11/03/2009
NWTF Kansas to Invest $52,600 in Projects in 2010
KANSAS — The National Wild Turkey Federation's Kansas chapters have budgeted $52,600 from the state Hunting Heritage Super Fund to invest in outreach, education, conservation, increased public land access and more within Kansas in 2010.
The NWTF Super Fund is administered jointly by the NWTF, its state and provincial chapters and wildlife agencies, and supports conservation and education programs.
Since 1985, NWTF chapters in Kansas have raised and spent more than $796,961 on wildlife habitat enhancements, land purchases, education, outreach and more within the state. NWTF chapters and cooperating partners across North America have raised and spent more than $286 million upholding hunting traditions and conserving nearly 14 million acres of wildlife habitat since 1985.
"The Kansas State Chapter is dedicated to improving land access and wildlife habitat, and is backing up their commitment with the funds to make needed changes," said James Earl Kennamer, Ph.D., the NWTF's chief conservation officer. "By directing dollars to land access and wildlife habitat improvements, and strengthening outreach and education programs, the Kansas State Chapter is helping enhance habitat for all kinds of wildlife while making a better outdoor experience, not just for hunters - but for everyone."
Hunters are a key part of the state's economy. The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation reports that Kansas hunters spend $271 million and 2.5 million days afield pursuing their sport each year.
The NWTF also will make a second annual contribution of $23,550 from national project funding, a different fund than the Hunting Heritage Super Fund, to the ongoing Rio Grande wild turkey research in north-central Kansas for the 2010 fiscal year.
The targeted projects approved by the Kansas State Chapter Super Fund Committee include $25,000 to uphold outdoor traditions through the NWTF's JAKES (Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship), Women in the Outdoors and Wheelin' Sportsmen NWTF outreach programs, educational programs, scholarship programs and the National Archery in the Schools Program.
The NWTF's Kansas State Board of Directors dedicated an additional $27,600 to accomplish the following Hunting Heritage Super Fund projects in 2010, which will benefit Kansas's resident and non-resident sportsmen and wildlife:
- $7,425 to lease approximately 6,000 acres of land that will be used as Spring Wild Turkey Walk-in Hunting Access Areas statewide. Public hunting areas are in high demand in Kansas, a state that is 97 percent privately owned. This project will be completed through the NWTF's More Places to Hunt initiative, which helps provide more hunting land on both public and private property. The NWTF already has spent more than $9.4 million and obtained more than 413,000 acres for hunting nationwide.
Project partners: Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
- $6,000 to buy equipment for new and existing 4-H Shooting Sports programs statewide.
- $5,000 to improve timber stands by cutting down undesirable trees in favor of oaks and other beneficial tree species on the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge in Coffey County.
Project partner: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- $3,500 to construct fireguards, which are gaps in vegetation used to control prescribed burns, near Douglas State Lake and the surrounding 538-acre Wildlife Area in Douglas County.
Project partners: Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
- $2,500 to restore riparian areas, or areas near streams or rivers, on the Cimarron National Grasslands in Morton County by removing salt cedars and other invasive plants that compete with the healthy growth of cottonwood trees. Cottonwoods are prime roosting sites for wild turkeys. This project will be completed through the NWTF's Southern Great Plains Riparian Initiative, a program that restores and maintains wooded zones near riparian areas in the southern Great Plains states by assisting landowners and communities with management efforts.
Project partner: U.S. Forest Service
- $2,000 to provide archery equipment for the Liberal Parks and Recreation Department's youth shooting program in Seward County.
- $1,500 to purchase spraying equipment that will help land management professionals conduct prescribed fires in the Bourbon County Conservation District. Land managers use prescribed fires to restore native grasslands and woodlands, promoting the growth of vegetation essential for wild turkeys, quail and other ground-nesting birds.
- $1,050 to purchase native grass and forb seed that will be planted on the Council Grove Wildlife Area in Morris County.
Project partners: Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
- $1,000 to restore native prairie areas by removing invasive eastern red cedar trees from the Pottawatomie State Lake #1Wildlife Area in Pottawatomie County.
Project partners: Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
- $625 to purchase spraying rigs for conducting prescribed fires within the Wilson County Conservation District.
- $500 to help conduct a forestry and wildlife workshop in western Kansas that will teach wildlife and forestry professionals how to manage woodlands for wildlife.
Project partners: KDWP, Kansas Forest Service
