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Visit Kansas State Parks for Late-Season Events

Fall events scheduled; Pleasant weather makes camping enjoyable

Labor Day marks the end of camping season for many, but don’t stop yet. Kansas outdoors enthusiasts who venture out now can see the year’s best color while enjoying mild weather. And Kansasstate parks continue to provide opportunities of special interest for those who visit public lands.

Todd Lovin, Tuttle Creek State Park Manager, reminds football fans that Tuttle Creek State Park is a great place to camp with quick access to K-State home football games. Motel rooms can be hard to find on game weekends, even in outlying cities. Located just a few miles from the stadium, the state park offers a nifty alternative, especially with the new online reservation system that allows one to check availability and reserve a place for desired dates. KU fans have the same opportunity at Clinton State Park near Lawrence.

Fall River State Park southeast of Eureka hosts its annual Fall River Rendezvous on September 29, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., in the Fredonia Bay Area. This event is a living history encampment of Mountain Men and American Indians from the early 1800s era. Demonstrations include blacksmithing, flint knapping, Dutch oven cooking, weaving, black powder shooting, tomahawk throwing, and archery. The event also celebrates National Public Lands Day and allows free entrance to Fall River State Park. Events are planned for all ages. Call the park office at 620-637-2213 for more information.

Meade State Park and its friends group will host the Second Annual Car and Bike Show, Saturday, Sept. 29, 9:00 a.m – 3:00 p.m., in the parking lot of the Meade Lake Visitor Center. Registration begins at 8:00 a.m., with a $25 fee for the first vehicle and $10 for additional entries. Registration fees include a park permit, one meal ticket, a dashboard plaque, and a T-shirt.

Awards for antique and modern cars and bikes will be awarded for Best of Show, People’s Choice, and Longest Distance for participation. Friends of Meade State Park will also present a Friend’s Choice cash award, with the winning car and bike used in advertising for next year’s show.

All spectators will have free park entrance for this event. A meal will be provided at the cost of $7 for exhibitors and $8 for spectators. For more information call the park office at 620-873-2572.

A Hillsdale Lake National Public Lands Day-Fish Habitat Project is scheduled on Sept. 28-29 nearHillsdale State Park north of Paola. Volunteers are needed to assist with anchoring trees and placing brush in shoreline zones that are critical fish habitat. Low lake levels provide an ideal time for this construction, which should improve fishing at Hillsdale Lake. Call Corps of Engineers Park Ranger Jim Bell at 913-783-4366 for more information.

Milford State Park will host its annual “Monster Myths By Moonlight” on October 13 at the MilfordState Park office from 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. This popular event, themed for Halloween, features a hayrack ride, a trail walk with various live animal presentations, and park staff dressed in costumes. Refreshments are served. The event draws up to 1,000 people annually and is sponsored by Milford Nature Center,Milford State Park, and the Milford State Park Friends Group.

Event admission is free, though a state park vehicle permit is necessary to enter the park. Youngsters are encouraged to dress in Halloween costumes. For more information, call the state park office at 785-238-3014.

Rounding out the fall season, Kanopolis State Park hosts its 33rd Prairie Long Rifles Fall Rendezvous, October 28 at Mulberry Campground. Admission to the event is free, but a vehicle entrance permit is required to enter the park. Camping and shooting events are planned. Merchants and craftsmen in character will display skills, and share goods for sale or barter. Information is available atwww.prairielongrifles.com Also at Kanopolis, a North American Trail Ride Conference competitive trail ride will be held October 26- October 29, at Rockin’K Campground, Multi-Use Trails and Rockin’K Shelter. For more information, visit online at www.natrc.org.

The 40th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act

   The 40th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act is October 18, 2012.

                                  by Ted Beringer

Prior to passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, over 60% of the lakes, rivers and coastal water along the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf coasts were judged unsafe for swimming and fishing. Although a forerunner of the Clean Water Act was essentially passed in 1948 as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, it was not adequately enforced.  In the 1960s a group of blue-collar fisherman became incensed by flagrant disregard for the original law by corporations that caused fish to die or taste like motor oil in the Hudson River. They organized the Hudson River Fisherman’s Association and successfully brought the Penn Central Railroad to court and stopped them from dumping oil into the Hudson River. They collected $2,000 under a 19th century statute forbidding pollution of American waters that also stipulated a reward for reporting violations. The ability of citizens to bring such lawsuits was given greater leverage by passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. The Clean Water Act intended to achieve “zero discharge of pollutants into navigable waters by 1985, and fishable and swimmable waters by 1983”. As a result, many of the nation’s waterways have been significantly improved. Nevertheless many lakes, rivers and estuaries remain polluted while continuing attempts to weaken the Clean Water Act intensify by mining and agricultural organizations as well as by many land developers and energy companies. In 2001, the Clean Water Act was weakened by a stunning Supreme Court decision that effectively exempted many creeks, rivers and streams in the United States from protection under the Clean Water Act. Protection of wetland habitat used by migratory birds was particularly undermined by the Court decision that exempted “isolated wetlands” from protection.

In the local context of Kansas, the American Rivers organization has named the Kansas River as one of the ten most endangered American rivers for the year 2012. The fear is that unabated sand and gravel dredging could cause severe harm to clean water and wildlife. For a complete the list of endangered rivers visit http://www.americanrivers.org/our-work/protecting-rivers/endangered-rivers/.

Waterkeeper Alliance, the organization that evolved from the original Hudson River Fisherman’s Association, has placed its magazine issue commemorating the Clean Water Act online at http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/2a5dd268#/2a5dd268/1.

Moms & Children Getting Outdoors

How Moms and Their Children Can Stay Fit Outside in a Busy World

by Len Saunders

A vast majority of moms want to maintain a healthy lifestyle through a regimented wellness program, but their time is limited. Once a mom starts juggling so many obligations, exercise, sadly, gets a low priority on her “to do” list. At the same time, they want to get their children involved in physical activities since so many of our youth have developed a sedentary lifestyle. So, how does a mom satisfy and balance all her needs?

Fear not, as all of us share one common ‘workout’ gym – The Great Outdoors – and there are no monthly fees to join.

Going outside with your children is a very positive and rewarding experience, while also being beneficial to a child’s normal growth and development. Many parents are now taking the “lead by example” approach with regards to playing in the great outdoors with their children. Olympic gold medalist and mother,Shannon Miller, agrees, saying, “Vitamin D and fresh air are always a plus when you play outside with your children. Getting outdoors is a good way to vary the terrain and try new things. There are endless games and activities that you can enjoy to keep it fresh and exciting.  In addition, outdoor play is typically very inexpensive. Hiking, biking, swimming, or even morning yoga is a perfect way to squeeze in exercise without making it feel like work.”

Parents are so influential in the health of their children.

If a parent leads a sedentary lifestyle, this is what the child sees as the “norm.” If a parent is active outside on a regular basis, going for walks or hikes, then a child sees this as the standard. In the latter scenario, both parent and child will benefit performing activities together outside that promote physical activity. Sadly, playing outside is slowly becoming a lost art for kids for many reasons:

• Parents want their kids supervised 24/7 for safety

• Technology is becoming a child’s number one choice for play

• Too much homework to finish

• Social responsibilities

• Lack of outside “play creativity”

• Weather/climate issues

A parent that successfully gets their child outside on a regular basis is teaching their child a valuable lesson about a healthy lifestyle, and creative positive, lifetime habits that will carry on well into adulthood.

The Benefits of Outdoor Play

Countless individuals do not understand the value of playing outside. In fact, the EPA estimates that most Americans spend an average of 90% or greater of their time indoors. In our busy world, getting outside sometimes gets pushed to the curb. Tina Vindum, the author of “Outdoor Fitness- Step Out of the Gym and into the Best Shape of Your Life,” suggests some great health advantages to exercising outside.

• Learn a new degree of body/mind awareness by using a variety of movement patterns over varied terrain- building muscle, burning fat, and increasing joint stability.

• Be truly in the company of Mother Nature, where all your senses come alive; leaving you feeling refreshed, invigorated, and motivated.

• Lose more body fat on colder days- Outdoor Fitness enables people to use up to 12% more calories and burn up to 32% more fat than a typical indoor workout.

• Nature-based exercise not only builds physical fitness, but also strengthens our senses, our intellectual capacity, and our emotional health.

• Mood elevation and stress relief that leaves you feeling alert, refreshed, and alive through the intake of fresh air and natural light- called the “Biophilia Effect.”

• Spending time in greenery and forests increases the production of Natural Killer Cells- anti cancer proteins. Studies show that this boost can last 7-30 days.

The most important thing: just get your kids outside and play with them whenever you get the time. The benefits will lead the way to a healthier lifestyle for your children.

Activities Parents and Children Can Do Outside:

Playing with your children outside helps them develop physically, mentally, and socially. Many of those activities you used to do as a child still work today. A little creativity can take you a long way. Personal trainer Nicole Palacios gives these suggested activities for you and your child while playing outside.

♦ Running- Place your young child in a stroller and job, or if they are bigger, have them run alongside you at the park or playground. Make a game out of it if the child is too old to go running the stroller. Catch, chase, tag, etc. Everyone gets their exercise!

♦ Obstacle courses- Step up an obstacle course in your home yard or outdoors at a park. Run, jump, crawl, and go over and under.

♦ Outdoor baby or toddler fit exercise class- Mom works out for her needs, child gets to spend time with mom and interact with other babies/toddlers.

♦ Hiking- Hike with your baby in a backpack or have your toddler/child hiking with you. Take in nature and make a scavenger hunt where you look for certain nature items along the way. Enter your zip code in NatureFind to find great outdoor places near you.

♦ Go Geocaching- If your kids are 6 or older, kick up the hike a notch with Ranger Rick’s Geocache Trails, an outdoor treasure hunt using GPS technology to find items hidden in the great outdoors.

♦ Pick-up sports- Playing soccer, badminton, hockey; whatever you enjoy doing with your kids that takes you outside.

Find out more ways to get outside in the great outdoors. Sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter.

License Plate Birdhouse

With a few pieces of scrap wood and a recycled license plate,

you can make an inexpensive birdhouse

By Dottie Baltz,

Pennellville, New York

What You Will Need

• 2 pieces of pine, 3/4 x 4-1/2 x 4-1/2 inches

• 1 piece of wood or plywood, 1/2 x 4-1/4 x 4 inches

• 1 piece of thin wood or plywood, 1/2 x 4 x 4 inches

• 1 piece of pine, 3/4 x 3/4 x 7 inches

• 12 1/4-inch brad nails or small siding nails

• 4 1-inch pan-head screws or roofing nails

• 2 1/4-inch screw eyes

• 1 12-inch piece of chain for hanging

• 1/4-inch drill bit

• 1-1/8-inch hole saw

• Primer and outdoor paint (optional)

• License plate

• Wood glue

Recommended Tools

• Saw

• Hammer

• Drill

• Ruler

• Pencil

• Needle-nose pliers

Instructions

1. To start with, cut two pieces of 3/4-inch-thick pine into a square, 4-1/2 x 4-1/2 inches. These will be the front and back of the birdhouse.

2. Take a ruler and mark off a 3/4 x 3/4-inch square on one of the corners of each block of wood. Use a small hand saw to cut out the corners.

3. With the notched corner at the top, use the 1/4-inch drill bit to drill two air holes, about an inch apart, just under the notched portion of one of the blocks of wood. This will be the back of the birdhouse.

4. On the other block of wood, measure approximately 2-1/2 inches down from the notch. This is where you will drill the entrance hole, using the 1-1/8-inch hole saw.

5. Taking a piece of 1/2-inch-thick wood, cut two pieces, 4-1/4 x 4 inches and 4 x 4 inches.

6. Place the back of the birdhouse, which contains the air holes, flat on your work surface, and apply a small bead of glue along the two bottom edges. Attach the thinner pieces of wood, finishing off the piece with the front of the birdhouse that has the entrance hole.

7. After the glue sets, hammer in some brad nails. If you use four on each side, this should secure the house nicely.

8. Take the 3/4 x 3/4 x 7-inch piece of wood and center it over the notched corners. This will be a support for the roof, as well as a place to put the screw eyes for hanging.

9. Secure this piece with a little wood glue and a couple of nails on each side.

10. Once the glue is completely dry, you can prime and paint your birdhouse. Or use a stain and sealer instead. Just be careful not to get any paint inside the birdhouse where it could harm the birds.

11. Find the center of your license plate and bend it to a 45-degree angle. Center it over the roof support on the house.

12. Using a pencil, mark where the holes of the license plate will be on the edge of the birdhouse. Drill holes for the pan-head screws or roofing nails; this will prevent the wood from splitting when you put in the hardware. If you don’t have pan-head screws, find a screw or nail with a large enough head to secure the license plate.

13. Put the plate back on top of the birdhouse and attach with the large screws or nails.

14. About 1/2 inch from the edge of the roof support, attach a screw eye, one on each end. These will hold the chain you will use to hang your birdhouse.

15. With the needle-nose pliers, open a link at each end of the chain and attach it to the screw eyes. Now your birdhouse is ready to hang.

Bicycle Trips For Kids

Bicycle Trips For Kids

     By Matt Nowak

Kansas topography lends itself very well to bicycling, especially to

mountain biking, where riders can get out into the fields and woodlands on

old roads and trails.  Trips For Kids is a national mountain biking program

for school-age youths that is supported by major corporations that provide

new bicycles, helmets, first-aid kits, energy bars, etc. to new TFK

chapters.  Get your kids outdoors on bikes by forming a TFK chapter in your

community.  Any service club, school district, city, youth center, church,

youth groups like scouts and 4-H, etc. can form a new chapter by contacting

Trips For Kids, http://www.tripsforkids.org/.   And communities can benefit by conducting bicycle activities and events by drawing more people into town.  Mountain bikes are a great way to get to a local fishing hole, too.

Domestic Predators Can Impact Wildlife

By Stewart Abrams

Have you noticed a decline in wildlife species on your property? Are there stray cats or dogs wandering the area? Could your own dog or cat be to blame? Many pet owners don’t realize the impact their outside pet may be having on local wildlife.

Although many dog and cat owners keep their pets confined, others allow their animals to roam freely. This results in larger feral populations, which can have detrimental effects on wildlife populations. This is especially true in suburban and rural areas where animal control is rare or nonexistent.

According to the Animal Pet Products Association, more than half of U.S. households own a pet. There are approximately 164 million cats and dogs belonging to these households. The actual number of cats and dogs in the United States is much larger because the statistics do not include feral populations which are impossible to determine.

Domestic and feral cats kill large numbers of birds and small animals annually. Although feral cats kill more animals per year than domestic cats, on average they do not survive as long as domestic cats. The low survival rate of feral cats is due to the lack of protection from disease, predation and starvation. Feral cats may not live long, but few are spayed or neutered, which results in a high reproductive rate. Female cats can have three litters of four to six kittens per year. In addition to killing wildlife, cats also transmit rabies and feline diseases to native animals. Whether feral or domestic, cats can have a large negative impact on local wildlife and ecosystems.

Domestic and feral dogs do not kill as many animals as cats, but they can pose a serious problem in some areas. In order to hunt in the wild, feral dogs may form packs so they can successfully hunt and survive in the wild. Similar to packs of wolves or coyotes, dog packs will stake out a territory and hunt wildlife and livestock. Coyotes are often blamed for damage inflicted by domestic and feral dog packs. Not only do these packs pose a threat to native wildlife, but they are also a danger to humans. People have been attacked and some even killed by packs of wild dogs. Feral dogs may also introduce diseases such as distemper, parvo and rabies, which create serious health related issues for wildlife, domestic animals and humans.

Negative effects on the natural environment can be reduced by following some simple suggestions. One of the best solutions is to keep your pets inside the house or confine them to a yard or pen. Keep a watchful eye on your pets when you let them outside. To avoid disease transmission, renew vaccinations annually. Adequate feeding will provide full stomachs, therefore decreasing temptations to hunt for food. Attach some type of bell or noise maker to their collars so that they can’t easily stalk prey. Above all, have your pet spayed or neutered. It is through responsible pet ownership that domestic dog and cat impacts on local ecosystems can be reduced to a minimum.

Abrams is a Wildlife Biologist with the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries

Salazar, Ashe Announce Funds to Expand Refuge System, Conserve Wetlands

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe announced September 13th that the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission has approved the investment of nearly $11 million in revenue from the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to add an estimated 10,640 wetland acres to seven units of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The commission also approved $18.4 million in federal funding to conserve more than 95,000 acres of wetlands and associated habitat in the United States under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA).

“With these key investments, we are strengthening our wetlands protection though the National Wildlife Refuge System and in other key waterfowl and wildlife habitat throughout North America,” said Salazar, who chairs the commission. “Thanks to the contributions of hunters, stamp collectors, and others who purchase Duck Stamps, our National Wildlife Refuge System continues to provide vital habitat for wildlife as well as pristine places for outdoor recreation for tens of millions of people.”

“Besides providing recreational benefits to the public, our nation’s wetlands provide vital storm protection for coastal areas, hold and slowly release flood waters, and act as filters to cleanse water of impurities,” said Ashe. “Wetlands are vital landscapes for our nation’s birds and other wildlife who rest, feed and breed there throughout the year.”

Of particular note is the commission’s boundary and tract approval at the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana. By approving the addition of 12,352 acres of the largest wetland complex in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the commission is protecting one of the highest densities of breeding lesser scaup in North America and the highest density of breeding trumpeter swans in Idaho,Montana and Wyoming.

The purchase and lease of wetland habitat parcels are funded in part with proceeds from sales of the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, otherwise known as the Federal Duck Stamp.

They include:

♦ Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Montana – Boundary addition of 12,352 acres, including 810 fee acres at $3,604,500 and 5,834 lease acres at $11,085. The refuge encompasses the largest wetland complex in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The proposed acquisition will protect wetlands, provide important breeding habitat for 21 species of waterfowl, and secure important water rights.

♦ San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, Texas – Boundary addition and price approval for 1,441 fee acres for $2,589,700. The proposed area is part of a rich and productive wetland complex providing wintering, migration, and resident habitat for waterfowl. Thousands of waterfowl winter in the area, including mottled ducks, mallards, northern pintails, gadwalls, widgeons, northern shovelers, blue- and green-winged teal, black-bellied whistling ducks, and ruddy ducks.

♦ Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge, Texas – Boundary addition and price approval for 200 fee acres; $176,200. The refuge protects important remnant bottomland hardwood and associated habitats for migrating, wintering, and breeding waterfowl, and has been identified as a priority project for the East Texas Bottomland Hardwood Initiative, a component of the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture and the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The proposed addition lies in the 100-year floodplain of the Trinity River and contains biologically significant bottomland hardwoods.

♦ Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, New York – 625.39 fee acres; $2,377,000. The flat floor of this basin, composed of deep, rich, muck soils, presents a unique opportunity to acquire lands that can easily be restored to large shallow pools for waterfowl. Restoration of this tract could increase the refuge’s capacity to support an additional 9,000 migratory waterfowl in the spring and more than 18,000 in the fall.

♦ Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon – 23.59 fee acres; $82,500. The Wapato Lake Unit protects and conserves imperiled northern Willamette Valley habitats that support large populations of wintering waterfowl, including tundra swans, mallards, northern pintails, canvasbacks, ring-necked ducks, lesser scaup, and cackling and dusky Canada geese.

♦ Tulare Basin Wildlife Management Area, California – 164 easement acres for $309,000 and Blanket Price Approval for 18,581 easement acres up to $3,000 per acre. The WMA supports the last remnant of wetlands and wildlife habitat left in a dramatically altered Tulare Lake watershed. The wetlands are an important winter foraging and nesting habitat for many waterfowl species, including mallard, northern pintail, gadwall, cinnamon teal, and northern shoveler. Tulare Basin wetlands have hosted wintering waterfowl concentrations in excess of 100,000.

♦ Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina – 1,542.83 fee acres; $1,850,000. The tidal freshwater wetlands are some of the most diverse freshwater wetland systems found in North America and offer many important habitats for migratory birds, fish, and resident wildlife. The tract consists of alluvial bottomland hardwoods and a network of oxbow lakes, ephemeral creeks, and tidal lakes and sloughs.

Grants approved at the commission meeting were funded through the NAWCA Standard Grants Program and will support 19 projects in 14 states. Partners will contribute an additional $49.4 million in matching non-federal dollars toward these projects. The projects include:

• California: Butte and Colusa Basins Wetland IV Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. — Partners will restore and enhance wetlands and uplands that support millions of waterfowl, shorebirds and other migratory bird species, including northern pintail, mallard, white-fronted goose, American avocet and white-faced ibis.

• South Carolina: Santee Delta and Winyah Bay Protection Project: Phase II Grantee: The Nature Conservancy — Partners will protect wetlands and associated uplands to benefit breeding, migrating and wintering birds such as mallards and wood thrush.

• Iowa: Prairie Lakes 6 Wetland Initiative Grantee: Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Partners will restore wetland and grassland complexes and improve management of large prairie marshes to benefit migrating birds and also provide better nesting and brood-rearing habitats for the birds that breed in the area, such as lesser scaup.

The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission includes Senators Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Representatives John Dingell of Michigan and Robert Wittman of Virginia, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, as well as state representatives as ex officio members who vote on projects located within their respective states.

Passed in 1989, NAWCA provides matching grants to organizations and individuals who have developed partnerships to carry out wetlands conservation projects in the United States, Canada, andMexico.

More information about the approved NAWCA grant projects is available at:http://www.fws.gov/birdhabitat/Grants/NAWCA/Standard/US/2012_Sept.shtm

Friends of the Kaw’s Fall Schedule!

Mark your calendars for any or all of these fall floats and events

September 22, Saturday – Rain Garden Maintenance and Community Float, 8:30am to 1pm, from De Soto to Cedar Creek. Boat rental is waived for this float but you must RSVP on a first come first serve basis. We will meet at the De Soto Access at 8:30am.**

Sept. 23, Sunday – Kaw River Paddling Seminar at Bass Pro Shop in Olathe from 2 to 4pm. The class will highlight types of canoes and kayaks, paddles, personal floatation devices (PFDs) and other equipment that works best for floating the Kaw. We will talk about general and specific safety information on paddling rivers, and show participants how to get information on location of access ramps, Kaw water levels and reservoir releases.**

            Sept. 30, Sunday – Youth Fishing Workshop at Bass Pro Shop in Olathe from 2 to 4pm.  We will have activities for school aged youth on fishing, the Kansas River and reducing stormwater pollution.**

            October 5 & 6, Friday & Saturday – FOK Member Overnight Float from Lecompton toLawrence (bring your own boat.)  Meet at Lawrence River Front Park at 4:00pm. Must RSVP

            October 7, Sunday – 4H/River Ambassador Float – De Soto to Cedar Creek from 1 to 5pm. This educational float is geared for school aged children and their parents and boat rental will be waived. Must RSVP.

            October 12, Friday – Wild and Scenic Film Festival at 7:30pm at Liberty Hall, Lawrence. The festival tour brings together the best of Patagonia’s Wild and Scenic films in a two + hour program that leaves viewers feeling inspired and motivated to go out and make a difference in their community and around the world. Tickets are $10 in advance and may be purchased via “Donate“ or $12 at the door.

            November 13, Tuesday – FOK Annual Dinner and Silent Auction from 6 to 10pm at  Uncle Buck’s at the Bass Pro Shop in Olathe. Our guest speaker will be Dr. Melinda Daniels, KSU Geology Professor, discussing her research on Kaw in-river dredging. Tickets for the dinner will be $40@ and RSVP’s must be made by November 9. Silent Auction items are needed for this event so even if you can’t come you can support Friends of the Kaw and the Kansas Riverkeeper.

            ** Activity of Friends of the Kaw’s Johnson County Stormwater Grant. 

            For more information or to RSVP contact the Kansas Riverkeeper at 785 312 7200.

Why the Farm Bill is Huge News for Hunters and Fishermen

by Hal Herring

We got a close haircut with a pair of sheep shears, our shiny boots and new blue jeans are gone, but we can still dance pretty well.

The Senate has passed a version of the Farm Bill that, in a time of crushing deficit, hunters and fishermen can at least live with. Conservation programs took a hit, losing $6 billion in funding. You say “Farm Bill” to most people and you’ll see their eyelids slowly start to close. But whether we recognize it or not, what’s in the Farm Bill, and what gets funded or cut, is of vital importance to hunting and fishing. A lot of what is there makes up the backbone of what we know as American conservation.

One of the hardest losses was the reduction in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) from 32 million acres to a cap of 25 million. That’s a tough one for bird and waterfowl hunters, especially in the Midwest, where high prices for corn and other grains are encouraging farmers to bring land into production that for the past few decades might have been important nesting and security cover, not to mention places for us to hunt. There are currently 29 million acres enrolled in CRP, so we are looking at a loss of at least 4 million acres, maybe more since crop prices, driven up by the ethanol subsidies and 7 billion very hungry human beings, are expected to remain at record highs and CRP is, of course, a voluntary program–if you can make more money farming your ground than enrolling it in CRP, you farm it.

Yes, we’ll see losses in hunting. But the more important losses will be at a systemic level that will also affect fishing. CRP was designed to keep farmers from having to raise crops on marginal lands subject to erosion, to keep streams and rivers from silting up, and to keep fertilizer from running off and poisoning watersheds. It is an incentive for private property owners to not ruin or lose our most precious resources–soil and water. The wildlife benefits have been incredible, but the core mission was clear and simple: long-term basic economic preservation. We’re backing off on that right now, chasing that short-term dollar, and that’s going to cost us.

What was preserved for conservation in the Farm Bill is significant, because it makes a statement that yes, we do understand that conserving basic resources and investing in conservation is an economic necessity. “The real investments in conservation survived,” said Julie Sibbing, who works on Farm Bill issues for the National Wildlife Federation. “We fought hard, and we have major victories in protecting wetlands, grasslands, and erosion-prone croplands. I’d say we did the best we could, and got the best we could get in the climate at this time.”

One of the most interesting new twists in the Farm Bill is the linking of federal crop insurance payments to conservation practices on farmlands. Steve Kline of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership,  explains it like this: “Here in the U.S., we long ago accepted that the federal government has to be involved in crop insurance- the private insurance sector can’t afford to insure farmers in a region where, say, a drought might cause catastrophic losses for every farm. They’d never make a profit, and even if private insurance was available, no farmer could afford it. So the federal government subsidizes that, in part to make sure that we always have enough to eat. Farmers say they can’t operate without it. But we don’t want to use the taxpayers’ money to subsidize a farmer to destroy wetlands or plant land that will erode and drain fertilizer into a river. If you are going to get the subsidy, it has to be tied into something that will produce a value for the taxpayers that are providing the money.”

The program is called Conservation Compliance, and it ties federal crop insurance to the larger conservation picture. It is furiously opposed by the Corn Growers Association and other lobbyists who, apparently, would prefer to have the taxpayer money and offer nothing in return. Some more information on the new insurance plan and other subsidies included in the new Farm Bill is at Agriculture.com.

As it emerges from the tempest of the U.S. Senate, the Farm Bill is the best that we could hope for and it still faces a tough fight in the House, which has been dismissive of conservation issues lately.

Estimating available grass on Rangeland and CRP

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) along with the Clark, Comanche, and Meade County Conservation Districts, and The Kansas Grazing Land Coalition (KGLC) would like to invite anyone with an interest in learning how to determine forage availability on grasslands to join us Tuesday, September 18th at 9:15am at the USDA service center in Ashland, Kansas.

Once everyone has meet ate the service center, we will drive out to a local ranch and some CRP fields for the “hands on” presentation.  Our featured presenter will be Dwayne Rice, Rangeland Specialist with NRCS.  Dwayne worked out of the NRCS office in Medicine Lodge for 5 years in the late 90s, and has been a Range Specialist with NRCS since 1987.  “He is a great resource that I never get tired of listening to” said Adam Elliott, DC in Ashland.  “Dwayne sees the whole picture, from livestock nutrition management all the way back down how herd management effects the soil and productivity of your grass”.

The presentation will be less than 90 minutes and will be very interactive.  Dwayne will discuss different methods of estimating available forage, including the use of a grazing stick. KGLC will be providing grazing sticks to all who attend.

For more information, contact Adam Elliott at 620.635.2822×3, Bill Barby at 620.873.9700, or visit the Clark County facebook page at:http://www.facebook.com/ClarkCountyConservationDistrict
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