Kansas Land Trust
Opportunities for Preserving Farm & Ranch Lands

Emphasis on the Flint Hills – Preserving Ranching and Farming Heritage

The Kansas Land Trust, as part of its mission to preserve significant Kansas lands, has placed a special emphasis on the Flint Hills. The largest remaining tracts of native tallgrass prairie in North America-nearly 3.5 million acres-are the grazing lands in the Flint Hills. This ecosystem once covered 140 million acres, from southern Texas to southern Manitoba. It is rapidly being converted to residential and commercial uses. Between 1982 and 1997, development claimed 768,800 acres-an area larger than Chase and Geary Counties combined. Today, only two percent of our nation's native tallgrass prairie remains, most of it here in Kansas.

KLT has been working with land trust members, private landowners, and government agencies to provide funds for preservation of this valuable land. Such collaborative efforts are the growing trend for large landscape protection. When we combine our resources, we can complete so much more of this important work.

Application
KLT is currently accepting applications from landowners for conservation easement purchase on land in the Flint Hills. Contact KLT to determine application deadlines for the next funding period.

KLT Funding
KLT is accessing and building several possible funding sources for purchasing conservation easements on Flint Hills property:

The Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program (FRPP)
This is a federal program under which the USDA, with a local match by a land trust or local governmental entity, will fund the purchase of a conservation easement from a private landowner. Although this program has been available for several years, only a few landowners in Kansas have been able to use it because it requires matching funds, a difficult requirement. KLT has completed several easements in Kansas with this funding, including over 500 acres of native grassland near Manhattan and 500 acres of Flint Hills in Morris County.

The Army Compatible Use Buffer Program Grant (ACUB)
Protecting land adjacent to military installations creates buffers that can provide significant natural corridors, protecting wildlife, water resources, working farm and ranch lands, and future recreational opportunities. This program helped fund private land conservation around eight installations nationwide with $18.9 million in 2005. In 2006, Congress appropriated $37 million for the ACUB program and even more in 2007. KLT is now purchasing easements under this program.

Kansas Legislature Appropriation
The Kansas legislature in 2005, 2006 and 2007 approved appropriations to provide the matching dollars to purchase easements in conjunction with the ACUB and FRPP programs. KLT received state funding as a match for purchasing conservation easements each year.

Proposed Legislation for Dedicated Funding
The Kansas legislature is considering legislation that would provide annual funding for the purpose of protecting Flint Hills land through conservation easements. Again, it would provide the matching funds to make it possible for Kansas landowners to benefit from the federal programs.

KLT's Purchase Projects
In 2006, KLT completed projects and in 2007 several other projects are under way and completed, all preserving agricultural land in the Flint Hills.

In 2005, KLT became the first organization in Kansas to complete a conservation easement purchase through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP). More than 200 acres of prairie north of Manhattan are now protected in perpetuity. The easement on this property will allow continued grazing of the land and agricultural use in accordance with sound, generally accepted range management practices. The native prairie can be burned, hayed, mowed, and rested. Removing woody plants will be encouraged to maintain grazing areas. Commercial, industrial and residential development is prohibited. This easement is highlighted in the KLT newsletter. See Summer 2004 issue of Stewardship Notes.

KLT's second conservation easement purchased in 2006 is a 500-acre ranch near Council Grove. The land is a working cattle ranch and ecotourism destination. For more information on this ranch, see the KLT newsletter, Winter 2005 issue of Stewardship Notes. 

KLT's third easement purchase was completed in October 2006 on a 270 acre Flint Hills ranch north of Manhattan . This easement was the first ever purchased with funding from FRPP, ACUB and the State of Kansas . See the KLT newsletter, Winter 2006 issue of Stewardship Notes. 

Fort Riley and KLT Collaborate – ACUB Buffer
In January 2006, KLT announced a new partnership with Fort Riley officials to offer landowners conservation easement purchase opportunities on 50,000 acres surrounding the Army base. This will provide a buffer between military activities and housing developments. The post is preparing for an additional 25,000 soldiers and civilians into the area. Ft. Riley officials fear that the population boom will lead to development of land around the base for housing - a use that is not compatible with the noise from training ranges and helicopter traffic.

Ecological Significance of the Buffer Area & Ft. Riley Land
The buffer land has significant conservation value, which is the aspect of the program that is important to KLT. The 50,000 acre buffer project is 45% native tallgrass prairie and 55% prime agricultural soils. The specific conservation inventory of individual buffer tracts will be evaluated throughout the project.

Fort Riley is a 100,656 acre military installation situated in the northern Flint Hills and is the largest federally-owned tallgrass prairie tract. The grasslands on Fort Riley are comprised of high-quality native prairie, tame pastures and former agricultural fields. Land-use activities on Fort Riley produce a mosaic of light disturbance to localized substantial impact. The grasslands are interspersed by woodlands that are associated with streams, relatively small ponds, and wetlands. Fort Riley abuts Milford Lake to the west and the Republican, Smoky Hill and Kansas rivers to the south.

Altogether 233 plant species from 178 genera and 59 families have been collected and preserved from Fort Riley in recent years. Fort Riley habitat supports at least 43 species of mammals, 223 species of birds, 40 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 50 species of fish. Among these are the largest free-ranging elk herd in Kansas , four Federally-listed and eight Kansas-listed threatened or endangered species, and 23 other species considered by Kansas to be Species of Greatest Conservation Need.

The American Bird Conservancy designated Fort Riley as "A Globally Important Bird Area" in 2001 in recognition of the installation's value to the conservation of birds and their habitats. Fort Riley was recognized as being the best site for Henslow's Sparrows in Kansas and one of the very best sites in the world, as some years over 2,000 Henslow's Sparrows may be found breeding on the installation. The fort also contains a complete suite of tallgrass prairie birds including the Greater Prairie-Chicken, Upland Sandpiper, Grasshopper Sparrow and Dickcissel.

The American Bird Conservancy's Important Bird Areas (IBA) program is founded on the premise that some places are exceptionally important-even essential-for bird conservation. Identifying these sites and directing protection and management efforts towards them is crucial if viable populations of many species are to survive. From the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge to the Everglades National Park in Florida , IBA sites embody the ongoing effort to conserve wild birds and their habitats throughout the nation, and the importance of preserving America 's avian heritage for future generations. 

Facts about the KLT ACUB and FRPP Projects

• Participation is entirely voluntary.
• The Program provides compensation for the purchase of a conservation easements and income tax benefits to participating landowners.
• KLT will identify landowners willing to sell conservation easements on their land.
• Landowners can sign a conservation easement agreement with KLT that will restrict development permanently.
• The landowners will still own and use the land, but will give up the right to ever develop it.
• Ownership remains entirely private; no public use or access is required.
• KLT will work with landowners to arrange a visit of the land once a year to complete a report that your land remains in agricultural or ranching use.
• The Army's Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) program and the NRCS Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) provide funding for these projects.
• An appraiser will determine the "value" of the conservation easement.
• KLT will give the owner a one-time payment for the purchase of the conservation easement.
• The conservation easements are permanent, irrevocable.
• Landowners who sell a conservation easement can sell or freely transfer the land after the conservation easement. The restrictions run with the land; future landowners will take the land subject to the restrictions.

Future meetings
KLT will be scheduling visits to meet with landowners who have expressed an interest in these programs. We are very interested in meeting you and answering all of your questions.