Trail closing, more tree removal planned at Omaha's Zorinsky Lake

A significant trail closing and another round of tree removal is planned at Zorinsky Lake and Recreation Area.

Beginning Monday and lasting until late October, people will not be able to circle the lake during weekdays because the 168th Street section will be closed.

The trail around the lake forms a figure eight, with 168th the link between the upper and lower sections.

The 168th Street section will be closed Mondays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the Omaha Parks Department. It will reopen each day at 4 p.m. and be open on weekends.

The closure will allow Metropolitan Utilities District crews to work on the utility’s lines as part of the South 168th Street improvement plan. The road is being widened to four lanes, and a new bridge will be built over the lake.

Unrelated to the road work is a tree-removal project that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing.

Over the last couple of years, the corps, in consultation with the city, has been removing trees from around the perimeter of the park.

The corps this week announced that it has awarded a $479,740 contract to a Tekamah, Nebraska, company for the next phase of work — removal of trees along the park’s northern boundary.

Midwest Maritime Services will have until September 2023 to remove trees along the park boundary from 189th Avenue to about 167th Street.

Some property owners and wildlife advocates have unsuccessfully fought the project, saying it dislodges wildlife and damages the aesthetics and tranquility of the park perimeter. Other homeowners have supported the tree removal, saying the boundary was poorly maintained and problem trees were dropping branches or otherwise creating a hazard.

The corps is removing trees and shrubs to enforce a 30-foot-wide cleared corridor around the perimeter of the park. Chiefly, the corps says the corridor allows for a better understanding of the line between public and private property, reducing the chances of area homeowners building on or using park land.

The work at Zorinsky is the result of a national push by the corps after it discovered encroachment elsewhere on federal property it oversees. Around some federally owned reservoirs, homes and outbuildings have been constructed on federal property, according to corps officials.

At Zorinsky, the issue involves fences, some retaining walls, bird baths and flower gardens, said Kelsey Jolley, a natural resources specialist with the corps.

A significant reason for the encroachment at Zorinsky has been confusion over the park’s boundary, according to the corps and neighbors. The perimeter fence that the government put in place decades ago doesn’t actually sit on the boundary, but instead is located about 1 to 3 feet inside the park.

The lake and park are owned by the federal government, and the park is operated by the City of Omaha.

The corps has completed tree removal along the southern perimeter of the park, Jolley said. More removal will be done in future years.