The executive director of Audubon of Kansas likes Governor Sam Brownback’s call for improved federal conservation incentives for farmers to help increase the habitats for the lesser prairie chicken.
Ron Klataske said yesterday that increasing the amount of land enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program would help reverse a loss of habitat for the bird.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the lesser prairie chicken as threatened this spring because of its declining population numbers.
The Audubon of Kansas has been at odds with the Governor Brownback over his criticism of the listing.
The governor sent a letter to federal officials, calling on them to pursue enhanced incentives to encourage more farmers to enroll land in the conservation program.
In the program, the federal government pays farmers not to cultivate land.
Klataske says the program is a good idea.
