Lesser Prairie Chicken. Photo courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Thanks to two local electric co-ops, 34,000 acres of irrigated cropland in southwestern Kansas will soon be restored to original sand sage prairie, sporting native grasses and hosting bird species like lesser prairie chickens, northern bobwhites, loggerhead shrikes, and Cassin’s sparrows.

The conservation effort was launched when Hays-based Sunflower Electric Power Corporation, a generation and transmission co-op, needed a supply of water to operate two new 700-MW coal-fired units at its 360-MW Holcomb Station. To assist, Wheatland Electric Cooperative, a distribution system in Scott City and Sunflower Electric Power member, agreed to buy the land along with water rights underneath. The water will eventually be pumped to the power plant, located about seven miles away.

The first step in the reclamation process will be establishing native grasses on the plowed acreage so topsoil doesn’t blow away.

“We’ve set a three-year program to get a cover crop planted and then come back in and seed a native grass mixture recommended by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service,” relates Lynn Freese, Wheatland Electric director of member services. “After the grasses get growing, water can be used for the power plant.”

Because the co-op land lies next door to an already preserved 20,000-acre tract, the total area will greatly improve wildlife habitat in Finney and Kearny counties, the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks stresses.

Reprinted with permission from the September 2007 issue of Rural Electric Magazine © National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.