LINCOLN — A Friday interim study hearing on whether the State of Nebraska should takeover management of the scenic Niobrara River from the National Park Service has been canceled due to a family matter involving the senator who requested the study.

It was not immediately clear whether the hearing, sponsored by State Sen. Tonya Storer of Whitman, would be rescheduled prior to the 2026 session of the Nebraska Legislature.

Another interim study scheduled Friday before the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee also was withdrawn. That hearing, sponsored by Lincoln Sen. George Duggan, was to investigate the need for a “Green Amendment.”

Currently, the National Parks Service manages the Niobrara, which was federally designated in 1991 as a wild and scenic river worthy of protection. The Park Service operates that section of river with an annual budget of $1.2 million and had been providing $100,000 each year to the Niobrara Council, a committee of local officials who provide input and some management help.

Storer has said the uncertainty of future federal funding for river management warranted the study of a state takeover, but Niobrara advocates have expressed doubts that the state has the money or expertise to maintain the river’s scenic qualities.