Red Hills (Kansas)

Transcription

One of Kansas’ most interesting regions is the Red Hills located mostly in Barber, Comanche and Clark counties. Also known as the Gypsum Hills for its abundance of this shiny mineral, the area is also rich in iron oxide, which makes the soil “red.” It’s marked with canyons, mesas, rolling hills, and buttes, making it a scenic wonder. It’s rich in history. It’s a great place to photograph and see the prairie as it was in the “old west,” and highway 160 provides an easy way to see it from your car. For the more adventurous, dirt roads winding through the hills can provide even more spectacular scenery. If you’ve never experienced them firsthand, the Red hills make a great discovery trip in our state. This is big ranch country, and livestock is an important part of the economy. As well, the area is rich in wildlife. Eastern Red Cedar has always been part of this prairie landscape, but in recent decades, spread of the trees has become a serious problem. And a variety of agencies and conservation groups are helping find ways to preserve the beauty and productivity of this special region. Ken Brunson is the Nature Conservancy Project Coordinator for the Red Hills. He explains its role in protecting the resource: “The main reason the Nature Conservancy is interested in the Red Hills through the Red Hills Initiative is to try to maintain the integrity of this land as the same interest the ranchers landowners have down here – to keep this country in good shape and help perpetuate it for the future. “The focus areas include prescribed burning, prescribed grazing, brush cedar control effortsthrough cedar control, enhancement of base flows through rangeland improvement, and related to that that will help out some of the small streams, cave conservation – the Red Hills harbor most of the caves in the state – and some of those caves are very important for a number of bat species. We’re also available for landowners that are interested in conservation easements, agreements with landowners that will place protective covenants on land for perpetuity.” Through the help of various agencies and federal programs, progress is being made in reclaiming valuable Red Hills grasslands from cedar invasion. Burning, mechanical tree removal, and follow-up fire shows significant contrast to areas where cedars remain uncontrolled. “Besides this being a unique part of the state and the country, what makes the Red Hills special is the wildlife diversity. There’s a number of plants and animals down in this part of the country that are certainly unique to Kansas. Among the species of interest down here include armadillos, roadrunners, there’s some pronghorns down here, red-spotted toads, of course lesser praire chickens, coachwhip snakes, a number of different bat species, porcupines, it’s just a unique area in a lot of different aspects but particularly with the wildlife diversity. Visit and see for yourself this beautiful part of Kansas. The Red Hills area is a treasure worth protecting. For more information on how the Nature Conservancy’sRed Hills Initiative helps this and other important areas of the state, visit online nature.org/Kansas. I’m Mike Blair for KDWPT.