Just taking care of nature
I was visiting with our postal carrier the other day about all the junk mail I receive. It seems like if I order from one place, I will eventually end up receiving a half-dozen or more catalogs from other places I’ve never heard of. And just because I contributed to one organization, I now get a stack of envelopes nearly every day, asking for my financial support. Of course all the number of catalogs and solicitations from organiza tions has picked up a lot now, just in time for Christmas giving or buying.
One of the organizations that I don’t mind supporting is The Nature Conservancy (“TNC”). TNC is a global environmental organization, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. As of 2021, TNC works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the U.S.
The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. For more than 30 years, TNC has worked in Kansas to do just that. TNC has permanently protected 190,000 acres across the state, including five preserves that are open to the public. Flint Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve near Great Bend, the Flint Hills, the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve at Cottonwood Falls, Smoky Valley Ranch, and “Little Jerusalem” near Oakley, are just a few of the areas of Kansas that TNC protects. I appreciate their mission and am pleased to be able to support it. Here are some of their projects:
• Three years ago, TNC began implementing a new management plan to increase shorebird habitat at Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve, adjacent to the state-owned Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area north of Great Bend. And each year since, an increased number of shorebirds has been documented at the preserve, with 2020 marking the best year in more than a decade. But the work benefits more than just shorebirds—of the 482 bird species known to Kansas, 356 have been observed at Cheyenne Bottoms.
• On my short-list of places to visit in northwest Kansas is the Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park in Logan County. Since opening in October 2019, more than 30,000 people have visited these dramatic chalk rock formations which are owned by TNC. The entire state park covers 332 acres, and TNC, which partnered with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, has made portions of the area open to the public. Little Jerusalem is open year-round, sunup to sundown daily, including holidays, and offers two, permanent hiking trails that provide multiple scenic overlooks. State Park staff members also offer guided tours and special events, including occasional night-time tours, by reservation only.
• On November 16, the United States Mint will issue a coin commemorating the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas under the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. The program selected one national park or other site in each state for its natural or historic significance. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve—the country’s only national park unit dedicated to tallgrass prairie— covers both criteria with its diverse ecosystem and rich ranching legacy. Staff from TNC and the National Park Service worked with the U.S. Mint on a design that symbolizes the largest expanse of tallgrass prairie left in the world. The quarter depicts a skyward view of a regal fritillary butterfly against a backdrop of iconic big bluestem and Indian grasses.
As stated by the director of TNC, Rob Manes, many things have changed over the years but what remains unchanged is the reality that the lives of Kansans are tightly tied to nature. The threats to nature’s well-being grow more complex with each passing year. Manes said, “Climate change isn’t a distant threat, it’s happening now.”
Much to my embarrassment—after our local mail carriers walk the route to my house—a lot of the mail that comes each day goes straight to the trash without even being opened. But anything I receive from The Nature Conservancy gets priority.
