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Activism Now, and Conservation Easements Soon, May Save the Southern Flint Hills, Other Prairie Landscapes  --December 30, 2010 On three occasions in the past eight years the conservation community in Kansas has failed to sufficiently mobilize in time to address major threats, and make our case for protecting significant prairie landscapes. With only three or possibly four percent of the continent's Tallgrass Prairie remaining in any form, it is like the destruction of another irreplaceable natural wonder every time another 10,000 to 25,000 acres of intact prairie landscapes are fragmented and"industrialized" with massive windpower development projects. As an added insult to sanity, developers' multi-million dollar profits are entirely dependent on the transfer of funds to feather their nests from federal taxpayers, and it is all done under the banner of "renewable energy" which developers are using to eclipse "irreplaceable prairies." An ominous threat to the southern Flint Hills emerged this fall. Following development of one of the two most destructive and indefensible windpower projects in Kansas, the Elk River Project south of Beaumont, speculators have targeted the rest of the southern third of the Flint Hills south of Highway 400. They are suggesting it is ripe for "explosive development." Using cleverly deceptive suggestions that the KDWP and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bought in to the proposed 13,618-acre Caney River Wind Energy Project in exchange for questionable "mitigation" funding, personnel with Tradewind Energy convinced officials with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that they should sign a power purchase agreement. Fortunately, since the TVA is an independent federal corporation an Environmental Assessment is required. Conservation organizations and Tallgrass Ranchers have rallied to respond with statements, and we all hope that TVA officials recognize that destruction of thousands of acres of prairie is not justified when alternative sites are available on millions of acres of already altered (cultivated) lands with high wind potential. The comprehensive statement presented by Audubon of Kansas can be viewed here. Ironically, the comment period for this proposed project overlapped the formal announcement of the Flint Hills Legacy Conservation Areainitiative by Secretary Ken Salazar of the U.S. Department of TheInterior in Wichita on November 13. The two events clearly underscored the fact that this windpower development is poised to undermine one of the nation's most significant "landscape-level conservation projects." The Caney River Wind Energy Project is sited entirely within the Flint Hills Legacy Conservation Area and located on native Tallgrass Prairie grasslands of the type identified for protection. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service plan is designed to protect 1.1 million acres of native prairie grasslands with purchase of conservation easements which will "help maintain the integrity of Tallgrass Prairie wildlife habitat" in the Flint Hills ecoregion. As articulated in the plan, native prairie landscapes are being (and continue to be) lost to commercial development and other activities that fragment important wildlife habitats. We are indebted to Jim Minnerath of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for his commitment to and promotion of the Flint Hills Legacy Conservation initiative. We also thank Bill and Jennifer Browning of Madison for hosting visiting agency officials on their ranch as the proposal was being developed. |
We invite you to participate and contribute to our conservation efforts and keep Audubon of Kansas moving forward. Your tax-deductible contributions and volunteer efforts sustain our 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and are essential to all aspects of our work—from advocacy, legislative liaison, education, and support of wildlife-friendly landowners, to our office staff, publications and website. We need your commitment! |