Tomorrow’s Grassland
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Tomorrow’s Grassland

Category: Kansas

Barby Ranch Receives Leopold Award Photo by Sand County Foundation

Barby Ranch Receives Leopold Award

Bill and Debbie Barby of Protection have been selected as the recipients of the 2024 Kansas Leopold Conservation Award. Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the award recognizes landowners who go above and beyond in the management of soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat on working land. In Kansas, the $10,000 award is presented by the Sand County Foundation, American Farmland Trust, Kansas Association of Conservation Districts and Ranchland Trust of Kansas (RTK).

The Barby Ranch is located in both Clark and Comanche counties. Through rotational grazing, prescribed burning and the removal of invasive trees, Bill has restored the ranch’s native habitats and ecological functions. Thousands of acres of healthier grassland and riparian areas provide habitat for the Lesser Prairie Chicken, whooping crane and Arkansas River shiner. Conservation partnerships have achieved improved water quality, biodiversity and carbon sequestration on the landscape.

“RTK is delighted to announce that Bill and Debbie Barby are the Kansas Leopold Conservation Award recipients,” said Barth Crouch, RTK board chairman. “I have followed their commitment to conservation for many years. Bill has been very strong in sharing his efforts and projects with other ranchers and ranching families across the state.”

The Kansas Leopold Conservation Award is made possible thanks to the Farm Credit Associations of Kansas, ITC Great Plains, Kansas Department of Agriculture-Division of Conservation, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Kansas Ducks Unlimited, Kansas Forest Service, Green Cover Seed, McDonald’s, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and a Kansas Leopold Conservation Award recipient.

Read the full press release and learn more about Barby Ranch.

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Prescribed Burning Video Series Released Photo by Katie Blunk

Prescribed Burning Video Series Released

There are many factors to consider when planning a prescribed burn. The video series on prescribed burning from Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition will assist land managers who are considering using prescribed fire. Video topics include burn equipment, burn plans, fire safety tips, burn techniques, and implementing a burn. 

Watch a few videos below or view the entire series on the KGLC website.

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The Green Glacier

The Green Glacier

Historically a vast ocean of grasses could once be found throughout Kansas, but today our diverse prairie biome is collapsing. In this podcast, Dirac Twidwell, professor of rangeland ecology at UNL, talks about how our prairies are disappearing. Trees continue to spread throughout Kansas’ prairies, and that’s causing our open grassland landscapes to decline. For ranchers, saving the prairie environment means being a tree killer, not a tree hugger.

Listen to the podcast.

Read more about the aggressive canopy that’s swallowing the Great Plains in A ‘Green Glacier’ of trees and shrubs is burying prairies, threatening ranchers and wildlife. Learn how “a juggernaut unleashed by humans is grinding slowly across the Great Plains, burying some of the most threatened habitat on the planet beneath dense junipers and shrubland.”

Up From Dust is hosted and reported by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and David Condos. This episode was written by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and produced by Mackenzie Martin with editorial support from Scott Canon and Suzanne Hogan. Mix by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and Byron Love.

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