Conserve Kansas this Earth Day, we salute the soil

By Eric B. Banks

Eighty years ago, on April 14, 1935, an ominous wall of blowing sand and dust swept across the Great Plains. This day is known in history as Black Sunday. During the 1930’s, the Dust Bowl days were a period during which huge dust storms ravaged the Midwest because of years of overplanting, poorly managed cropland, and severe drought conditions. During that massive storm, people were forced to crawl on hands and knees in search of shelter—literally unable to see their hands in front of their faces. Cars stalled and stopped in the choking dust.  Many thought the end of the world had come.

In response to Black Sunday, and the damage caused by dust storms, Congress passed Public Law 74-46 on April 27, 1935, and recognized that “the wastage of soil and moisture resources on farm, grazing, and forest lands . . . is a menace to the national welfare.” This law established the Soil Conservation Service, now the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA’s) Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS. Since that time, our commitment to soil science and soil health has helped America’s private landowners implement conservation practices that protect and improve soil, and other resources.

Healthy soils are the foundation of agriculture. In the face of mounting challenges such as a growing global population, climate change and extreme weather events, soil health is critical to our future. Healthy soil is essential as global demands rise for food, fuel, and fiber.

As America’s agency for soil conservation, classification and studies, NRCS is excited that 2015 will bring worldwide attention to the importance of soil. During the International Year of Soils, and on Earth Day 2015, we have lots to celebrate. Thank you to the farmers, backyard gardeners, and all of our nation’s conservationists who are doing their part to protect natural resources.

We salute the soil, and we hope you will too.

Eric B. Banks is the State Conservationist for Kansas with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. NRCS helps America’s farmers and ranchers conserve the nation’s soil, water, air, and other natural resources. All programs are voluntary and offer science-based solutions that benefit both the landowner and the environment.  Learn more at www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov. Follow us on Twitter @NRCS_Kansas or on YouTube at NRCSKansas1.  USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Registration open for May 9 Women in Farming Workshop

On Saturday May 9, the Kansas Rural Center will hold a “Women in Farming” workshop, which will focus on what women farmers and landowners need to know to make good business, financial and legal decisions.  The women-only workshop will be from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the American Legion Building in Linn, Kansas, with a farm tour in the afternoon at the farm of Lucinda Stuenkel near Palmer, Kansas.  Cost to attend is $15, which covers lunch and conference materials.

The morning portion of the workshop will feature presentations by Duane Hund, Kansas State University Extension Department of Agricultural Economics, who will focus on financial records and farm planning. Hund works with farms across the state to help plan and analyze farm enterprises and will offer recordkeeping information and resources to help manage the farm business.  Mykel Taylor, also from the KSU Department of Agricultural Economics, will discuss leasing arrangements, leasing price trends, and land prices.  Forrest Buhler of the Kansas Agriculture Mediation Services will discuss estate planning basics and what to prepare for in meeting with an attorney.

Following lunch, County Conservation District, farm credit, and other representatives, will be on hand to offer information about resources available to help women with decision making.   The afternoon farm tour will take place at Lucinda Stuenkel’s farm near Linn starting about 2:30 p.m.  Lucinda will focus on her experience as a farm widow taking on the farm management on her own, and the conservation practices including cover crops and no till she has adopted, and grass and cattle management lessons she has learned.

REGISTER TODAY!

Please register by Wednesday, May 6, in order to ensure an accurate lunch count.

The final workshop in KRC’s Women in Farming series will be Saturday July 11, 2015, in Emporia, Kansas. This workshop will focus on building soil health, utilizing cover crops, integrating crops and livestock; organic farming practices; and high tunnel production of specialty crop options. The morning portion of the workshop will take place at the Flint Hills Technical College in Emporia and an afternoon farm tour will be held at Gail Fuller’s farm outside of Emporia featuring Gail’s cover crop and no till farming operation as well as new enterprises (poultry, small livestock and vegetable production). The farm tour will also include a visit to a native prairie with plant identification and pollinator discussion.

More details and registrations for these workshops will be available at http://kansasruralcenter.org/category/risk_management/ as they are known.  For more information on the initiative contact Joanna Voigt at (866) 579-5469, or [email protected].

The Kansas Rural Center (KRC) is hosting four “women only” workshops during the spring and summer of 2015. Co sponsors include the Kansas SARE and Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops. All four of the workshops in KRC’s “Women in Farming” series will highlight the opportunities and the challenges women face as they implement new enterprises on existing farms, begin farming or take over family operations, or just try to adopt new practices and enterprises with their families. The workshops are funded by a grant from the USDA Risk Management Agency and by the Kansas Rural Center.

USDA invests $73 million in critical infrastructure projects and assessments to provide public safety through watershed rehabilitation

New assessments to focus on expanding water supply in drought-stricken West

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $73 million to rehabilitate dams across the nation in an effort to protect public health and safety and evaluate the expansion of water supply in drought stricken areas. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is investing in approximately 150 projects and assessments in 23 states. “Millions of people depend on watersheds and dams for protection from floods and providing clean drinking water,” Vilsack said. “By investing in this critical infrastructure, we are helping to ensure a safe, resilient environment for rural America.”

There are nearly 12,000 dams across the United States. Investing in this critical infrastructure protects lives and property, builds community resilience to extreme weather, provides quality drinking water, creates jobs, and reduces the need for federal disaster assistance.

In addition to nearly 50 rehabilitation projects, NRCS is conducting 100 dam assessments in 13 states through the Watershed Rehabilitation Program. Last year, NRCS made changes to the watershed rehabilitation program to allow for projects that also help increase water supply. Half of this year’s dam assessments, including 15 in drought-stricken California, will assess the feasibility of using watershed rehabilitation funds to mitigate drought.

“USDA continues to look for new ways to mitigate the impacts of drought across the West, and this change to the Watershed Rehabilitation Program allows us to use existing infrastructure to address water quantity issues,” Vilsack said.

For 2015, Kansas has one project for $20,000 that includes Whitewater River Watershed Dam No. 19 located in Harvey County, Kansas. The dam protects one county highway and another county road, as well as other critical infrastructures that include numerous houses downstream. The dam currently provides about $179,000 in average annual benefits including flood damage reduction.

The 2014 Farm Bill made about $250 million available for watershed rehabilitation. In fiscal year 2014, Kansas NRCS received $1.75 million for watershed rehabilitation for the planning and construction assistance to five watersheds:

• Little Walnut Hickory Watershed (Butler County)
• Muddy Creek Watershed (Butler County)
• Rock Creek Watershed (Butler County)
• Upper Walnut Watershed (Butler County)
• Spring Creek Watershed (Sedgwick County)

“These funds go a long way to help ensure public safety,” said Eric B. Banks, State Conservationist. “We work closely with the local project sponsors to ensure that these dams continue to protect and provide water for communities.”

Watershed projects across the nation provide an estimated $2.2 billion in annual benefits in reduced flooding and erosion damages, and improved recreation, water supplies and wildlife habitat for an estimated 47 million Americans.

For more information on NRCS conservation assistance, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted or a local USDA service center. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Pheasants Forever to host youth instructional shooting clinic

Nemaha County Chapter of Pheasants Forever members, in partnership with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, invite youth ages 10-17 to attend a free instructional shooting clinic on Saturday, April 18. The clinic will be held from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Seneca Gun Club and all equipment will be provided.

Participants will receive instruction with shotguns and pellet rifles in a controlled, safe, live-fire environment guided by experienced instructors. Participants do not need to preregister, and lunch will be provided.

For additional information on this event, please contact Pheasants Forever Nemaha County Chapter chairman John Pierson at (785) 285-1468.

This event is part of the Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever No Child Left Indoors (NCLI) initiative, which encourages chapters to collaborate with conservation partners and provide youth and their families opportunities to learn about our outdoor traditions and conservation ethic.

Nationwide, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapters hold more than 1,000 youth events a year, connecting more than 50,000 youth to the outdoors. They reach out in their communities to sponsor youth mentor hunts, outdoor conservation days, shooting sports, conservation camps, fishing tournaments, outdoor expos, hunter education classes, habitat projects and much more.

To find a chapter near you, visit www.pheasantsforever.org and www.quailforever.org. 

Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission to meet in Wichita

The Great Plains Nature Center, 6232 E 29th St. N, Wichita, will be the site for the April 23 Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission meeting.

The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. with time for public comments on non-agenda items, followed by a general discussion period. Topics to be covered in the general discussion include Secretary’s remarks regarding agency and state fiscal status; an update on the 2015 legislative session; an update on tourism division activities; park regulations; fishing regulations; an update on fisheries management; an update on naming the Arkansas River a national water trail; zebra mussels; and late migratory bird seasons.

Following the general discussion, the workshop session will cover topics considered for potential regulatory action at a future meeting, including the Fort Riley deer season, webless migratory birds, early migratory bird seasons, and duck zone boundaries.

The commission will recess at 5 p.m., then reconvene at 6:30 p.m. at the same location to discuss any remaining general discussion and workshop items, and begin the public hearing. Public hearing items to be discussed and voted on include cabin rates.

Time will be available in both the afternoon and evening sessions for public comment on non-agenda items. If necessary, the commission will reconvene at the same location at 9 a.m., April 24, to complete any unfinished business.

Live video and audio streaming of the meeting can be accessed by visiting ksoutdoors.com.

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

The next commission meeting is scheduled for June 18, 2015 at Fort Hays State University, Robbins Center, One Tiger Place, Hays.

Outdoors-Woman workshop growing in popularity

It’s common knowledge that every year more women are becoming involved in the outdoors, and nowhere is it more evident than at Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism’s (KDWPT) Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) workshops. Because of this increased popularity, the May 15-17 BOW workshop is now full, but more opportunities will be available this fall for women looking to gain outdoor skills. Staff will maintain a waiting list for the spring class in case any spots open up, but women who don’t get enrolled are encouraged to plan for the fall workshop, Sept. 18-20, 2015. Event details and registration materials will be posted on www.ksoutdoors.com/bow in early June.

BOW is a non-profit, non-membership program designed to teach women outdoor skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Classes are led by experienced volunteer instructors who teach a variety of topics including fishing techniques, wingshooting, camping, orienteering, rifle marksmanship, botany, archery, and more.

Studies have shown that many women do not participate in outdoor recreation because they have not had an opportunity to learn the outdoor skills that make these activities enjoyable. BOW’s popularity is evidence that when that opportunity is offered, women take advantage of it with enthusiasm and self-confidence.

To find out how you can become an outdoors-woman, visit www.ksoutdoors.com/bow.

Student archers qualify for national tournament

Kansas Archery in the Schools hosted its sixth annual state archery tournament, Saturday, March 28, at Clearwater High School. Three hundred and seventy students from 17 communities vied for a chance to compete at nationals. The top 10 male and female competitors from each grade division at the state tournament qualified to compete at the 2015 National Archery in the Schools tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, May 7-9.

Competing in three divisions, elementary school (grades 4-5), middle school (grades 6-8), or high school (grades 9-12), participants are required to shoot five arrows in each of the three rounds from a distance of 10 meters and a distance of 15 meters. A score of 300 points is considered perfect, which would be scores of 10 on each of the 30 total arrows they can be scored on.

Top scores in each grade division are as follows:

GIRLS

Elementary – Emma Edwards, Clearwater, 242

Middle School – Hannah Schoonover, Erie, 271

High School – Allie Lear, Chaparral, 272 *Top female score

BOYS

Elementary – Dace Summervill, Erie, 261

Middle School – Christian Hastings, Clearwater, 272

High School – Jhett Ostrom, Dodge City, 279 *Top male score, top overall score

The 17 communities represented included: Anthony/Harper, Chapman, Cherokee, Clay Center, Clearwater, Cunningham, Dodge City, Erie, Holton, Hugoton, Kingman, Olathe, Otis-Bison, Parsons, Pittsburg, Rose Hill, and Tribune.

Operating under the umbrella of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) and the National Archery in the Schools (NASP) program, the Kansas archery program is aimed at promoting international-style target archery among students in grades 4-12. Program coordinators are able to introduce archery as a fun, lifelong activity to young people who may have never taken up the sport otherwise.

For more information, visit www.ksoutdoors.com and click “Services / Education / Archery in the Schools,” or email Mike Rader at [email protected].

Don’t use red dye in hummingbird feeders

It has NO purpose

From The Birding Wire

Most hummingbird feeders you can buy have enough red color on them to attract hummingbirds without the need for red dye in the nectar. If there is no red on your feeder, simply tie a piece of red flagging, rope, or fabric to it.

Red dye is typically petroleum based. The dye in colored nectar is red dye #40. Red dye #40 is now made mostly from petroleum, which is not good for any animal to ingest!

Natural nectar from flowers is clear, not red. Nectar made with water and simple white sugar at a 4-to-1 ratio most closely approximates the nectar found naturally in flowers.

The red dye passes though the hummingbird. The dye stains their excretions red. These indicators mean the red dye is “not metabolized, but passes through the kidneys, where it might cause problems.”

You can make clear nectar more simply and cheaply. Purchasing nectar from stores is expensive. Try making it yourself at home. A 4-to-1 water to white sugar solution will attract hummingbirds.

HUMMINGBIRD NECTAR RECIPE – 1 part sugar to 4 parts water

Boil water

Stir in sugar to dissolve

LET COOL and then fill feeder

Store remainder in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks

To Make

1 cup nectar     2 cups nectar   3 cups nectar   4 cups nectar

Water

1 cup                  2 cups                3 cups                4 cups

Sugar

1/4 cup              1/2 cup              3/4 cup               1 cup

Old World Bluestems workshop scheduled

Caucasian Bluestem is emerging as possibly the greatest long-term invasive threat to the natural integrity of native prairie rangelands and prairies in Kansas and the central Great Plains. It seems to be spreading from roadsides where it often gets its start on disturbed sites, possibly from contaminated seed mixtures provided by contractors or from mulch. Various observers have suggested that it is spread up and down the roadsides by mowing machinery, and haying of roadside presents the prospect that it may be unknowingly spread major distances to pastures wherever it is fed–maybe even by livestock producers who purchase hay harvested on roadside and have no idea that it includes seed of this highly invasive plant.

If it continues to overtake pastures (as it already has in some whole landscapes in western Oklahoma and the panhandle of Texas), it will be much more difficult to control than Sericea Lespedeza because there are no available selective herbicides effective at eliminating it. Basically, the entire plant community within spots infested by Caucasian Bluestem has to be sprayed with herbicide cocktails, killing most or all of the other plants as well. As it spreads from roadsides, Corps of Engineers dams and levies (as is obvious in and near Manhattan), and other disturbed sites where it is expanding like a cancer, it will require astronomical investments by landowners and managers for herbicide control.

If undertaken soon the cost may only be collectively in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, or single digit millions, but if it continues to spread the cost will likely be in the tens of millions of dollars–assuming it can be controlled on a regional basis (as within the Flint Hills or Smoky Hills). The other costs to landowners of expanding invasion will be a substantial reduction in forage value and livestock weight gains from now-productive native  rangelands. In most circumstances cattle do not like to eat it if they have native rangeland or other grass in the pasture as an alternative.

The Old World Bluestem workshop will be held on Friday, April 24 at the Ashland Community Center six miles south of Manhattan, located about a mile north of the Konza headquarters. The workshop is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., including morning informational presentations, lunch on site, and a field trip in the immediate vicinity in early afternoon. Registration (including the cost of lunch) is $10. View PDF regarding the details.

The workshop is co-sponsored by Audubon of Kansas, Kansas Wildlife Federation, Kansas Native Plant Society, Protect the Flint Hills, Kansas Land Trust, Grassland Heritage Foundation, Prairie Heritage Inc., and Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge.

For More Information, or to make a Reservation, contact Ron Klataske, Audubon of Kansas at [email protected] 785-537-4385 or personal cell phone 785-313-1138.

Who owns that deer?

Does proposed Kansas law overturn North American Model of Conservation?

By Tony Hansen

Brow Tines and Backstrap

Realtree.com

Who owns the deer that live in the United States?

How about the deer that live in your state?

Let’s narrow it down a bit more. Who owns the deer that live in your county? How about on the land that you own?

To me, the answer is always the same: We own those deer. All of us.

See, I’m a student of the North American Conservation Model, which states that wildlife resources are held in a public trust, meaning wildlife is not “owned” by anyone. It’s a resource that belongs to all of us.

From a macro level, I suspect all who read this would agree. The whitetail population we so cherish in this country is a national resource owned by all Americans.

I suspect we tend to agree at the state level, as well. As a Michigan resident, I’ve heard plenty of talk about “our” deer herd.

But what happens when you talk about the deer on your land? Deer that walk by your trail cameras, that you glass from your treestand?

Does the fact that those deer live on land you own change your view of “ownership?”

I found myself thinking hard about that question while reading a report about a proposed law in Kansas that would require the state to turn over animal parts – including antlers – of animals poached off private land to the landowners.

Currently, any deer poached in Kansas becomes property of the state.

But one Kansas landowner is pushing hard to see that law changed, and he’s getting support from state lawmakers.

In November of 2011, Kansas resident David Kent spotted several deer in the headlights of his truck. He pulled out a 9mm handgun and fired two shots. One of the deer fell. He decapitated the animal, tossed the head in the back of his truck, and then attempted to pass off the buck as a legal kill.

The deer would have been a new state record typical, taping nearly 200 inches as a 7×7.

Kent, according to his statement to Kansas wildlife officers, killed the deer on – or very near – land owned by the mother of Timothy Nedeau.

Nedeau believes that because the deer was allegedly killed on land owned by his mother, he was not only entitled to the $8,000 in state-ordered restitution paid by Kent but also was entitled to the buck’s antlers.

There are all sorts of back-story to this tale, and there is now confusion as to whether the buck was actually killed while standing on land owned by Nadeau’s mother or whether it was on a neighboring parcel.

None of that really matters here. What matters is this: The Kansas House passed a bill that would require the state to turn antlers and other animal parts over to the landowner of the land where the animal was poached. If passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor, it would become law.

Which gives me pause.

The antlers of that poached buck likely carry a high level of value. I have no idea what a state record typical rack might be worth, but it’s safe to say it would be worth thousands.

Because a trophy-class animal spends time on a landowner’s property, does that mean the animal now “belongs” to that landowner if it’s killed illegally?

If a law is passed stating that poached bucks killed on their land must be turned over to them, does that not signify those deer are the “property” of the landowner?

There is a model in which landowners own the land and the critters that live on it. It’s called the European model. And it’s all about the privatization of wildlife… about controlling who can hunt and who can’t.

In short, it is everything the North American model is not. And that is something to think about.