“Wild About Kansas,” a new junior photo contest, begins this week
The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) is proud to announce the 1st Wild About Kansas junior photo contest. Designed to showcase Kansas outdoors through the lens of photographers age 18 or younger, Wild About Kansas will feature winning entries in the 2014 January/February issue of Kansas Wildlife & Parks magazine.
“This is a great opportunity for area youth to explore the outdoors on a completely different level,” saidKansas Wildlife & Parks magazine associate editor, Nadia Marji. “We hope this contest will showcase some of the wonderful talent that our youth have to offer, and possibly even be the start of a new hobby for some.”
Divided into three categories, participants can submit photos related to wildlife, outdoor recreation or landscapes. Participants can submit up to three photos and multiple entries can be submitted in the same category. Photos will be judged on creativity, composition, subject matter, lighting and overall sharpness of the photo.
Prizes will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category, as well as one honorable mention per category.
Entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Oct. 25, 2013. An entry form must be submitted for each participant. Requested format for photos is JPEG, 8 inches by 10 inches, 300 dpi. File size should be a minimum of 1mb and not exceed 5mb.
For more information, or to submit an entry, e-mail Nadia Marji at [email protected]. Enter “Junior Photo Contest” in the subject line.
Anyone interested in lesser prairie chicken management encouraged to attend
The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) has been working with the Lesser Prairie Chicken Interstate Working Group to produce a draft Range-wide Conservation Plan for the Lesser Prairie Chicken. The plan addresses the decline of the lesser prairie chicken in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas andColorado and is intended to benefit the wildlife resources, people, and economies of these states by providing a framework for effective lesser prairie chicken management and habitat improvement. The ultimate goal is to increase the range-wide population of lesser prairie chickens. The draft plan emphasizes incentives and tools that encourage landowners to partner with agencies in conservation efforts while achieving their land use needs.
In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to list the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species under the Endangered Species act. A final decision will be made next fall. The Interstate Working Group’s management plan could influence the USFWS’s decision if it can show that lesser prairie chicken populations can be managed at sustainable levels.
Public meetings were held in southwest Kansas in November to gain input from landowners, producers and other stakeholders as the plan was being developed. Now that a draft plan has been assembled, three additional public meetings are scheduled to continue the dialog.
March 5: WaKeeney, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., WaKeeneyCity Library,
610 Russell Ave.
March 6: Lakin, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., KearnyCounty Library, 101 E. Prairie.
March 7: Greensburg, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Community Center (by fairgrounds), 720 N Bay.
