Rural Route Radio May 29, 2026 Preserve the Sandhills is coming to a head now on proposed R Project transmission line.
A proposed 345kV transmission line—part of the R Project—has ignited a fierce battle in Nebraska’s Sandhills, where landowners like Dan and Barb Welch are resisting what they call a coordinated 'land grab' by power companies and federal agencies. Despite claims that 97% of landowners in the project’s path have signed easements, the couple and their community remain skeptical, citing sudden jumps in signatory numbers, aggressive tactics from out-of-state contractors, and a lack of transparency. They argue that the project threatens the region’s fragile ecosystem, including the Ogallala Aquifer—the source of the nation’s purest water—and critical habitats for migratory birds like the whooping crane. The episode reveals a deeper concern: that the transmission line is not about energy needs, but part of a larger, undisclosed strategy to enable AI centers and renewable projects, possibly paving the way for dam removals and long-term power exports. With a public hearing scheduled in Lincoln, landowners are mobilizing to challenge the process, demand accountability, and protect their property rights, freedom, and the last pristine prairie in the Western Hemisphere.
97% of landowners in the R-line path are claimed to have signed easements, but landowners report no such consensus, raising concerns about data accuracy and coercion.
The Sandhills sit atop the Ogallala Aquifer, and drilling for transmission towers (3,500 holes, 45 feet deep) risks contaminating the nation’s purest drinking water with carcinogens.
The proposed route cuts through critical habitats for the whooping crane and American burying beetle, species that depend on undisturbed prairie ecosystems.
Landowners are being pressured by out-of-state contractors using intimidation tactics, including staged showings of law enforcement, to sign easements under threat of eminent domain.
The project may be a prelude to dismantling infrastructure like Fort Randall Dam, enabling future AI and renewable projects, despite no actual population-based need.
…and 3 more takeaways available in PodZeus
The Sandhills at a Crossroads
Trent Lewis opens the episode by framing the conflict between food production and consumption, introducing the looming threat of the R Project transmission line through Nebraska’s Sandhills and the growing resistance from landowners.
Land Grab or Energy Transition?
“You don't know what you have until you lose it. It's amazing what we have in the sand hills of Nebraska.”
The Fragile Prairie and Its Legacy
Dan shares the history of the Sandhills—from desert to productive ranchland—highlighting how cowboys preserved the land, and how the region’s ecological and cultural value is now under siege.
The Green Energy Paradox
“This is not the place for the AI centers, the solar systems, and the transmission lines and the wind towers, you know.”
The 97% Easement Claim: Fact or Fiction?
“I made three phone calls last night and I found 13 people that I know of that have not signed on this path. So where are these people?”
“There are a lot of issues and one thing that it's an old saying, you don't know what you have until you lose it. It's amazing what we have. in the sand hills of Nebraska.”
“And this is not the place for the AI centers, the solar systems, and the transmission lines and the wind towers, you know.”
“Here's what bothers me more than anything, Dan and Barb, and that is there's clearly a plan that we're not privy to, and I'm not a landowner in the past. You guys are.”
Host
Guests
Dan Welch
person
Barb Welch
person
Trent Lewis
person
Nebraska Public Power District
organization
Ogallala Aquifer
other
R Project
other
Public Service Commission
organization
Thomas County
place
Southwest Power Pool
organization
whooping crane
other
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