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Across the Fence by Bill Rinehart Docent Reorientation 2001 |
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Preserve Director, Harvey Payne, reiterated that the docent program really began in 1993 with the Bison Release that occurred on October 18 of that year. He said a number of volunteers came together to make that production, which was literally broadcast around the world, the success that it was. The Conservancy didn't want to lose such a great cadre of volunteers and that's really what started the docent program which with the preserve project itself have succeeded far beyond anyone's expectations. Payne said the real benefit docents impart to the program is the interaction they have with visitors who come to the prairie. He said docents provide the only real contact visitors have with the preserve through a live, breathing person and that for visitors to be able to interact with docents, and the special talents each one provides, is a marvelous thing which helps make this project so successful. He emphasized how important it is to tell visitors that the only reason The Nature Conservancy owns and operates the preserve is to satisfy its conservation mission. Another development that has elevated the presence of docents is the Prairie Road Crew under the direction of docent Dick Baker. Several times during the year Baker convenes a group to collect trash along the county roads that pass through the preserve. Payne said that if a visitor sees a bunch of trash along the way they will think this place is terrible. The efforts of the Prairie Road Crew help keep that from happening. Bob Hamilton, director of science/stewardship, said TNC has eight bison operations throughout the Great Plains and the bison on the local preserve continue to prosper. The current over-wintering herd numbers 1204 animals which means the preserve is about half-way toward reaching its over-wintering target herd size of 2,200 head. That should be reached in about five more years. He said 299 calves were identified at Roundup 2000, representing last year's calf crop, and they expect about 400 calves will be identified at Roundup 2001 this coming fall. Hamilton said the bison herd currently occupies roughly 10,400 acres of the preserve as their year-round unit. The big project starting this spring and carrying through the summer is getting ready for the next big acreage increase to the bison unit. Some 3,900 acres of the present cattle pasture will be incorporated into the bison unit raising it to some 14,300 acres. This should occur following Roundup 2001. Future increases in the bison unit will come in 3,000-4,000 acre chunks each year to keep pace with herd growth. The year-round bison unit eventually will be about 30,000 acres plus approximately 2,500 acres that will be fall only (roundup time) pastures. The Conservancy has a general operating philosophy in terms of the bison where we want them to be as natural as possible in the prairie landscape. Hamilton said they also want the herd to be as low maintenance as possible. He reminded everyone that The Nature Conservancy is not in the bison ranching business, we're in the natural heritage business and bison are part of that. The reason the bison and other species are being put on the prairie by TNC is to try to restore the functioning prairie ecosystems and grazers are historically a big part of the Great Plains system. Bison are what get a lot of attention, especially from visitors, but the thing docents should try to impart, Hamilton said, is the ecosystem approach to restoring the prairie to what it was when the factors that that shaped it originally were fire, bison, and the climate. He said that bison are not an endangered species and today there are about 250,000-300,000 bison in the U.S., so they're fairly secure now as a species. The general approach at the preserve is that the herd doesn't get any energy or protein supplement throughout the year. The only thing they are provided artificially is 10-11 mineral sources (boxes) off the main road, which aren't readily visible to the casual observer. The mineral is a combination of salt and trace minerals. The reason for doing this is just in case something is missing in their landscape and they can't roam over millions of acres like they used to. They are a confined herd and if they are missing some trace minerals, it could cause some health or reproductive problems. A number of research projects on the preserve are just starting with OSU. One of the practices that has intrigued the folks at OSU is what's going on with the preserve's fire/burning/bison dynamics. The preserve's basic hypothesis is to create as much diversity on the prairie as possible. One of the concerns in the Flint Hills is that the vast majority of the approximately 4 million-acre block of tallgrass is burned each year. Prairie nesting birds there like the Greater Prairie Chicken and Henslow's Sparrow that require some residual cover on the prairie to survive are having a tough time doing just that. Researchers at OSU are thinking that kind of land management may be responsible for the gradual decrease in the population of grassland birds on the Flint Hills. They are looking into the effects of the patchwork burning regime used on the preserve as it relates to improving plant and insect diversity as well as increasing prairie nesting bird populations. Hamilton closed his portion of the reorientation training session by saying there are a number of projects sponsored by the University of Tulsa that concern the bio-remediation of land from salt water and oil spills. One specific project made possible by a $100,000 grant from BP Amoco involves looking at different bio-remediation techniques as well as various amendments to those techniques as they apply to a particular brine scar in the NW corner of the preserve. The new Web site for the Oklahoma Chapter of The Nature Conservancy is up and running thanks to docent Jerry Wagener. It may be accessed at the following address: http://nature.org/oklahoma |