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August 2009
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Columnist Ted Williams working on his notes at the Logan
House, a restored historic hotel managed as a bed and breakfast (with guests
making their own beds and breakfast) in Russell Springs.
All photos by Ron Klataske. |
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You are Invited
to
the Fall AOK Membership and Awards Meeting
DATE:
Saturday, September 12, 2009 @ 10:30 to 4:30 p.m.
LOCATION:
Great Plains Nature Center, Wichita
You
are invited to the Fall 2009 Audubon of Kansas Membership and Awards Meeting on September
12. A workshop will be held on Saturday
morning between 10:30 and noon to provide updates and invite discussion on two
important conservation issues. The topics include (1) enhancement and management of the state's
roadsides, 146,000 acres along 10,000 miles of state highways; and, (2) the
"Prairie Dog Wars of Logan County. For the past four years Logan county commissioners
and the Kansas Farm Bureau have continued their unrelenting
efforts to force landowners to eradicate prairie dogs on their land. They
did everything conceivable to prevent reintroduction of Black-footed Ferrets,
and with repeated attempts to poison the land and political tactics they have
tried to force removal and/or failure of the Black-footed Ferret reintroduction
project on the unique10,000-acre ranch complex owned by Larry and Bette
Haverfield, Gordon and Martha Barnhardt, and Maxine Blank.
Lunch
will be provided at noon, followed by presentation and announcement of Audubon
of Kansas' 2009 Conservation Leadership Awards. AOK will recognize the
incredible courage of the ranch landowners who have steadfastly stood firm
against litigation and county-sponsored poisoning campaigns on their land. They
have remained steadfast in every way to protect native wildlife and the
rights of landowners to provide a place in this state for native
wildlife. Where governmental entities at the county and state level have
failed to protect the public trust of wildlife in involved, these landowners
have stepped forward to personally invest tens of thousands of dollars
defending the state's wildlife heritage. The 6,400-acre complex of
prairie dog colonies fulfills one of the key goals of the KDWP sponsored 2002
Kansas Black-tailed Prairie Dog Conservation and Management Plan. It is
also the most promising site for reestablishment of a sustainable breeding
population of Black-footed Ferrets in the state.
The
extraordinary dedication and leadership of several additional outstanding
conservationists will also be recognized. Among those, AOK will recognize
Deb Miller, Secretary for the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT).
Secretary Miller brought conservationists, plant ecologists and others together
with members of KDOT staff for a series of meetings during the past two years
to explore ways to make roadside vegetation more attractive and of greater
ecological value. With greater emphasis on native prairie grasses and
wildflowers, and with reduced mowing, roadside vegetation can also be managed
in ways that reduce maintenance costs, improve water quality by serving as
filter strips, capture blowing snow and reduce snowpack on highway surfaces,
and provide much-needed habitat for pollinating insects (butterflies and native
bees) and ground-nesting birds. (Because of a personal commitment, Deb
Miller will not be able to attend the meeting.)
Larry Haverfield, on the tailgate next to his grandson
Holden, chats with Jim Kelly, Producer of Sunflower
Journeys at sunset as
everyone is preparing to drive
the pastures and search for ferrets on the
evening of Aug 19.
The
September 12 meeting provides AOK members, supporters and other conservation
partners with an opportunity to meet with AOK Trustees and staff, and others in
attendance. If you receive this e-mail, you are invited. You
are also welcome to forward this email to anyone else you know who may be
interested in attending.The
only cost is for lunch which will be catered, and is estimated at this time to
be $8. Please make a reservation ASAP by sending an e-mail to aok@audubonofkansas.org or calling the AOK office
at 785-537-4385.
Following
the presentation of the awards, persons in attendance may want to continue
informal discussions on the topics discussed during the morning workshops and/or
pursue other conservation and education subjects. We want AOK members and
partners to develop "networks," and for local chapter leaders to have
opportunities to share ideas with one another. Other afternoon options
include utilizing the occasion to enjoy the Great Plains Nature Center's
exhibits and explore the outside trails, or you can sit in on the Board of Trustees
meeting.
The
Audubon of Kansas Board of Trustees will hold its fall business meeting between
2 and 4 p.m. The full board meets in February, June and September, with
the Executive Committee meeting more often.
Carol
Cumberland and Patty Marlett of Wichita will be AOK's hosts for the day's
activities. They are both active leaders in the Wichita Audubon Society
and can provide insight on places to visit in Wichita and surrounding counties.
We will forward requests for information to them.
Mid-September
is a great time to travel and to enjoy prairie landscapes, especially in a year
when there has been adequate moisture. Be sure to note unmowed roadsides
that are particularly spectacular with wildflowers and native grasses. We
regard our success on state highways as one of AOK's most visible conservation
initiatives--although much more remains to be achieved in with the Kansas
Turnpike Authority, county road and noxious weed departments, and some KDOT district
engineers. |
EVENT: Mt. Mitchell
Heritage Prairie Wildflower Tour
DATE:
Tuesday, September
1st, 2009 @ 6:30pm-sunset
LOCATION:
Wabaunsee County; Wamego
The
Pottawatomie and Wabaunsee Co. Conservation Districts are hosting a Wildflower Tour for anyone
interested in learning about the plant diversity of Tallgrass
Prairie. The tour will be held at the Mt. Mitchell Heritage Prairie south of
Wamego. The 50-acre prairie is an Audubon of Kansas nature sanctuary,
including 32 acres of pristine prairie previously held by the Kansas Historical
Society and an additional 15.5 acres of pastureland currently being acquired
and restored to a near-natural state. A local friends group, under the banner
of "Prairie Guardians" is instrumental in efforts to make enhancements designed
to accommodate visitation and interpret the intriguing history of this
area. Jeff Hansen and Diane Barker, active members of the Kansas Native
Plant Society, will lead the wildflower tour. The tour begins a 6:30 p.m. and
ends at sunset. Refreshments will be provided by the Wabaunsee and
Pottawatomie County Conservation Districts following the walk. Mt.
Mitchell is located on Mitchell Prairie Lane (3.5 miles south of Wamego on Hwy
99 or 5.5 miles north of K-99 and I-70). If you have any questions
regarding this tour, please call district conservation staff Janice Plummer Jan.Plummer@ks.nacdnet.net at Westmoreland
785-457-3661 ext.103 or Roxann @ Alma 785-765-3836 ext 101. The public is
welcome to visit the Mt. Mitchell Heritage Prairie at any time, and may obtain
additional information by contacting Audubon of Kansas at 785-537-4385 or aok@audubonofkansas.org
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Update:
Ferret
Survey Conducted
BFFs Focus of Reporters & Photographers, and AOK Starts
Construction on ten miles of "Prairie Dog Fence."
The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service coordinated all-night surveys of Black Footed
Ferrets on the reintroduction sites in Logan County during the week of August
17. Volunteers from AOK (including board chairman Robert McElroy and Ron
Klataske), KDWP, Kansas Zoos, TNC, KSU and a professor from Massachusetts with
his 13-year old daughter and two university students joined to search the
landscape for Black
Footed Ferretswith
searchlights mounted on the roofs of vehicles. Initial reports of
sightings indicated that at least sixteen of the elusive nocturnal predators,
including members of two litters born this year, wereseen
on the Haverfield Ranch. An estimate of eight others were reported on the
Smoky Valley Ranch.
It
has been a tough year for the reintroduced ferrets. Any that have left
either of these properties have likely perished, with little chance of
contributing to the recovery of this species in the wild. Thousands of
acres of prairie dogs have been poisoned with Rozol in the surrounding
landscape. Predators and scavengers die from secondary poisoning when they
consume dead and dying prairie dogs poisoned with Rozol, a powerful
anticoagulant rodenticide. Cross under a barbed wire fence and the
ferrets were
in a mine-field where essentially every active prairie dog burrow within three
miles was poisoned with Rozol. Several raptors, including Ferruginous
Hawks and a Golden Eagle were found dead-but some of the birds are still stiff
in freezers and lab results haven't been provided six months after the dead and
dying birds were picked up from that part of Logan County. Prospects of
finding poisoned ferrets are unlikely because they would likely die in burrows.
Some
of the purely biological aspects of the BFF reintroduction, and some of the
controversial aspects included under the banner of "Prairie Dog Wars" coined by
the Hays Daily News, were the focus of the accomplished reporters and
photographers who gathered at the Haverfield Ranch complex during the week of
the Survey. Ted Williams, independent columnist with Audubon Magazine and
Fly Fishing magazine, was joined by free-lance photographer Matt Slaby of
Denver. Devin Browne, a reporter from California on assignment with NPR, criss-crossed
Kansas developing features on this and two other conservation or
environmentally-related issuesto be
broadcast nationally in
the near future. Jim Kelly, Producer of Sunflower Journeys,
filmed the landscape and interviewed Dan Muller and Larry Haverfield.
During
the daylight hours, we hauled fencing supplies from the Winona Lumberyard to
the Haverfield Ranch. A few days later Don Redeker of Manhattan began
building the first of ten miles of "prairie dog fence" designed to
reduce dispersal of prairie dogs from the property to neighboring pasturelands
owned or operated by individuals who do not want any prairie dogs--or
ferrets. The fence is part of a private lands wildlife "stewardship"
project funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Audubon of
Kansas. The purposes are to reduce conflicts arising from differing
perspectives on prairie dogs, and keep them somewhat contained to provide prey
and habitat for other wildlife.
The
fence consists of poultry netting combined with an electric wire positioned to
discourage prairie dogs from trying to crawl through or from climbing over the
fence. Mike Hudson and Don Redeker devoted days to cutting and sculpturing
rebar to make special fence posts to hold the poultry netting. The fence
being constructed is based on a successful design used by Ron Klataske several
yearsago to contain prairie dogs in an
enclosure as part
of an e ffort to establish a colony on private land in an area where they had
been extirpated.
Special designed rebar posts being unloaded at the
Haverfield Ranch.
A hefty supply of rolls of poultry netting 150' by 4'
ready for construction of the special "prairie dog" fence at the
Haverfield/ Barnhardt ranch complex.
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Rozol and Kaput-D Threaten
Great Plains Raptors and Mammalian
Predators.
On
a related conservation front, Audubon of Kansas has teamed up with Defenders of
Wildlife to try to secure appropriate restrictions on the use of Rozol and
Kaput-D for prairie dog control, and to try to get EPA to close the
floodgates. Please find below a copy of the letter sent to EPA over the
signature of Jason C. Rylander, Staff Attorney for Defenders on July 15.
Dear Administrator Jackson and Dr. Edwards:
We understand that the Environmental Protection Agency
("EPA") approved the use of Rozol Prairie Dog Bait (containing
chlorophacinone) to control prairie dogs in 11 Midwestern states on May 13,
2009. In addition, EPA has approved Special Local Needs registrations for
Kaput-D (containing diphacinone) for use on prairie dogs in various states,
pursuant to Section 24(c) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act ("FIFRA"), 7 U.S.C. §§ 136 et seq. We further
understand that a Section 3 registration is pending under FIFRA for Kaput-D for
prairie dog control.
These anticoagulant rodenticides have been shown to cause
secondary poisoning of predators and scavengers and pose significant risk to
species protected by the Endangered Species Act ("ESA"), 16 U.S.C. §§
1531 et seq., the Migratory Bird Treaty Act ("MBTA"), 16 U.S.C. §§
703-712 et seq., and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act
("BGEPA"), 16 U.S.C. §§ 668 et seq. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service ("FWS") and various environmental organizations, including
the undersigned, have repeatedly contacted your offices urging you not to approve
or expand use of these chemicals for control of prairie dogs. The FWS and
environmental groups have specifically requested that your agency consult with
the FWS regarding the impacts of these rodenticides on federally-protected
wildlife as required by the ESA. EPA has ignored these concerns and
failed to initiate formal ESA consultation.
Accordingly, pursuant to the sixty-day notice requirement of the
citizen suit provision of the Endangered Species Act ("ESA"), 16
U.S.C. § 1540(g), on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife and Audubon of Kansas, I
hereby provide notice that your agency is in violation of the ESA regarding its
registration of Rozol and Kaput-D for use as a prairie dog control agent.
In addition, as detailed further in the attached letter, we believe EPA's approval
of these toxicants for prairie dog control violates the MBTA, BGEPA, FIFRA, and
the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"), 5. U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.
We request that EPA initiate formal ESA consultation with the FWS
immediately with respect to both rodenticides. We ask that EPA
immediately rescind the registration of Rozol for prairie dog control, rescind
the Special Local Needs permits for Kaput-D, and deny registration of Kaput-D
for prairie dog control. Failure to address these concerns within 60 days
will result in litigation. Please contact me if you would like to avoid
suit or believe any of the facts in the attached letter to be in error.
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Please Help With these and Other Important AOK Conservation
Initiatives.
We need your help. Please donate now to keep Audubon of
Kansas on the front lines undeterred by controversy or the absence of other
conservation organizations in the trenches, working for wildlife in every forum
possible, joining landowners and others who strive to protect prairie landscapes
and ecological values, pushing agencies to change operational paradigms and go
beyond their comfort zones. We greatly appreciate any support you
can provide.
Or send a check to:
Audubon of Kansas
210 Southwind Place
Manhattan KS 66503
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