Lesser and Greater Prairie-chickens will Now Benefit from EQIP

Photo by Judd Patterson

A monumental success for grassland nesting birds has materialized! Establishment of "Wildlife" as a "Resource of Primary Concern" within USDA's Environmental Quality Incentive Program for Kansas, and approval of special practices and funding of nearly $600,000 reserved for rangeland practices designed to provide nesting and brood cover for Lesser and Greater Prairie-chickens was recommended at the November 19 meeting of the Kansas Technical Committee for USDA conservation programs. Our role now is to spread the word so that landowners will know that they can now apply for EQIP planned grazing and burning practices designed to provide nesting and brood habitat for Prairie-chickens.

With AOK Executive Director, Ron Klataske, as our representative on the State Technical Committee for USDA conservation programs, Audubon of Kansas initiated and provided a lead role in advocacy of this new practice, and numerous provisions making other programs and practices more wildlife friendly. The lifetime of field research conducted by Dr. Robert J. Robel on Prairie-chickens at KSU, and the report he prepared for AOK's Hutton Sanctuary, served as a blueprint for illustrating the needs of prairie grouse and grassland birds that require similar habitat.

AOK has been a consistent critic of USDA funding for cost-share practices that are decidedly destructive to wildlife habitat, native prairies, and forest resources. Improvements in planning procedures have been made, but broadcast and aerial application of herbicides on native prairie rangelands for "Brush Management" (CODE 314) remains a major concern. Plant diversity and species richness are devastated by herbicide applications, and the habitat quality of the grasslands and shrublands are often dramatically diminished for Bobwhite Quail, Bell's Vireos and many other species.