Open Letter to Senators Ostmeyer & Wagle regarding Kansas Bills Attacking Wildlife

Dear Senators Ostmeyer and Wagle:

I am so dismayed by the list of bills proposed by the legislature this year that will essentially gut wildlife conservation in the state of Kansas.  I am convinced these bills have resulted from the propaganda promoted by the so called Kansas Natural Resources Coalition (KNRC) with its basis in western Kansas.  I have thoroughly read all the documents produced by the paid “consultants” to the KNRC and they are frightening in their inaccuracy.  Conservation efforts for the lesser prairie-chicken, an extraordinarily beautiful and amazing species, have been set up as a false threat to western Kansas landowners by KNRC conspiracy theorists who are engaged in nothing less than fear mongering.  Even the leaders of the KNRC, I believe, have been taken in by their unscrupulous “consultants” who, it should be noted, are all from out of state.  You might ask yourselves why they couldn’t find “experts” on the species from within the five states where the species occurs or why their main consultant (Stillwater Technical Solutions) can’t even be found on a Google web search.  The lesser prairie-chicken is not being considered for listing as federally threatened because of the recent drought (as the KNRC has stated). . . Sure, the drought has hurt the species, but this considered listing was proposed almost 10 years ago because of all the damage that has been done to their habitats by man over many decades, and because further damage is still ongoing.

You may remember the old Rogers and Hammerstein musical called The Music Man.  The premise of that story was that a huckster comes into town, whips the local people into a feverish state of fear over the game of pool (“we got trouble . . . right here in River City . . . with a capitol T, and that rymes with P, and that stands for pool”) which he contends is going to corrupt all the town’s youth.  The huckster then proposes to sell the townspeople a diversion for River City’s youth . . . band instruments . . . then collects the money to order the instruments, and skips town with the proceeds.  In the movie, the huckster is reformed by “Marian the librarian” and everything turns out great (76 trombones!).  Our situation with the KNRC and its out-of-state paid consultants is much the same . . . they’re basically saying “We got trouble . . . right here in western Kansas . . . with a capitol P, and that rymes with C, and that stands for Prairie Chicken).  Unfortunately, a lot of well-meaning people (county commissions) have been taken in by the KNRC hucksters and their “consultants” and the result has been this series of awful bills that will be incredibly harmful to conservation in Kansas.  Unlike the happy ending in the movie, our state will not only suffer a crippling blow to natural resources conservation, but will also be the laughing stock of the nation.  I have lived in Kansas all my life (grew up in Medicine Lodge) and love the state . . . but I am embarrassed for my state because of this.

I expect you’ve already heard the perfectly valid arguments that these bills will jeopardize federal assistance in our fight to save a few last places for the lesser prairie-chicken.   Tens of millions of dollars have flowed into the hands of western Kansas landowners for close to a decade, mainly through USDA in the form of Conservation Reserve Program payments, that they likely would not have received had it not been for the presence of lesser prairie-chickens in their areas.  This is a side of the story, the KNRC and their “consultants” have not told.  Further, I am a landowner myself with 1,265 acres with lesser prairie chickens on or near much of it.  It is my right to manage this land as I choose . . . and that includes establishing a permanent conservation easement if I want to.

Please .. . . please don’t cripple Kansas’ conservation efforts by taking actions that will jeopardize federal assistance to save the lesser prairie chicken and other species.  Kansas cannot go it alone in wildlife conservation . . . We simply don’t have the financial resources.  I am asking, even begging, you to do all you can to kill Senate Bill 276, Senate Bill 323, and House Bill 2118.  We must not pass legislation that is founded on false pretenses and is harmful to our state.

I thank you for reading my somewhat lengthy message and for your consideration of these concerns.

Sincerely,

From a concerned Kansas Wildlife Federation member from western Kansas