Monthly Archives: August 2013

Upland Bird Workshop to Focus on Quail and Prairie Chicken Habitat

Upland bird populations in Northeast Kansas remain lower than historical long-term trends. Many landowners have seen traditional game bird populations like the bobwhite quail and greater prairie-chicken decline substantially over the years. Even other non-game grassland birds such as the eastern meadowlark and loggerhead shrike have experienced similar population declines. While many factors contribute to these declines, biologists and many landowners understand that quality habitat is the driving force for improving upland bird populations.

            The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism (KDWPT) is hosting an Upland Bird Management Workshop to discuss what landowners and tenants can do for these birds and other wildlife on their property. Since approximately 97% of Kansas is privately owned land, the fate of all upland bird populations lies in the hands of private landowners. If you are concerned about declining upland bird numbers then you will want to mark the evening of October 22, 2013 on your calendar. Brad Rueschhoff, KDWPT Wildlife Biologist, will discuss basic habitat requirements and life needs of the bobwhite quail and greater prairie chicken from egg through adult stage, effective habitat management practices landowners can implement on their land, and KDWPT Private Landowner Assistance Programs which can provide technical and cost-share assistance. In addition, Sara Fredrickson, NRCS District Conservationist will give overviews of USDA Farm Bill Programs such as EQIP, General CRP, and Continuous CRP practices which are beneficial to wildlife while also conserving soil and water resources. Time will be allowed at the end of the evening for a question and answer session. 

            Admission is free.  Participants will receive a packet containing information on habitat requirements, management practices, and cost-share assistance programs available. Landowners and the general public are encouraged to attend.

            The workshop will take place on Tuesday, October 22, 2013, beginning at 6:00 pm.  Location will be the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism Region 2 Office located at 300 SW Wanamaker inTopeka, KS. For more information or to register please contact Brad Rueschhoff at 785-273-6740 or email[email protected].  

Women and Youth Angler Numbers Increased Most

Showing a resurgence in one of America‘s favorite pastimes, the number of Americans who go fishing is up, with more than 47 million people participating in 2012. Adding to the 42.5 million who are current or occasional anglers, more than 4.5 million first-timers tried fishing last year, a significant increase from 2011 and the highest number of new participants ever recorded. The 2013 Special Report on Fishing and Boating just released by the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) and The Outdoor Foundation also shows significant increases in fishing participation among women and children.

“We’re extremely pleased to see the number of first-time anglers and overall anglers, continue to rise,” said RBFF President and CEO Frank Peterson. “Working closely with our industry and state agency partners, our collective effort is yielding well deserved results. Increased participation, in both fishing and boating, leads to increased license sales, and boat registrations, key sources for funding state fish and wildlife conservation programs.”

“Fishing and boating are among the most important ‘gateway’ activities that often lead people, especially youth, to pursue other recreation experiences,” said Christine Fanning, Executive Director of the Outdoor Foundation. “We’re thrilled to partner, once again, with the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation on this important research project.”

The fifth annual report details fishing participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geography.

KEY FINDINGS                     

Fishing Participation

·         In 2012, 47 million Americans went fishing (an increase from 46.2 million in 2011).

·         While 9.4 million people stopped fishing, 10.2 million new or returning anglers participated in the sport, netting a gain of more than 870,000.

·         Americans made one billion fishing outings in 2012, averaging 21.3 fishing days per person.

·         Forty-one percent of first-time fishing participants were female, bringing the total of female anglers to 34.4 percent.

·         Adults 18 and older with children in their households participate in fishing at higher levels than adults without children.

·         Fly fishing had the highest rate of first-time participants with 20.5 percent.

Hispanic American Fishing Participation

·         In 2012, 2.8 million Hispanic Americans went fishing – a slight decrease from 3.1 million in 2011.

·         Freshwater fishing is the most popular type of fishing among Hispanic Americans.

·         Hispanic Americans fish the most often of all ethnicities, averaging 21.6 fishing days per year.

Youth Fishing Participation

·         Fishing participation for children peaked between the ages of six and 12, then decreased during the adolescent years of 13 to 17.

·         In 2012, 81.8 percent of youth anglers ages six to 12 were introduced to outdoor activities by their parents.

·         Participation declined among females ages 13 to 17 more sharply than among males of the same age.

·         More than 45 percent of youth fishing participants ages six to 17 also participated in boating.

      The full study is available online at TakeMeFishing.org/Corporate. 

Western Governors urge USFWS to approve state conservation mechanism for Lesser Prairie-chicken

Governors of five western states have urged the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to approve the Range-wide Conservation Plan for the Lesser Prairie-chicken (RWP) as the key conservation mechanism for the species.

The Lesser Prairie-chicken is found in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. In December of 2012, the USFWS proposed to list the species as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

The Western Governors who signed on to the Aug. 2 letter to USFWS – John Hickenlooper (CO), Sam Brownback (KS), Mary Fallin (OK), Susana Martinez (N.M.), and Rick Perry (TX) – are instead urging Dan Ashe, the Director of USFWS, to make use of existing public-private partnerships to conserve the species rather than listing the species as threatened. Such a listing can unduly restrict land use and state land management.

Specifically, the Governors point to the RWP, which is the work of wildlife experts who comprised the Lesser Prairie-chicken Interstate Working Group. The Governors want the USFWS to approve the RWP as a conservation enrollment program for the Lesser Prairie-chicken, a step that could preclude the need to list the species as threatened. Recently, the USFWS extended the timeline for final determination of the species’ proposed listing to March of 2014.

The Governors’ letter echoes themes in existing Western Governors’ Association (WGA) policy resolutions, including:

Policy Resolution 11-10, Lesser Prairie-chicken Conservation, which urged a policy of cooperative management among the states to maintain and restore LPC populations while encouraging responsible development;

Policy Resolution 13-08, The Endangered Species Act, which stated that USFWS should enhance the role of state governments in recovering species, such as through the development of conservation plans;

Policy Resolution 13-04, Conserving Wildlife and Crucial Habitat in the West, in which the Governors urged federal agencies to use state fish and wildlife data and analyses as principal sources to inform natural resource decisions.

The RWP uses state fish and wildlife data for its conservation strategy, including the Southern Great Plains Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (SGP CHAT), which depicts crucial habitat areas for the Lesser Prairie-chicken. Part of the RWP conservation strategy is to use the CHAT to identify areas where habitat improvements should be concentrated.

The SGP CHAT is one of many GIS-tools being developed by Western states that will depict crucial wildlife habitat areas in a single map layer that energy, transmission and land-use planners can use in the beginning stages of project planning. WGA also is supporting development of a Western Governors’ CHAT, which will depict crucial wildlife habitat across the West when it launches this December.

Why Do We Need Healthy Rivers?

By Laura Craig

American Rivers

Clean, healthy rivers are the lifeblood of our communities and are vital to our health, safety, and quality of life. Most Americans live within a mile of a river or stream, and all of our drinking water comes directly or indirectly from rivers and streams.

By protecting and restoring rivers, we are protecting clean drinking water, creating jobs and recreation opportunities that benefit our economy, and revitalizing our natural heritage for future generations.

Healthy Rivers Give Us Clean Drinking Water

More than 60 percent of Americans’ drinking water comes from rivers and streams. A healthy river and surrounding forests can act as a natural water filter, reducing the need to treat the water with chemicals or expensive filtration systems.

Healthy Rivers are Good for the Economy

Going fishing may feel like taking the day off, but its overall economic impact in the U.S. is estimated at $116 billion. And consider the fact that more people fish in the United States than go to Disneyworld. When Americans participate in outdoor activities, they aren’t just having fun and staying fit, they’re also pumping billions of dollars into the economy – in industries including manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, transportation, and wholesale and retail trade.

Healthy Rivers Are Home to Fish and Wildlife

America’s rivers support a wide variety of wildlife and fish, and are especially important during times of breeding and migration. In dry areas, particularly in the western U.S., rivers and streams are crucial to the well-being of wildlife. From kingfishers to crawdads, otters to black bears, eagles to trout, whatever creature you’re looking for, chances are you’ll find it along the river.

Healthy Rivers Are Fun!

Beyond all the other services and benefits healthy rivers can provide, they are just plain fun. Rivers and streams offer endless recreation opportunities, including swimming, fishing, boating, hiking, and wildlife-watching. Whether you need exhilaration, solitude, a much-needed break from the daily grind or just a pleasant place for a family float or picnic, there’s a river out there, beckoning you to come out and play.

Rivers Are Our Heritage

From the homelands of Native Americans to our earliest settlements, explorer routes, and battlefields, to the evolution of music, literature, and art – our nation’s culture and heritage is written in the currents of our rivers. Think of Mark Twain on the Mississippi, or Lewis and Clark following the Missouri and Columbia rivers as they traveled west. Our rivers connect us to the past, and the future.

Balancing conservation and energy development

By Jeremy Vesbach

from The Hill’s Congress Blog

Writer Aldo Leopold’s most famous work, Sand County Almanac, includes the inspiration: “Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land.”

As an avid hunter, forester, scientist and conservationist, Leopold had on-the-ground knowledge of that concept. While we may not all be as eloquent as Leopold, it is my experience that most of my fellow hunters develop a passion for habitat conservation. Today one of our biggest hurdles to achieving that harmony is maintaining access to our outdoor heritage amid the energy development taking place on public lands across the West.

In light of the industrialization happening around him in the early 1900s, Leopold inspired the collaboration that protected the world’s first Wilderness area. The Gila Wilderness in New Mexico was – and is today — a refuge for wildlife and the preservation of wilderness hunting skills.
            Instead of trying to control wildlife as if it were livestock, he wrote the first textbook on wildlife management. He pioneered the notion that we could see ourselves and nature as part of the same system – a system that needed to be in balance. This notion of a “biotic community” as he called it, was a radical idea at the time. You might say it still is.

But Leopold’s vision of balance is not.

According to a May 2013 survey of voters in nine Western states, a majority of Americans (55 percent) say the government should put conservation on equal ground with drilling for oil and gas on our public lands. This is the case among independents (59 percent), Republicans (64 percent), hunters and anglers (57 percent), and even among people who rate oil and gas as very important to them personally (57 percent).

Across party lines, voters are most concerned with permanently protecting wilderness, parks and open space for future generations (65 percent) and preserving access to outdoor recreation (63 percent).

It matters a lot what people in the West think about these issues, because our way of life is at stake. Oil and gas development is important, but we have to strike the right balance. As the poll respondents said: some places are just too special to drill – which echoes a concept I’ve often heard from other hunters and anglers: “responsible drilling means there are some places you don’t drill.”

Leopold asked, “Do we not already sing our love for and obligation to the land of the free and the home of the brave? Yes, but just what and whom do we love?”

I’d say we love the Rio Grande and the Gila River where we fish with our families. We love the Valle Vidal, or “Valley of Life,” which hunters led the charge to successfully protect from coal-bed methane drilling; legislation preserving the area was signed into law by President George W. Bush.

Clearly, protecting the most prized of our public lands here in New Mexico and across the West can be done alongside oil and gas development.

A new report offers some commonsense suggestions: conserving valuable hunting grounds like the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks where an outdoor way of life can continue; protecting backcountry areas for wildlife and sportsmen, and mandating that conservation and recreation be part of any planning process around oil and gas development on public lands.

I encourage the White House, Interior Secretary Jewell, Congress, and all of our policymakers to continue to work to balance energy development and conservation. By doing so, we can leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren that would make Leopold proud and achieve the conservation legacy of harmony that he championed.

Vesbach is executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.

Specially Managed Fields Attract Doves and Hunters

Designated dove fields on public lands require non-toxic shot

On many Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) public wildlife areas, managers have been working all summer to attract doves. Specific crops have been planted and managed, and if Mother Nature cooperates the dove hunting on these fields can be fantastic.

On many areas, these practices have been followed for several years; however, there are some changes for the 2013 season. The biggest change is that on designated dove fields, hunters will be restricted to non-toxic shot. Dove harvest has been high on many fields, and they draw large number of hunters for the first few days of the dove season. This kind of hunting pressure on small fields results in a large amount of lead shot being concentrated in a small area. Lead is toxic, especially to birds, so the non-toxic regulation has been implemented.

The fields requiring non-toxic shot will be designated with signs, and non-toxic shot is required for all shotgun hunting on these fields as long as the signs are in place. The following wildlife areas may have designated non-toxic shot fields: NORTHWEST – Jamestown WA, Glen Elder WA, Ottawa WA,Smoky Hill WA, and Wilson WA. NORTHEAST – Kansas River WA, Tuttle Creek WA, Clinton WA, Perry WA, Milford WA, Noe WA, and Hillsdale WA. SOUTHCENTRAL – Cheney WA, El DoradoWA, and Marion WA. SOUTHEAST – Dove Flats WA, Elk City WA, Fall River WA, La Cygne WA, Mined Land WA, Spring River WA, Toronto WA, and Woodson WA.

Hunters can see which wildlife areas have managed dove fields by going towww.ksoutdoors.com, clicking on “Hunting,” then “Migratory Birds” and “Doves.” Narratives for each area under the “Managed Dove Hunting Areas On KDWPT Public Lands” heading provide field locations, crop types and any special restrictions in place.

Dove hunting on these specially managed fields can be so good they will attract many hunters. Common courtesy and strict safety procedures must be followed to ensure everyone has a safe and enjoyable hunt. Always keep plenty of space between hunting parties, be conscious of where you are shooting and where your shot will drop, and never take shots at low flying birds.

The 2013 season for mourning, white-winged, Eurasian collared and ringed turtle doves is open Sept. 1-Oct. 31 and Nov. 2-10. The daily bag limit for mourning and white-winged doves, single species or in combination is 15. The possession limit is 45. There is no limit on Eurasian collared and ringed turtle doves, but any taken in addition to a daily bag limit of mourning and white-winged doves must have a fully-feathered wing attached while being transported.

A Kansas Harvest Information Program permit is required to hunt doves. An extended exotic dove season for Eurasian and ringed turtle doves will open Nov. 20-Feb. 28, 2014. There is no daily bag limit, but a fully-feathered wing must remain attached while the birds are transported.  

Senate Asks: What Should We Do on Water? Here’s One Answer

By Jimmy Hague

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

Earlier I wrote about a Senate hearing on the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study. In case you missed it, the complete hearing is archived and worth watching.

Members of the committee had a recurring question about the projected 3.2 million acre-foot* shortfall between supply and demand in the Colorado River Basin: What – if anything – should the federal government do about it?

In his opening remarks, Sen. Lee (R-UT) approvingly read from the study’s disclaimer that said the study is not to be used as a foundation for any legislative or regulatory action by the federal government. Sen. Udall (D-CO) directly asked the first panel of witnesses what the federal government’s role should be. Sen. Flake (R-AZ) reiterated this question to the second panel of witnesses, saying it was his preference that the federal government be the “last resort” when it comes to solving water problems in the basin.

These statements reflect an appropriate hesitance in Congress to tell Western states what to do with their water. Management of water resources has always been the province of the states, a responsibility they vigorously defend. But it is wrong to think the federal government doesn’t have a role to play or Congress a responsibility to act.

Mike Connor, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, called Reclamation a valued partner to the states in water management. Don Ostler, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission, was more explicit. He said Reclamation provides essential technical support, guidance and research to the states. He also testified that funding for programs such as WaterSMART makes the Colorado River Basin Study possible. Taylor Hawes, Colorado River program director for The Nature Conservancy, asked for support for WaterSMART in her testimony.

The federal role in responding to our water resources management challenges is broader than what these witnesses testified, however. Leaving aside the fact that issues between states that also impact other countries (e.g., Mexico in the case of the Colorado River) have a necessary federal nexus, the problems in theColorado River Basin are a bellwether for issues coming to all parts of the country.

The northwestern and southeastern United States are already facing water conflicts analogous to those in the Colorado River Basin, the U.S. energy sector is vulnerable nationwide to projected water shortages andfloods, and water for fish and wildlife is too often an afterthought among other competing uses.

If you care about having water to drink in Atlanta or lights that come on in Seattle or wetlands that support wildlife in the northern Great Plains, you should be interested in lessons being learned right now in theColorado River Basin.

There is one action sportsmen and Congress can take in the short term to address these disparate challenges: support WaterSMART. This program and similar federal efforts are competitive cost share programs that develop local solutions to national problems. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, WaterSMART grants have already led to 616,000 acre-feet of water saved through conservation.

In 2013 alone, WaterSMART gave the following:

● $1 million to the Hoopa Valley Tribe in northern California to install over 20,000 linear feet of new pipeline to address inefficiencies in the existing delivery system of open ditches and pipes. The project will save 379 acre-feet of water annually, which will be left in Soctish and Captain John Creeks, eventually feeding into the Trinity and lower Klamath Rivers where it will benefit threatened Coho salmon and green sturgeon.

● $200,000 to the Fort Shaw Irrigation District in Montana to upgrade 10,800 feet of open ditch canal to pipe and install six new center pivots, allowing growers to switch from flood irrigation and increase efficiency. The project will save 2,628 acre-feet annually, which will be left in the Sun River to help maintain and improve minimum stream flows.

● $1.5 million to the Central Oregon Irrigation District to upgrade 4,500 linear feet of canal to pipe, an improvement that will save 2,552 acre-feet each year. The conserved water will become permanent instream flows in the middle Deschutes River and in a reach of the Crooked River that is critical for the endangered Middle Columbia River steelhead.

● $1.5 million to the Cub River Irrigation Company in northern Utah to upgrade 6.5 miles of open ditch canal to pipe. The project will save 2,800 acre-feet of water each year, which will be left in the Bear River and benefit the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge downstream.

In fiscal year 2013, the federal government spent a little over $52 million on the WaterSMART program. For 2014, President Obama has asked Congress for $35 million for the program, a 32 percent cutfrom last year. The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would fund WaterSMART at $16.6 million, a 68 percent cut from last year. As part of that cut, the House bill would completely eliminate funding for the competitive grants, like those listed above, that have led to significant on-the-ground water conservation in partnership with local communities.

The bright spot is the Senate, which has legislation funding WaterSMART at $51 million. This is essentially the same level as last year, 45 percent above President Obama’s request and three times the House level. When the House and Senate meet to resolve their differences and fund the government for 2014, they can demonstrate to sportsmen how important water conservation is by the level of investment they make in WaterSMART.

Congress can also show its support for sportsmen by extending the successful WaterSMART partnerships with state and local entities. The authorization for water conservation grants is about to run out, which is part of the reason funding is in jeopardy. At a minimum, Congress needs to reauthorize these grants and renew its commitment to water conservation.

The TRCP Center for Water Resources will be taking this message to Congress. Stay tuned for ways you can get involved to let your representatives in Congress know that investments that conserve water for fish and wildlife are important to hunters and anglers.

* An acre–foot of water is approximately as much water as a family of four will use in a year.

House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee Proposes Cuts to Grant Programs

House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee Proposes Cuts to Grant Programs.

Last month the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee proposed eliminating funding for the following popular and highly successful grant programs for next fiscal year:

·         State & Tribal Wildlife Grants Program

·         North American Wetland Conservation Fund

·         Neotropical Migratory Bird Fund

·         Forest Legacy Program

·         Land and Water Conservation Fund

These programs have conserved some of our nation’s rarest and most cherished fish and wildlife, restored vital wetlands and protected priority forests, grasslands, coasts  and other important habitats. Complete elimination of funding for these programs is unprecedented.

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Associations (AFWA) has drafted a letter (read below) in support of these programs that calls for funding to be restored for FY2014, which is set to begin on October 1. 

Dear Senators Reed and Murkowski and Congressmen Simpson and Moran:

On behalf of the millions of outdoor recreationists our organizations represent, we wish to express our support for the State & Tribal Wildlife Grants Program, North American Wetland Conservation Fund, Neotropical Migratory Bird Fund, Forest Legacy Program and Land and Water Conservation Fund. We are concerned that the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee proposed to eliminate funding for these successful and important fish and wildlife conservation programs next fiscal year. Elimination of funding will have significant impacts to collaborative on-the-ground conservation in communities nationwide resulting in more federal endangered species listings, fewer restored wetlands, further imperiled migratory birds, less protection for forests and other key habitats and diminished outdoor recreation opportunities.

We appreciate the need to reduce the size of the federal deficit and the difficult choices that you face. However, these programs are priorities and we believe they have done their fair share to help balance the budget after being cut by more than 25% in the last several years. Continued disproportionate cuts in the current budget under consideration will further rollback conservation work that serves the national interests of fish and wildlife conservation, creation of non-exportable jobs and delivery of essential services such as clean water and air and storm protection to current and future generations

Investments in natural resources conservation and outdoor recreation total less than 1% of all discretionary spending, a percentage that has been declining for decades. Grant programs represent an even smaller percentage of this total but are unique in that they leverage hundreds of millions in state, local and private dollars.  According to the US Census Bureau, 90 million US residents participate in fish and wildlife recreation, spending over $150 billion annually. Federal grant programs help ensure these consumers have sustainable fish and wildlife populations to view, hunt and fish.

We strongly encourage you to work in a bipartisan manner to find solutions to the budget problem that do not further harm successful and publicly supported conservation grant programs that help fuel the outdoor recreation economic engine.  Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Lovewell State Park to Host Annual Campground Christmas Event

Campers will trade in “hot and humid” for “ho, ho, ho” during this holiday decorating contest

Do the hot and humid days of summer have you wishing for a winter wonderland? Well look no farther than Lovewell State Park because your wish is about to be granted. Lovewell State Park, located in Jewell County in northcentral Kansas, will host the 11th Annual Campground Christmas event Saturday, Aug. 17. Campers will compete in a two-day decorating contest by adorning their campsites and cabins with yuletide themes.

The decorations will then be available for public viewing, followed by a formal judging at 8 p.m. Saturday evening. Prizes will be awarded at 11 a.m. the following morning.

Campers interested in entering the contest must register at the Lovewell State Park Office no later than 5 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 17. Those interested in viewing the campsites must have a vehicle permit to enter the park. Daily permits can be purchased for $5.00, annual permits for $25.00. For more information, contact Lovewell State Park manager Thane Loring at (785) 753-4971.

For a list of park events near you, visit www.ksoutdoors.com and click “State Parks/Event Calendar.”

Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission Public Hearing Aug. 29

Phone conference scheduled to approve last-minute changes to possession limits for migratory birds

The Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission will conduct a public hearing through a telephone conference on Thursday, August 29, 2013. The call will begin at 10 a.m., and members of the public can listen online at www.ksoutdoors.com, or attend a satellite location listed below, where public comments may be heard.

The last-minute hearing is necessary to incorporate changes to possession limits in migratory bird hunting regulations for the 2013 seasons. Other than the late migratory bird seasons, which were set Aug. 1, seasons and regulations for doves, sandhill cranes, snipe, rail and woodcock were approved earlier this year. However, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released frameworks for migratory bird hunting regulations in July, the possession limit for all migratory birds was increased from twice the daily bag limit to three times the daily bag limit. Because potential regulation changes must be given published notice 30 days prior to a public hearing, the impromptu commission meeting was scheduled for Aug. 29. Commissioners will vote on a recommendation to adopt the maximum possession limit of three times the daily bag limit for doves, sandhill cranes, snipe, rail and woodcock as allowed under the USFWS frameworks.

The public is encouraged to listen to or comment during the hearing at any of the following KDWPT locations:

Office of the Secretary, 

1020 S. Kansas Ave., Suite 200, Topeka

;

Pratt Operations Office, 

512 SE 25^th Ave.

, Pratt;

KDWPT Region 1 Office, 1426 Hwy 183 Alt., Hays;

KDWPT Region 2 Office, 

300 SW Wanamaker Rd., Topeka

;

KDWPT Region 3 Office, 1001 W. McArtor, Dodge City;

KDWPT Region 4 Office, 

6232 E. 29^th St. N, Wichita

;

Neosho County Community College, 800 W. 14^th St., Oak Room, No. 209, Chanute; KDWPT Kansas City Office, 8304 Hedge Lane Terrace, Shawnee;

KDWPT Research and Survey Office, 1830 Merchant, Emporia.

If necessary, the Commission will recess on August 29, 2013, to reconvene August 30, 2013, at 9:00 a.m.

If notified in advance, the department will have an interpreter available for the hearing impaired. To request an interpreter call the Kansas Commission of Deaf and Hard of Hearing at 1-800-432-0698. Any individual with a disability may request other accommodations by contacting the Commission Secretary at (620) 672-5911.

The next commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 17, 2013, Kansas Cosmosphere, 1100 N. Plum,Hutchinson.

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