preserve. The expansion also extends the buffer between the Glacier Creek sub-watershed and the nearby housing development.
Significant donations from Barbi Hayes, the Nebraska Environmental Trust, the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, made the Preserve expansion from 65 ha to 212 ha (160 to 525 acres) possible. The recent acquisitions will remain in productive agriculture until their ultimate restoration to a mix of prairie, wetland, stream, and associated woodland habitats.