GIBBON, Neb. (AP) — A key piece of riverfront property is now being integrated into the Rowe Sanctuary in central Nebraska.

The National Audubon Society had been trying to acquire the land for roughly 40 years before last summer’s purchase. The land filled in a gap in the riverfront land the group maintains.

The area is frequented by several hundred thousand sandhill cranes and other migratory birds every year. The cranes dine in Nebraska farm fields each spring before continuing on to arctic breeding grounds.

Rowe Sanctuary Director Bill Taddicken says the newly acquired 590 acres gives the facility about 4½ miles of contiguous riverfront and adjacent land. And the farmhouse has been expanded to provide lodging for volunteers during the crane migration.