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Sign up for women-only workshop to Become an Outdoor Pro

If you’ve ever wanted to pick up a bow and hit a bullseye, pitch a tent without any help, clean a fish you caught, or start a fire in no time flat, sign up for the 2016 Spring Becoming An Outdoors-Woman (BOW) workshop May 13-15. Participants of BOW will spend a weekend away at Camp Wood YMCA in Elmdale learning anything and everything they want to about the outdoors. And the best part is, there’s no pressure.

Offered through the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, BOW is designed to teach women outdoor skills in a fun, friendly, and laid-back atmosphere. With 27 different classes to choose from, participants can have fun mixing and matching the topics they learn about.

Cost for the three-day workshop is $235, which includes lodging, meals and class supplies. Three $100 scholarships are available to first-time participants based on financial need.

Early registration will be open to first-time participants through March 27. If spots still remain, past participants may register beginning March 28. Applicants are encouraged to apply early as the spring workshop is limited to 40 participants. To register, visit www.ksoutdoors.com and click “Education,” then “Becoming an Outdoors Woman.”

For questions, call or email Jami McCabe at (785) 845-5052 or [email protected].

To learn more, and view pictures of past workshops, visit the BOW Facebook page found under “Becoming an Outdoors Woman KANSAS.”

Youth identifies 225 bird species in Kansas

Cardinals, sparrows, bluejays and doves might be the extent of your bird identification knowledge, and that’s okay, but wouldn’t it be neat to know what kind of bird is plucking those bugs off your bumper? Or what kind of bird is building a nest in your favorite tree out back? For birders, keeping a running tally of the species they identify is an ongoing challenge. And for Sam Schermerhorn, Wamego, who competed in the youth category of the 2015 Kansas Birding Big Year contest, that tally was 225 species observed during the year. Schermerhorn won his category, comparing respectably to the overall winner, Andrew Burnett, who observed 317 species, an outstanding total for the state.

For three years running, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism has hosted a Birding Big Year contest where participants join in a friendly competition to see who can identify the most bird species in a calendar year. The competition is divided into three age categories: youth (17 and under), adult (18-64), and senior (65+), with the adult category being broken down into three skill levels.

The results for 2015 were spectacular:

ADULT DIVISION

Advanced

1st – Matt Gearheart, 288

2nd – Pete Janzen, 262

3rd – E.J. Raynor, 259

4th – Brett Sandercock, 256

5th – Carol Morgan, 231

Intermediate

1st – Andrew Burnett, 317

2nd – Sue Newland, 283

3rd – Malcom Gold, 277

4th – Nick Varvel, 275

5th – Tom Ewert, 245

Novice

1st – Don Merz, 287

2nd – Jennifer Hammett, 252

3rd – Todd Becker, 172

YOUTH DIVISION

1st – Sam Schermerhorn, 225

2nd – Ella Burnett, 194

3rd – Joshua Keating, 142

4th – Jacob Keating, 137

5th – Emma Littich, 91

SENIOR DIVISION

1st – Mick McHugh, 267

2nd – Dan Larson, 241

3rd – John Row, 208

OVERALL WINNERS

1st – Andrew Burnett (Erie) – Adult, Intermediate, 317 species

2nd – Matt Gearheart (Lenexa) – Adult, Advanced, 288 species

3rd – Don Merz (Horton) – Adult, Novice, 287 species

4th – Sue Newland (Wakarusa) – Adult, Intermediate, 283 species

5th – Malcom Gold (Overland Park) – Adult, Intermediate, 277 species

Apart from bragging rights, winners of the 2015 contest will receive prizes donated from several sponsors, including Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, The Coleman Company, Acorn Naturalists of Tustin, Calif., and the KDWPT Education Section.

The winners of each category will also each receive matted and framed original ink drawings of native Kansas bird species, drawn and donated by Dr. Robert Penner of Ellinwood, as well as a signed copy of Penner’ book, Birds of Cheyenne Bottoms. Dr. Penner is the land steward and avian projects coordinator for the Nature Conservancy at Cheyenne Bottoms.

If you’re interested in participating in the 2016 competition, visit http://ksoutdoors.com/Services/Wildlife-Diversity/2016-Kansas-Birding-Big-Year for details.

Whether it’s time spent outdoors, or time spent with the ones you love that will get you out the front door, consider making birding an item on your to-do list this year. And take a kid with you.

Late-season hunting can be fantastic

Weather, work, family commitments, and just sheer luck can have a lot to do with how much time you spend hunting during the season. If you’re looking to end your hunting seasons on a high note, or just want to see your dog work one more time before stowing away your gear, consider participating in a late-season hunt.

Kansas has several hunting seasons to keep you in the field through January, and goose hunting opportunities to keep your dog at work through early spring.

Depending on weather and snow cover, numbers of geese can steadily build in late January and early February around Kansas reservoirs and wetlands. The Canada and light goose seasons are open now and close Feb. 14, 2016, and the white-fronted goose season final segment is Jan. 23-Feb. 14, 2016.

When Feb. 15 hits, try your luck at hunting snow and Ross’ geese. During the Light Goose Conservation Order, Feb. 15-April 30, 2016, hunters are allowed to take an unlimited number of these birds in an effort to reduce populations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established this special season to boost the harvest of light geese, a population that has increased more than 300 percent since the mid-1970s. These historic numbers of geese have denuded portions of their fragile tundra breeding habitat in the arctic, which may take decades to recover. This impacts other bird species that nest there, including semi-palmated sandpipers and red-necked phalaropes.

To increase hunter success, the conservation order authorizes hunting methods not allowed during the regular seasons, including the use of electronic calls, unplugged shotguns, and shooting hours one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.

And the pheasant, quail and greater prairie chicken seasons are open through Jan. 31, 2016, so there’s still time to get in a hunt or two.

Other late-season hunting opportunities that are great for the youth in your life include crow, exotic dove, furbearer, rabbit, and squirrel.

For season specifics, consult the 2015 Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary, or visit www.ksoutdoors.com  and click “Hunting.”

Public input needed for State Wildlife Action Plan

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism (KDWPT) is seeking public input on Kansas’ State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) through March 11. The action plan replaces the state’s existing Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy and is designed to identify the top priority species and habitats that need conservation efforts in the state. The plan also outlines potential conservation actions that can address the threats or issues these species and habitats face. The SWAP is necessary for Kansas to be eligible for State Wildlife Grants (SWG) and proactively conserve wildlife and habitats before they become rarer and more costly to protect.

“The SWAP is not just a conservation plan for KDWPT,” said state wildlife action plan coordinator, Megan Rohweder. “It’s a dynamic and adaptive document that can serve as a guide for other agencies, organizations, stakeholders, experts, and interested parties to ensure that Kansas’ wildlife and habitats are conserved for future generations.”

To date, KDWPT has worked with agency partners, conservation organizations, academic institutions, and other stakeholders to review and revise the plan to include information on climate change, as well as the development of geographically explicit areas in which to address conservation, called Ecological Focus Areas. The last piece of the puzzle is public input and now is the time for those voices to be heard.

To view the SWAP revision draft online, visit http://ksoutdoors.com/Services/Kansas-SWAP. Comments can be submitted via email through March 11 using the link available on the webpage.

Five-year hunt/fish licenses offer savings and convenience

Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism license and permit fee increases took effect Jan. 1, 2016 and with those fee changes, some new licenses are being offered. Five-year hunting, fishing and hunt/fish combination licenses are now available and offer significant savings compared to purchasing licenses individually each year. A five-year hunting or fishing license is $102.50, compared to purchasing the $27.50 annual hunting or fishing license each year for five years – $137.50. A five-year hunt/fish combination license is $182.50, compared to buying an annual combination hunt/fish license for five years – $212.50 if purchased before Feb. 1, or $237.50 if purchased after Jan. 31.

The five-year licenses offer convenience and savings; however, they do not provide the holder resident status if they should move from Kansas before the license expires. The license is valid through its expiration date, even if the holder moves to another state, but a five-year hunting license holder who becomes a nonresident is required to purchase nonresident deer and turkey permits. And therein lies the difference and perhaps confusion when comparing the five-year licenses to lifetime licenses. The holders of lifetime hunting licenses are always considered Kansas residents when purchasing turkey and big game permits, regardless of where they live.

Another new license offered this year is the early-purchase annual hunting/fishing combination license. If purchased before Feb. 1, the price is $42.50. If purchased after Jan. 31, the price is $47.50. If you purchase your hunting and fishing licenses individually, you’ll spend $55.

The license fee increases were necessary to maintain and enhance pivotal hunting and fishing programs. Deer and turkey permit prices had not increased since 1984 and general hunting and fishing license fees had remained the same since 2002. Youth and senior lifetime pass license fees were not increased.

For more information on 2016 license and permit fees, go to www.ksoutdoors.com and click “Licenses & Permits” in the top menu.

Furharvester Education Certification Class Jan. 30

If you’re interested in learning how to become an effective, ethical and responsible furharvester in Kansas, consider attending the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism’s (KDWPT) Furharvester Education Certification Class on. Jan. 30. There is no cost to attend and all ages are welcome. The class will be held at Murphy’s Taxidermy, 2205 E 9th, Winfield. To register, call (620) 222-8007.

Topics covered in the one-day class include an overview of furharvesting history, trap setting techniques, hunting predators, and fur handling. For more information on the Furharvester Education program, visit www.ksoutdoors.com /Hunting/Furharvesting, or contact program coordinator, Aaron Austin, at (620) 672-5911.

Persons born on or after July 1, 1966 must successfully complete a furharvester education course approved by KDWPT to purchase a furharvester license or hunt, run or trap furbearers or trap coyotes on lands other than their own.

Get an eye on eagles Jan. 16

If you’ve never watched a bald eagle soar across a powder-blue Kansas sky, or witnessed a flock of the nation’s treasured symbol perched on a tree like nature’s very own Christmas ornaments, the staff at Milford Lake have an opportunity for you.

Eagle Day at Milford Lake, an annual event that provides visitors a chance to view eagles and eagles’ nests in a natural setting, will be held Jan. 16, beginning at 9 a.m. and everyone is welcome to join.

Participants will meet at the Milford Nature Center, 3415 Hatchery Drive, Junction City, where a variety of bus tours and programs will be conducted. Programs featuring live raptors, owls, nesting eagles, and birds of prey will begin at 9:15 a.m. and will be repeated throughout the day.

Bus tours will depart from the nature center parking lot every half-hour beginning at 9 a.m. with the last tour departing at 2 p.m. Popcorn and hot chocolate will be served courtesy of the Milford Friends Group, and a kids’ tent with activities and crafts will be available. There is no cost. For more information, call (785) 238-5323.

KGA Winter Conference set for January 16 in Salina

Author and Quivira Coalition co­founder Courtney White to bring a ‘different perspective’ to Kansas. Ranchers Gail Fuller and Dale Strickler also to present.

By Tom Parker

At first glance, Courtney White might not seem like the ideal candidate to address the Kansas Graziers Association during their annual winter conference in January. He grew up in the city where the only agriculture was the occasional family garden, and the only wildlife were the neighborhood cats and dogs. His only interaction with livestock was with the horses his family owned for trail­-riding. He was a hard­driving activist for the Sierra Club, lobbying for new wilderness areas, protesting clear­-cut logging in national forests and writing handbooks that were used by grassroots organizations to oppose hard­-rock mining. As an activist, agriculture and livestock were barely on his radar, and when they were it wasn’t in a positive light. But people change, and times change, and divisive wars eventually take their toll leaving only the wounded and the coppery taste of defeat.

The constant battle between environmental activists and ranchers, loggers and other rural residents was an endless war of attrition. “No one was winning,” White wrote in the introduction to his book, Grass, Soil and Hope. “Everyone and everything was losing, especially the land.” Even worse was the negative energy being expended. It was like a toxic cloud sucking the life out of everything it touched.

Dispirited and not a little jaded, White was increasingly aware of the hopelessness of the struggle. Just when it seemed that neither side was capable of listening to the other without threats of lawsuits or personal violence, he met a free­thinking rancher who had reached out to the environmentalists as equals. The meeting set White on the path to becoming a rancher himself, wading into the middle of the grazing wars and co­founding the Quivira Coalition, a Santa Fe-­based based non­profit organization devoted to finding a “third position.” They called it the New Ranch, where people interested in innovative ideas and fruitful dialogue could meet, discuss, and learn. His latest book, Two Percent Solutions for the Planet, expands his unique outlook from the American West to a global vision for simple, low­-cost solutions for environmental regeneration.

For more information about the conference, go to the KGA website at www.AmazingGrazingKansas.com.

A Brief History of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

by Ted Beringer

In light of the recent armed breach and occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon by men attempting to have the arson sentences eliminated for two other men who started fires on federal land, it is useful to review the history of this refuge. It is also important to understand that a recent Comprehensive Conservation Plan has been implemented in 2014 with public input from everyone who wished to voice an opinion. This process was initiated in 2008. Today through some distorted sense of logic, armed men have decided to coopt the refuge for their own personal vendetta.

Archeological research shows that people were using the area now managed by the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge 9,800 years ago. The Northern Paiute Indians hunted and fished on this land for more than 1300 years. During their 1804 Corps of Discovery Expedition, Louis & Clark were told of the Paiute by the Shoshone they met on the expedition. In 1826, fur trappers from the Hudson Bay Company told of seeing the Paiute camping along Malheur Lake.

In 1836 the first migrant wagon train began using the Oregon Trail that had been previously built by trappers and traders for horseback travel. But by 1842–1843, the Oregon Trail was teeming with European settlers from the east. However the Oregon Territory was not formed until 1848, two years after Britain and the United States agreed to territorial boundaries of the disputed land along the 49th parallel. This land had been jointly occupied by Great Britain and the United States since 1818.

To promote more settlement in land that would eventually become Oregon, Washington, Idaho and a portion of Wyoming, the United States Congress passed the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 (a precursor to the Homestead Act of 1862). To make room for the expected influx of settlers, the native Indian population was forced to relocate to small Indian reservations in Oregon. In 1859 Oregon became a state.

After passage of the Homestead Act in 1862, the arrival of European settlers accelerated further. Large cattle operations and dairies were created by enterprising homesteaders taking advantage of various federal programs. The Union Pacific Railroad laid tracks to make it easier to transport cattle and dairy products to other parts of the country like Chicago’s meat packing plants. The cultural and historical life of the Northern Paiute who had lived there for centuries was gradually disrupted by the influx of homesteaders and the environmental deterioration that followed. Diseases like smallpox further decimated the Paiute who had no immunity to combat the disease. The Federal Government tried to convince the Paiute to congregate on the Burns Paiute Indian Reservation around 1868 but this was not an adequate substitute for what they had given up. The Burns Paiute Indian Reservation was progressively reduced in size over time to a scant few thousand acres.

Then In 1870 an ornithologist and army Captain named Charles Bendire who was stationed at Camp Harney in Oregon entered the scene. Soldiers stationed at Camp Harney were ordered to quell Indian raids by the Northern Paiute who they eventually subjugated into signing a treaty that moved them onto a reservation north of Malheur Lake in 1872. While stationed there, Captain Bendire wrote an account of the throngs of birds in the region including great colonies of white herons (now referred to as Great Egrets) that lived along the lower Silvies River among the willows. The Silvies River forks and ends in Lake Malheur. However in the 1880s fashion conscious women desired the breeding plumage of the Great egret to adorn their hats. Hunters satisfied the demand but decimated the population of Great egrets at Malheur Lake in doing so.

By the turn of the century, two members of the Oregon Audubon Society, William L. Finely and Herman T. Bohlman, who were visiting the area and expecting the Great Egret population to have recovered, realized that not a single nesting pair of egrets could be found there. Finely (then president of the Oregon Audubon Society) approached President Theodore Roosevelt with a proposal to protect these birds and the great numbers of other bird species there. In 1908 by executive order, President Theodore Roosevelt set aside unclaimed government lands in the area as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds by establishing the Lake Malheur Reservation, the forerunner of the current Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. It is important to understand none of this land had been claimed by homesteaders under the federal programs that had been created to attract them.

Then in 1935, a lengthy severe drought in the area combined with the grip of the Great Depression made the land surrounding the Malheur Wildlife Refuge less productive for the cattle & dairy investments. Two large ranches, one owned by Louis Swift (owner of Swift Packing Company in Chicago), sold their land to the U.S. government. Much of this land was added to the Malheur Refuge. Also in 1935 a 65,000 acre parcel of the Blitzen Valley was purchased to safeguard water rights for the Malheur Reservation to help maintain water levels in the reserve required by waterfowl. Also in 1935, two years after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the CCC made major improvements to the infrastructure of the Malheur Reserve including constructing its roads. The CCC camps were located near the headquarters of today’s refuge. Today the refuge provides a crucial opportunity along the Pacific Flyway for tired migratory birds to rest. It provides excellent breeding and nesting habitat for 320 species of birds and as well as habitat for 58 species of mammals. Thousands of people annually visit the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to experience its spectacular array of wildlife.

Grazing management teleconference call

Join the Kansas Rural Center Monday, January 11, 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm, for a teleconference conversation on grazing. You can join KRC from your home and the call is toll free. Forage and grazing management experts, Dale Kirkham, Gary Kilgore, and Keith Harmoney will field questions during the call. Dale Kirkham will lead the call.

The conversation is structured around the questions and comments participants bring to the call, so we encourage you to raise questions related to grazing management and forages during the call. Feel free to join in or leave the call anytime between 7:30 and 9 pm at your convenience. When you join the call, don’t hesitate to introduce yourself and state your question.

Anyone can participate by simply dialing in 1-877-304-5632. You will then be prompted to dial in a “conference room number”. Please dial in 300 346 2424 and follow directions. That’s all you need to do to join KRC. If possible, keep your phone on mute when you are not speaking. This helps reduce background noise to make the call easier for everyone to hear. If your phone does not have a mute option–you can mute by punching the star (*) key located in the lower left of your keypad then the number 6. You can then un-mute your phone by punching *7.

Thanks and we look forward to the talk on Monday evening!