Monthly Archives: December 2014

Wind farms aren’t green if the prairie is destroyed

By Mike Fuhr

From the Tulsa World

Many have been following the ongoing conflict in OsageCounty regarding industrial wind energy development — objections, denied permits, lawsuits, delays. Wildlife conservation is one of the many issues at hand there. Simply put, with regard to conservation, it comes down to the real estate mantra: location, location, location.

Globally, temperate grasslands have experienced drastic declines and they continue to disappear. The prairies in the central U.S. are the quintessential American landscape but have faced the same pressures as other grasslands. The tallgrass prairies of the eastern Great Plains have been especially hard hit. What was once more than 140 million acres of tallgrass prairie has been seriously degraded by 150 years of conversion to other uses. Less than 4 percent of this landscape remains.

The Osage Hills and neighboring Flint Hills of Kansas harbor the largest unfragmented block of tallgrass prairie anywhere in the world. The unfragmented setting and biological richness of the Osage and Flint Hills make them a high priority for conservation. In fact, it is our last chance to work collaboratively with landowners to conserve the tallgrass prairie at a large enough scale that will conserve the many interlocking biological pieces that make a prairie a prairie.

The Nature Conservancy is concerned that if inappropriately located, industrial wind farms pose known threats to natural habitats and certain wildlife populations, which might in turn have significant negative consequences for project developers, financiers, power purchasers and citizens. We do not want to exacerbate one problem as we try to solve another.

The Osage Hills are the very same landform with the same rich biological diversity features found in the Flint Hills of Kansas, which is a landscape that wind developers and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback have agreed to avoid disturbing with wind energy development. Industrial wind developments planned for the Osage Hills that are located in the remaining native tallgrass prairie landscape there, from a conservation science perspective, are in a very poor location for the siting of any major infrastructure, including industrial wind power.

For a decade, The Nature Conservancy has urged wind developers to find habitat-friendly locations for their projects. We have supported this by working with partners to develop science-based computer models for Oklahoma that identified those locations that have high impacts to habitats and those with little or no impact to habitats, and making those models available to wind energy developers.

It is inappropriate for the TradeWind projects, and any others planned for OsageCounty, to be labeled as “green” when they negatively impact the largest patch of unplowed tallgrass prairie left in North America. Together, the projects encompass an estimated 160 turbines, each standing 400-plus feet tall, across more than 17,000 acres west and northwest of Pawhuska.

It is critical that wind developers consider wildlife habitat and other potential constraints very early in their planning and collaborate with relevant entities to resolve any issues then. Let’s be smart about development that helps Oklahoma and preserve what’s left of our beautiful prairie land.

Mike Fuhr is State Director of the Oklahoma Chapter of The Nature Conservancy

Congress aims to protect Great Lakes against invasive carp

By Jenna Iacurci

NatureWorldNews

(Photo: Flickr/US Army Corps of Engineers/Todd Davis)

The problem of Asian carp invading the Great Lakes and outcompeting local fish populations for food has been an ongoing one, so Friday the US Congress called for a temporary solution to strengthen defenses and protect native fish until a more permanent plan can be agreed upon.

The new measure would use additional structures to control upstream movement of fish at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, located on the Des Plaines River in Joliet, Ill., just 40 miles from Chicago.

Supporters of the legislation describe Brandon Road as a “choke point,” meaning the location would block Asian carp as well as other exotic species from reaching Lake Michigan, and potentially spreading to other Great Lakes.

“This is important work that will develop solutions that can be applied elsewhere in the Chicago waterway system – and throughout the Great Lakes and the nation as a whole – to prevent damaging aquatic species from expanding into other water bodies,” Jon Allen, vice chairman of the Great Lakes Commission, which endorsed the bill, said in a statement.

According to the National Wildlife Federation, Asian carp were first introduced into the United States in the 1970s to clean up fresh water, and rapidly reproduced thereafter. The fish, which can grow as much as 100 pounds, are a growing problem, with fisherman catching 20 carp on a normal day, and a whopping 180 fish on a good day. They compete with local fish and mussels for food resources, such as plankton.

Congress and others are increasingly worried for native fish species because once Asian carp – like silver and bighead carp – become rooted in an ecosystem, they are virtually impossible to eradicate. This could devastate the Great Lakes’ $7 billion fishing industry.

To counter the carp, researchers have been testing various strategies to prevent a Great Lakes invasion, including sound barriers, food attractants, sonar fishing tracking and commercial fishing.

These techniques may be considered as Congress aims to land on a permanent solution to the issue at hand, a goal of theirs according to the new bill.

Monster Buck Classic We Are Kansas announces 2015 attraction lineup

Brian D. Smith, the founder and CEO of the Monster Buck Classic We Are Kansas event, announced the events attraction lineup for the 2015 event. Smith said “I am excited to announce what we believe to be the greatest lineup of attractions and whitetail authority in our 4 year history. We have several unique folks and whitetail displays to help make our attendees experience a great one. Matt Stutzman “The Armless Archer”, “Dr. Deer” James Kroll and World Champion predator caller Torry Cook will all be at the event Saturday and Sunday with Cook being there all three days. We have recently agreed to a 3 year deal to have The Antler Collector, the world’s largest shed antler display, in attendance. Steve Porter’s Traveling Whitetail Display will be there all three days with three live whitetails that have in excess of 800 inches of antler growth. We will also have W.O.W. Worlds of Whitetail on hand all three days displaying some of the world’s largest mounts of famous deer that most avid whitetail enthusiast will recognize. Returning as well is the Hunting Film Tour film that we will offer to the attendees for free this year”.

Smith went on to say “We are almost done selling our booths as 80% of them are gone as of today. We are ahead by 17% versus last year at the same time as far as booth sales are concerned. We sold every booth we had the last two years and it looks like this year is going to be no exception. We have also partnered once again with Boothboss to manage our vendor booth sales. You can visit our website and follow the link to the Boothboss layout https://boothboss.com/floorplan/index.php?showID=478and reserve your spot before they are all gone. We have proudly given away as we have done every year 16 booths to non-profit conservation minded organizations thus far and have two more available on a first come first serve basis”.

The Monster Buck Classic We Are Kansas event is an annual three day celebration of the great sport of Kansas deer hunting with industry exhibitors and vendors, hunting seminars, conservation organizations, youth zone, celebrities, a monster buck and shed contest, 3-D bow range and other hunting related activities. The event is presented by Mossy Oak Properties of the Heartland and sponsored by Briggs Auto Group, Cabela’s, Mossy Oak Biologic, Mossy Oak Gamekeepers, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, RedNeck Blinds, Sutherlands Lumber, Hunting Sports Plus, WIBW 94.5 FM and 580 AM, The Wolff 106.5 KC, Kansas Bowhunters Association, North American Shed Hunting Club, and Buckmaster’s Whitetail Trophy Records. The event is being held January 23rd, 24th and 25th 2015 again in Topeka, KS at the Kansas ExpoCentre.

For more information on the Monster Buck Classic We Are Kansas visit their website at www.monsterbuckclassic.com  or email [email protected] or call Brian Smith at 479-409-6252

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership names top 10 underreported conservation stories of 2014

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today released a comprehensive list of its Top 10 Underreported Conservation Stories of 2014. This is the first year that the TRCP, a Washington-based nonprofit organization, has produced this list.

“These stories comprise a choice cross-section of important conservation-related topics that failed to register with the public over the past 12 months,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “Right now, these issues couldn’t be more relevant to American citizens. We’d like to refocus attention on the policy debates that have the greatest potential to alter Americans’ abilities to access and enjoy our fish and wildlife, lands and waters.

“Conservation of our invaluable natural resources and upholding public opportunities to access and enjoy these resources is in everyone’s interest,” continued Fosburgh, “whether you fish for bass, trout or snook or hunt deer, pheasants or ducks – or simply appreciate open spaces and clean water.”

Millions of acres of public lands off limits to the American people, a world-renowned – and critically threatened – Alaskan salmon fishery, unprecedented opportunities for restoration of the Gulf of Mexico and the threat to our nation’s public lands heritage – these are among the underreported conservation stories that made the 2014 TRCP list.

Here are the TRCP’s top 10 underreported stories of 2014, listed in order of importance:

♦ America’s national forests and parks for sale? A vocal group of lawmakers and activists is demanding that America’s public lands – including some national parks – be transferred to state ownership or to be sold to private interests.

♦ Money earmarked for conservation gets spent elsewhere. A federal program created to conserve fish and wildlife habitat and increase public access and recreation opportunities is being treated more like a slush fund.

♦ Budgeting restrictions for wildfire management burn up cash. Wildfire suppression costs have consumed the U.S. Forest Service budget, preventing crucial investments in forest management and wildfire prevention programs.

♦ World’s largest marine reserve embraces recreational fishing. President Obama signed a proclamation in 2014 that not only expanded the footprint of the PacificRemoteIslandsMarineNational Monument to six times its current size but allows recreational fishing in these rich waters.

♦ Regulations for management of 245 million acres of public land being rewritten for the first time in decades. The Bureau of Land Management is updating its national land-use planning handbook, which federal land-use planners use to make decisions regarding 245 million acres of the public’s lands.

♦ Public denied access to 35 million acres of public lands. Approximately 35 million acres of U.S. public lands – roughly the size of Alabama – are virtually off limits to visitors.

♦ Gulf of Mexico restoration offers once-in-a-lifetime conservation opportunities. Up to $20 billion in settlements from the BP oil spill represents an unprecedented opportunity to restore the Gulf of Mexico.

♦ Federal red snapper regulations have anglers seeing red. Despite an abundance of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, the federal season for recreational anglers shrank to nine days in 2014.

♦’ Not dead yet’: Alaska’s proposed Pebble Mine still a threat. Powerful international mining interests are redoubling efforts to develop the world’s largest open-pit mine in southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay region.

♦ While California fights, Western sportsmen and ranchers collaborate – and win. Sportsmen’s groups, ranchers and farmers – groups with often competing interests when it comes to water use – are working together locally to improve water management during the current Western water crisis.

Visit the TRCP website for complete top 10 profiles and more information www.trcp.org

Reserve your 2015 campsites and cabins in advance

Online reservation system allows reservations up to a year in advance

With weather in the 30s, it’s hard to picture planning spring and summer fun, but the secret about Kansas state parks is out and reservations are a must for busy holiday weekends. Consider making your 2015 camping and cabin reservations in advance and ensure your family and friends ample space at the lake for your next visit. Campsite reservations for 2015 can be made beginning at noon on Dec. 19, and cabin reservations can be made at any time. Simply visit www.ksoutdoors.com and click on the “Reserve A Cabin Or Campsite Now” button, choose the location you’d like to visit, and begin searching for your ideal date.

Camping and cabin reservations guarantee the holder their spot will be open and ready when they arrive at the park. Payment in full is required at the time a reservation is made. Reserving a cabin requires a non-refundable $14 reservation fee. Reserving a campsite requires a non-refundable $3 reservation fee per stay.

Daily vehicle entrance permits are $5. Annual vehicle permits are $25 or you can purchase a State Park Passport when you register your vehicle for $15. Annual vehicle permits for seniors and persons with disabilities are available through department offices for $13.75.

For more information about Kansas state parks and their amenities, visit www.ksoutdoors.com and click “State Parks.”

Kansas birders tally encounters with winged friends this holiday

You don’t have to be a seasoned birder, or even own an expensive pair of binoculars to participate in a Christmas bird count. In fact, an identification book and a bit of free time will do the trick.

Birders of all skill levels will spend the next few weeks during organized bird counts recording sightings of resident and migratory birds in an effort to compile as much data as possible about Kansas’ winged species. If you have an interest in birds and don’t mind weathering the elements, consider participating in a Christmas bird count this season. It’s fun and a great way to learn more about birds in Kansas.

There are many count compilers in Kansas who send data to the Kansas Ornithological Society (KOS), and there is no charge to participate. The KOS will accept data collected on counts conducted from Dec. 13 through Jan. 11, 2015. The official Audubon Christmas Bird Count period is Dec. 14 to Jan. 5 and participation is also free of charge.

Christmas bird counts have been conducted for more than 100 years, and more than 2,000 counts are held across the nation each year. Each winter, about 50 individual count events occur in Kansas. More than 40 are scheduled so far this year with others to be announced. Count locations are scheduled in all corners of the state and points in between. Christmas bird counts are typically conducted in traditional circular census areas, each with a 7.5-mile radius. This consistency ensures data collected is comparable for population trends over time.

Count events are easy to prepare for; the best tools are a pair of binoculars, a good field guide, and appropriate clothing and footwear for possible extreme weather. For those counting in an area with a lake, a spotting scope may be necessary to identify birds at long distances. It’s also a good idea to study up on species expected in your location.

Information about Kansas Christmas bird counts can be found at the KOS website, www.ksbirds.org. For details, just click “2014/15 Kansas Christmas Bird Counts.”

For more information about Audubon Christmas Bird Counts in Kansas, go to

http://birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count

National Audubon’s Annual Christmas bird count started Sunday, Dec. 14

And it’s easy to get involved!

With thousands of birders joining forces all over the continent, the single biggest nature event of the year is upon us: the annual Christmas Bird Count.

The tradition started in 1900 when ornithologist Frank Chapman proposed an alternative to the recreational hunting of birds that usually occurred on Christmas Day. He enlisted the help of twenty-seven conservationists in twenty-five different areas. Rather than kill birds, the group simply counted them.

It’s a novel way for birders to spend their time. Most pursue the hobby individually or with a handful of friends. As January approaches, though, these separate efforts instead become channeled toward a single goal.

Sponsored by the National Audubon Society, Christmas Bird Counts now take place in every Canadian province and every state in the Union. In smaller states like Massachusetts, the combination of modest size and intense interest in birds means that practically every inch of the state is covered. In larger states, however, a birder may have to travel a bit to find a count, but the effort is well worth it.

The way Christmas Bird Counts work is that each group of birders adopts a circular piece of land with an area of about 177 square miles. Often the birders cover the same area year after year. In fact, many of the same count circles have survived for decades.

On a chosen day during the final two weeks of December (Sunday the 14th this year), the birders then venture out and count as many birds as possible within their circle. The birders usually regroup at the end of the day and spend the evening eating, drinking, and the comparing their observations. For many participants it can be the social highlight of the birding year.

The Christmas Bird Count is not over, though, until the National Audubon Society publishes the results of the count in a yearly volume that birders and ornithological researchers alike prize.

For information on Kansas Christmas Bird Counts in your area and who the compiler is, go to:   http://ksbirds.org/kos/2014CBC.htm.

Sportsman’s, Wildlife Groups Applaud Public Lands Protections

Congress has passed a bill that includes protections for about a million acres of some of our country’s most stunning landscapes that are important for fish, wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation. The public lands set aside in the National Defense Authorization Act include areas the National Wildlife Federation and its affiliates have been working for years to conserve.

Collin O’Mara, NWF president and CEO, said today:

“It’s the holiday season and Congress has given Americans an early gift – protection for roughly a million acres of watersheds, fish and wildlife habitat and prized recreation areas on public lands. Many of the National Wildlife Federation’s state affiliates have been working for years to conserve these spectacular landscapes, including Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front, Colorado’s Hermosa Creek watershed and New Mexico’s Valles Caldera and Columbine-Hondo wilderness. Unfortunately, Congress has included some elements in the package that raise long-term conservation concerns. We appreciate the bipartisan work that has resulted in one of the biggest public-lands bills in five years and hope the new Congress will reconsider provisions that could pose threats to fish and wildlife, fishing, hunting and other outdoor recreation.”

Comments from NWF affiliates:

Garrett VeneKlasen, New Mexico Wildlife Federation executive director:

“This legislation will change the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico’s JemezMountains from a politically appointed board of trustees to the National Park Service, which will ensure the area remains the crown jewel among the state’s public lands. In addition, the Columbine-Hondo will officially become wilderness, protecting 46,000 acres of backcountry and pristine headwater streams home to important populations of Rio Grande cutthroat trout. These are legacies that will live on for generations thanks to the work by our congressional delegation and widespread public support.”

Suzanne O’Neill, Colorado Wildlife Federation executive director:

“We have been very concerned to learn of the rider that will impact work to ensure effective separation of domestic sheep grazing leases from populations of bighorn sheep, Colorado’s state mammal, where there is high risk of contact.”

Dave Chadwick, Montana Wildlife Federation executive director:

“Montanans are excited that this bill includes protection for hundreds of thousands of acres of public land on the Rocky Mountain Front and the North Fork of the Flathead River. We are grateful to our entire congressional delegation for working together to protect wildlife habitat and public access to public lands.”

Tom Mackin, Arizona Wildlife Federation president:

“The Arizona Wildlife Federation is resolute in its position opposing the Resolution mine as proposed as well as opposition to the Grazing Improvement Act as presented originally in 2013. Their inclusion in the bill is highly concerning because neither of these proposals address potential impacts on wildlife, habitat degradation, water use, public involvement and future consequences.”

Steve Harper Memorial Scholarship

One of the best-known Kansans of his time, Steve Harper left his mark on Kansas through photographs and words. During his career, he was a photojournalism instructor at WichitaStateUniversity, the Wichita Eagle’s photography editor and eventually, the newspaper’s outdoors writer and photographer. His series in the Eagle on Kansas day trips led to the publication of his popular book, “83,000 square Miles, No Lines, No Waiting,” His outdoor page was several times voted the best of its kind in the nation.

Steve died of cancer in 2000, at the age of 55, in the Newton house where he had grown up and raised three daughters. The Harper Memorial Scholarship was started at the suggestion of Governor Bill Graves, among others, as a way to honor Steve’s dedication to Kansans and serving the Kansas outdoors. An excellent judge of character, Steve put as much stock in a person’s initiative and accomplishments as academic successes. The scholarship committee will give equal consideration to all three qualifications.

This $1,000 scholarship (paid at $500 a semester) is presented to Kansas youth pursuing wildlife or nature-based careers at Kansas colleges, with Kansas-based career goals. The scholarship is sponsored and funded by the Outdoors Writers of Kansas, a group of assorted journalists, photographers and artists dedicated to sharing the greatness of the Kansas outdoors through print, broadcast and online markets. For more information on the group, go to www.outdoorwritersofkansas.com.

The Kansas Wildscape Foundation is also assisting with funding and administration of this scholarship.

ELIGIBILITY – Scholarships are available to any graduating senior enrolled in a Kansas high school that plans to attend a college in Kansas and study wildlife or nature-based curriculum or outdoors journalism. University students enrolled in a wildlife or nature-based curriculum, or pursuing outdoors journalism are also eligible. Scholarship award recipients are selected without regard to race, color, religion, or sex. Applicant chosen as the recipient of this scholarship will be required to show proof of full-time enrollment (minimum of 12 credit hours) in order to receive the scholarship funds.

A letter of recommendation from a teacher, counselor, coach or employer must be included with the completed application (available by download below). Those hoping for outdoors journalism should send examples of their work. The completed application and supporting documents must be returned to on or before April 15, 2015 to the following address:

Kansas Wildscape Foundation
Attn: Steve Harper Scholarship
2500 W. 6th St., Suite G
Lawrence, KS66049

Click below to download the full application and guidelines:

2015 Harper Scholarship 4.52 MB

Debbie Brandt (Director of Administration – Kansas Wildscape) can be reached at [email protected] or 785-843-9453 or Michael Pearce, (Outdoors Writer for the Wichita Eagle and Chairman of the Steve Harper Scholarship Committee) can be reached at [email protected] with any further questions.

Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative

Lesser Prairie-chicken

The Lesser Prairie-Chicken is a grassland-nesting upland bird found in mixed grass, sand-sage and shinnery oak prairies of western Kansas, southeast Colorado, northwest Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, and eastern New Mexico. The chicken once occupied vast regions of these states.

Populations of this at-risk species and the size of their range (habitat)  have declined significantly because of loss of native prairie as well as fragmented and degraded habitat. These factors, combined with recent droughts, have taken its toll on this iconic bird, known for its mating rituals. Nearly 18,000 birds now roam its range.

As a result, NRCS expanded its conservation efforts on private lands in portions of the five states. NRCS established the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative (LPCI) to help ranchers and farmers maintain the viability and profitability of their operations and voluntarily create and enhance Lesser Prairie-Chicken habitat.

Fore more links and valuable information visit The Natural Resoures Conservation Service.