Ron Klataske, Executive Director

Ron Klataske of Manhattan serves as Executive Director of Audubon of Kansas. He grew up on a farm in Kansas, received a Bachelor's Degree in wildlife biology from KSU and a Master’s in wildlife management at the University of Maine where he conducted research on White-tailed Deer. Following graduate school he worked throughout the state of Wyoming for the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. He represents Audubon of Kansas interests on a wide spectrum of wildlife and prairie conservation issues, stewardship and nature appreciation initiatives. Prior to establishment of Audubon of Kansas as an independent statewide organization in 1999, Ron served as the West Central Regional Vice President of the National Audubon Society for 28 years. He developed the proposal that led to the establishment of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Chase County. In Nebraska he developed a plan in cooperation with landowners and spearheaded efforts with Congress that led to national scenic river designation of a 76-mile stretch of the Niobrara River in northern Nebraska. He also devoted 25 years to protection of instream flows and habitat associated with the central Platte River area that provides a migratory spring staging area for a quarter million Sandhill Cranes. Ron and Carol donated the first conservation easement on prairie in the Flint Hills, and more recently were the first landowners in the state to have land accepted in the U.S.D.A. administered Grassland Reserve Program. In addition to his wildlife conservation career, Ron raises beef cattle on their rangeland in Riley and Pottawatomie counties.