Monthly Archives: February 2014

Kansas Wildlife Federation Annual Meeting set for Salina

                               2014 KWF Annual Meeting Set
for Salina
Kansas Wildlife Federation
63rd Annual Meeting
February 21 and 22, 2014
Salina Quality Inn
2110 W. Crawford
Salina, KS
The Kansas Wildlife Federation’s 2014 Annual Meeting
is set for Friday and Saturday, February 21 and 22, at the
Quality Inn & Suites by Choice Hotels at 2110 West
Crawford Ave. in Salina
. The 2013 Conservation Achievement Program (CAP) awards banquet will
be held Saturday night at the same location.
            Friday night we will convene a
meeting to review pending Kansas legislation dealing with wildlife issues and
discuss any resolutions to be brought before the membership at the meeting
Saturday morning. Come participate in this important process.
            A block of rooms has been reserved
at the special rates of $60 and $65 per night (single or double beds) and will
be held until February 11. Call the
Quality Inn at 785-825-2111 to make reservations. Be sure to
tell them that you are with the Kansas Wildlife Federation to receive the
special room rate. Call soon before the rooms run out. 
See you in Salina.


MEETING AGENDA

Friday, February 21st
6:30 pm           Registration
7:00 pm           2014
Legislation Presentation
                                    Chris
Tymeson, KDWPT
                        2014
Resolution Review
Saturday, February 22nd
8:00 am                       Registration
9:00                 Opening
of KWF Annual Meeting
                                    Pledge
                                    Presentation
of Minutes of 2013 Annual Meeting
9:30                 Committee
Reports
                                    Treasurer
                                    Issues
and Action
                                    Education
                                    Membership
10:00               Affiliate
Reports
10:15               Break
10:30               Resolution
Adoption
11:00               NWF
Report
11:15               Election
of KWF Officers
12:00               Lunch  (included in cost of registration)
                                    Lesser
Prairie-chickens in Kansas
                                                Jim
Pitman, KDWPT Small Game Supervisor
1:30 pm           Getting Kansas Kids Outdoors
                                    Brian
Shaffer, PF/QF Youth Coordinator
                                    Mike
Christensen, Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors
                                    Nick
Prough, Quail & Upland Wildlife Federation
2:45 pm           Break
3:10
pm          
Getting Kansas Kids Outdoors
(cont)
Kevin
Reich, Fishing’s Future
Ed
Augustine, Geary County Fish & Game Association
                                    Pat
Silovsky, KDWPT
4:30 pm           Adjourn                       
                        2013 Conservation
Achievement Program
Awards Banquet
5:30 pm           KWF
Social Hour with Live and Silent Auctions
7:00 pm           KWF
Annual CAP Banquet and Awards Program
Speaker: Mike Haddock,
President of Kansas Native Plant Society

Author of Wildflowers and Grasses of Kansas; A Field
Guide

              2014 Annual Meeting Registration Form
Yes – I am registering for
the 2014 KWF Annual Meeting to be held February 21 & 22 at the Quality Inn
& Suites by Choice Hotels at 2110 West Crawford Ave. in Salina.

Name
_________________________________________________

Address
_______________________________________________

City
__________________________ State ____ Zip ___________

Telephone
_____________________ E-mail __________________

Meeting Registration
(includes Lunch):            ______ @ $15
(before 2-14-14)
                                                            ______ @ $20 (after 2-14-14)

Conservation Achievement
Banquet:  ______ @ $25 (before 2-14-14)
                                                            ______ @ $35
(after 2-14-14)

                                    Total Sent:       ______

I will bring an item to be
auctioned for KWF’s education programs. 

 Yes
___   No ___
Please make checks payable
to Kansas Wildlife Federation
MAIL
TO: KWF Annual Meeting
Kansas
Wildlife Federation
            P. O. Box 771282
            Wichita,
KS 67277-1282

White-tailed Deer

deer

White-tailed Deer
Photo Credit: Ted Beringer

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can be found virtually all over Kansas wherever there are natural woodlands, riparian corridors and grasslands, especially near cropfields. Their highest densities occur in the eastern third of the state. White-tailed deer feed mostly at dawn and dusk on leaves, stems, buds and bark, acorns, grain crops and alfalfa. They have relatively short ears and are tawny brown in color. Their bushy tail, brown above and white below, “flags” fromside to side when they are running. Whitetails are excellent swimmers, can run 35 miles per hour and jump an 8-foot fence. Bucks have antlers with 3-6 unforked points on each beam that are shed in late winter. The peak of the whitetail breeding season, or rut, occurs in November. Young does usually have one fawn in May or June while twins are usually the norm in older does. They can live up to 15 years in the wild. For more on Kansas ungulates, visit the Great Plains Nature Center at http://www.gpnc.org/deerwt.htm.

Eastern Red Bat

Eastern Red Bat

Eastern Red Bat (Photo Credit: Michael Durham www.durmphoto.com

The Eastern Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis)lives throughout Kansas wherever there are caves and hollow trees but they also hang from live branches of deciduous trees. On the coldest winter days they may find refuge on the ground under leaf litter. They are insectivores that feed on moths primarily which they find by echolocation using the frequency range of 35-50 kHz. They help farmers by eliminating vast numbers of harmful insects and pollinating crops. Although mating occurs in late summer, sperm is stored in the female reproductive tract until spring to coincide with ovulation at which time fertilization occurs. They give birth to 3 or 4 young in June. In recent years it has been estimated that nearly six million bats of various species have succumbed to “white nose syndrome” caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans. The disease is moving west from a cave where it was discovered in New York but may not be in Kansas at this time. A University of Colorado study indicates that wind turbines cause millions of bat deaths annually. Although bats can evade wind turbine blades by echolocation, they are killed by the barotrauma caused by the drop in atmospheric pressure near the blades that causes hemorrhaging in their lungs.

Greater Sage-Grouse

Sage-Grouse are an iconic bird of the west evoking images of wild prairies. Their mating dance is among the most unique in the animal kingdom. Living in open sagebrush plains, the Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is the largest grouse species in North America.

Greater Sage-Grouse are notable for elaborate courtship rituals. Each spring males congregate in leks to perform a “strutting display” that sounds like a coffee percolator. Females observe these displays and select the most attractive males. Females make nests on the ground at the base of a sagebrush plant or grass patch. After her clutch of 6-13 eggs hatches, the young are immediately able to follow her.

Greater Sage-Grouse are totally dependent on sagebrush-dominated habitats where they forage on the ground. Lacking a muscular crop they are unable to digest hard seeds like other grouse. Sagebrush is a crucial component of their diet year-round, with leaves, buds, stems, flowers and fruit, as well as insects, the primary food of the Greater Sage-Grouse.

Currently, Greater Sage-Grouse occupy approximately 56 percent of their historical range in the western U.S. They were never native to Kansas. Evidence suggests that habitat fragmentation and destruction has contributed to significant population declines over the past century. If current trends persist, many populations may disappear in several decades, with remaining fragmented populations vulnerable to extinction. The Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded that the Greater Sage-Grouse warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act but is precluded since the needs of other species facing more immediate and severe threat of extinction take priority. Greater Sage-Grouse live in wilderness areas of western states that are also home to mule deer, elk and pronghorn antelope. We need to protect Sage-Grouse habitat from irresponsible off-road vehicle use, damaging drilling, mining, transmission and other energy development activities.

Kansas Quail Initiative in the Running for Grant

Votes for  the Kansas Quail Initiative could bring $25,000 grant to program   You can help Kansas bobwhite  quail with just the click of your mouse. Sportdog Brand, a company that  produces electronic dog training equipment, is asking the public to help select  conservation projects that they can support with additional funding.   Sportdog’s Future Forward Fund contest is a spin-off from their  Conservation Fund program, which supports grassroots organizations that work  with state, federal, and private wildlife and land management agencies to  conserve wild game populations and critical wildlife habitat. The Future  Forward Fund contest accepted conservation project proposals from around the  country before selecting a top seven. The Kansas Quail Initiative (KQI),  nominated by Quail Forever, made the cut. Voting is open now through Nov. 30,  2012. You can vote for the KQI on Sportdog’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SportDOGBrand,  Twitter feedwww.twitter.com/SportDOGBrand,  Sportdog’s website www.sportdog.com or  the email address [email protected].       The project with the most votes will receive a $25,000 grant. The  second place vote-getter will receive $5,000.

      KQI is a Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism project  designed to reverse declining bobwhite quail populations at a landscape level.  The project includes the designation of two large quail management focus areas  in the eastern half of the state where landowners will receive 100 percent  cost-share to improve habitat on their land. The goal is to increase quail  numbers by 50 percent and to increase suitable quail habitat by 5 percent in  each focus area.       Additional support for KQI is provided by the National Wild Turkey  Federation, Quail and Upland Wildlife Federation, Quail Forever, Safari Club  International, Kansas Wildlife Federation, and the Nature  Conservancy.Kansas biologists have joined forces with biologists in other  states to form the National Bobwhite Technical Committee with a goal of  improving quail habitat across its range through a National Bobwhite  Conservation Initiative.

Women

Becoming an Outdoors  Woman

Women  in the Outdoors Kansas (WITO)

Women Caring for the  Land – Kansas Rural Center

Hunter Education & Hunting lease  letter for WCL participants

Kansas  Environmental Quality Incentives Program

Welcome to  Kansas Hunting – Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism

Hunting Leases  in Kansas –  Kansas State University Dept. of Agricultural Economics

Improving upland bird  habitat – click on Habitat programs

Kansas Walk-in Hunting  Access Program

Teachers

Kansas Association for  Conservation and Environmental Education

Kansas  Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom

Kansas  Green Schools

National  Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitats

National  Wildlife Federation Eco-Schools USA

Kansas  WRAPS (Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy)

Konza  Environmental Education Program

Earth  Partnership for Schools Summer Institute

A  Voyage of Learning Teacher’s Academy – Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri

The  Aldo Leopold Foundation