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SUMMER 2017
Travel Back in Time
Visitors have access to interpretive displays and the fossil
preparation laboratory and can ask the paleontologists
there about their work. The park also includes the Hubbard
Rhino Barn, where new fossil discoveries continue to be
unearthed. Fossil evidence at the site reveals complete,
articulated skeletons of large mammals, birds and turtles,
as well as seeds of grasses and trees.
Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park is in Antelope
County, four miles east and six miles north of the village of
Orchard. Due to its remote location far from a population
center, getting adequate communications services has been
a challenge.
A Need for More Bandwidth
Superintendent Rick Otto notes, “The satellite Internet
service we’ve been using is limited in speed, and its lag
time disrupts any interactive transmissions we’re trying
to host. In addition, many of our callers have complained
about the poor audio quality of the current phone system.
Clearly, changes needed to be made since the local provider
was simply not able to provide the level of technology
we require.”
To develop a solution to these challenges, Great Plains
Communications has been in discussion for several years
with the State of Nebraska on a fiber project to bring more
bandwidth to Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. The
installation is scheduled for completion in August 2017.
Funding of the fiber optic cable was made possible by a
grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust.
What is Otto expecting after Ashfall Fossil Beds State
Historical Park becomes a customer of Great Plains Com-
munications? He replies, “I expect to see a night-and-day
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Ashfall Fossil
Beds State
Historical
Park
Thanks to fiber Internet,
more people today can
experience ancient history
This national treasure called Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park got its start about 12 million
years ago. At that time, a volcano in southwest Idaho spread a blanket of ash over many miles,
and one or two feet of this powder covered the flat savannah-like grasslands in northeastern
Nebraska. Within several weeks, animals gathered around a waterhole in the area died, and their
bodies were covered by ash. This preserved their skeletons for today’s paleontologists to study
and the public to see.