NPT's CFC # 2358

Spring 2000  (On-line Edition)

In this issue:

• National Park Trust Forms Citizen Board to Oversee the Preserve.
• Draft General Management Plan Available for Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
• Chinese Delegation Tour the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
• National Park Trust Hosts Famed Conservationist & Author, Dr. Michael Frome
• Did You Know?
• Rock and Walk on the Tallgrass Prairie
• Holiday Decorating and Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon.
• New Items for the Z Bar Bookstore
  

National Park Trust Forms Citizen Board to Oversee the Preserve

The National Park Trust (NPT) announced the establishment of a subsidiary not-for-profit corporation in Kansas. The new corporation, National Park Trust of Kansas, Inc., (NPT-KS) was formed to assist the National Park Service (NPS) in the improvement, management, operation, administration, preservation and protection of the Preserve.

In addition to overseeing the day-to-day management of the Preserve, NPT-KS will assist with the eventual transfer of management responsibilities to the NPS, implementation of the General Management Plan and carrying out the intent of the enabling legislation passed in 1994.

Stephen C. Miller, Chairman of the NPT Board of Trustees, from Palm Beach, Florida, described the new board as, "an outstanding array of dedication and knowledge. They have shown their commitment to all Americans in their concern for the Preserve. We are honored that they have agreed to continue to watch over this unique national park endeavor."

A Board of Trustees, chaired by Paul Duffendack, will govern NPT-KS. Many of the initial Trustees that have been selected also serve and or served on NPT's

National board, the Secretary of the Interior's Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Advisory Committee, the former Z Bar/Spring Hill Ranch Interim Management Committee and/or the Kassebaum Commission. Each has demonstrated a long dedication to the prairie and the Preserve.

"We look forward to working, in partnership,
 with this new corporation and its board members
for the future benefit of the Preserve."

- Steve Miller, Superintendent,
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Members of the new NPT-KS board are:

Iralee Barnard, curator of the Herbarium with the Division of Biology at Kansas State University.

Dr. Bill Browning of Madison, Kansas, physician and rancher.

Paul Duffendack, architect with HNTB in Kansas City. Paul also is Vice Chairman of NPT’s National Board, Chairman of NPT-KS and serves on the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Advisory Committee.

Lee Fowler, Fifth Judicial District Judge for the State of Kansas and Chairman of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Advisory Committee.

Jim Hoy, Professor of English at Emporia State University and well-known author and historian.

Bob Lagomarsino, former member of the United States House of Representatives from 1972 until 1995. He was the ranking member of the National Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee for more than 10 years and currently serves on the NPT Board of Trustees.

Shirley Ann McCullough, conservationist, preservationist and a member of the NPT Board of Trustees.

Paul Pritchard, founder and President of the National Park Trust. He has received the Secretary of the Interior’s Award for Meritorious Service. He represents NPT on the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Advisory Committee.

Barbara Zurhellen, previously Director of Interpretation for the former Z Bar/Spring Hill Ranch, appointed as the Preserve Director by the National Park Trust in 1996 when the Ranch became a unit of the National Park System.

Back to Top

Draft General Management Plan Available for Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

The draft General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (GMP/EIS) for Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve has been out for public review and comment. The GMP sets the management direction and provides a framework for decision making at the Preserve for the next 10-15 years. Site specific details are left to future implementation planning. The EIS is a programmatic statement, presenting an overview of potential impacts relating to the proposed program for each of the alternatives stated in the GMP.

It is a policy of the National Park Service (NPS) that each park unit maintains a general management plan. The reason for the plan is to ensure that each park unit has a clearly defined direction for resource preservation and visitor use.

The National Park Service accepted public comment until January 25, 2000. During the public comment period, open houses were held. In the weeks, following January 25, the NPS planning team will review all public comments received. The team will assess the comments and decide what, if any, changes need to be made to the GMP/EIS before the document is finalized.

When the changes, if any, have been made the revised GMP/EIS will go through an internal review by the National Park Service. Once the document has received internal approval, it will be released to the public. Anyone who has made substantive comments on the draft GMP/EIS will automatically receive a copy of the final document.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will publish a notice in the Federal register announcing that the final GMP/EIS is available. The NPS cannot make a decision on the GMP/EIS until 30 days after publication of the EPA's notice. These 30 days are not a review period in the strictest sense of the term.

Upon conclusion of the 30-day no action period, the NPS will prepare a Record of Decision (ROD). The Midwest Regional Director will approve or disapprove the plan. Should he approve the plan, NPS may begin implementation of the GMP.

The National Park Trust web page, www.parktrust.org , has a link to the National Park Service Planning Team’s web page where the GMP/EIS can be viewed.

The Preserve hosted the Kansas State Historical Society and Kansas Anthropological Association's twenty-second annual Kansas Archeology Training Program (KATP) in June of this past year. The program typically involves an excavation and/or surveys of one or more sites and a field laboratory. This was the first program that was dedicated strictly to work in the laboratory. No excavation occurred at the Preserve.

A Historic Buildings Research class was held at the Ranch Headquarters of the Preserve. During this class, the students surveyed the building at the historic Ranch Headquarters Area. The programs laboratory and formal classes were held at the Chase County Middle School in Strong City. Participants in the program were given an after hours tour of the Ranch Headquarters Area as well as an evening bus tour of the Preserve. During the week, the group also toured the historic communities of Cottonwood Falls and Strong City.

Programs held during the KATP included lectures on a number of topics. Dr. Donald J. Blakeslee of Wichita State University spoke on the sacred sites of the Great Plains. Dr. Ron McCoy of Emporia State University gave a lecture on the Plains Indian warrior art. Ron is familiar to those who took part in last year’s Preserve Staff and Volunteer training class. He spoke on the American Indian tribes that lived in the area of the Preserve.

The KATP also held a collector's night at the Chase County Middle School. People were encouraged to bring their artifacts for identification by the staff archeologists.

Back to Top

Chinese Delegation Tour the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

NPT hosted a delegation of park officials from the People’s Republic of China in October. The officials took a 14-day, six-city tour of the United States. Cities that the delegation toured included Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Washington DC, Boston, and Seattle. While they were in the U.S., the group toured several national parks and national historical sights.

The delegation was in the U.S. to observe and study how America's national parks are managed and operated. While in Kansas City, the delegation toured HNTB Architects, Engineers & Planners where Vice Chairman of the National Park Trust, Paul Duffendack, is a Project Manager. Paul then accompanied the delegation to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve along with his wife Jan and son Johnathan.

While at the Preserve the Delegation was treated to a guided walk through the prairie on the Southwind Nature Trail. The group then received a tour of the historic Ranch Headquarters Area from NPT tour guide Dan Riggs. Later in the evening, the delegation enjoyed a hardy Kansas barbecue dinner. After the barbecue, the group settled in for a night of old time cowboy songs and stories from new NPT-KS board member Jim Hoy, a well-known author and historian of the life and times of the cowboys of Kansas. Later in the week, the Chinese officials took part in an on-line chat on NPT's Park Forum on America Online.

Back to Top

National Park Trust Hosts Famed Conservationist Author, Dr. Michael Frome

Famed conservationist and writer Michael Frome visited the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in August. Frome was a former reporter at the Washington Post and featured columnist in such publications as Field & Stream, Los Angeles Times, American Forests and Defenders of Wildlife.

Frome has also written sixteen books, including Battle for the Wilderness, Regreening the National Parks, Chronicling the West Strangers in High Places and his latest, Green Ink-An Introduction to Environmental Journalism.

After years as a journalist, Frome began a new career in higher education teaching at the Universities of Idaho and Vermont, Northland College and Western Washington University.

"Frome is one of the finest environmental writers
in the nation – courageous and accurate, widely respected for
his integrity. Mike tells it ‘like it is,’ not necessarily like
we’d like to think it is."

Walter J. Hickel
Former Secretary of the Interior

Frome has received such awards as the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Award, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award, and the 1980 award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors for best magazine article of the year.

Michael Frome is one of the early grassroots supporters of the establishment of a Tallgrass Prairie unit in the National Park System. Michael Frome is also a long time friend of National Park Trust President Paul Pritchard.

On the first day of his three-day tour of the Preserve and Kansas, Frome toured the historic Preserve headquarters area as well as the Flint Hills on the Prairie Drifter, a restored 1950's Ford wheat truck. On his second day, Frome was taken on a backcountry tour of the Preserve by Preserve Director Barbara Zurhellen, as well as a tour of Maxwell Wildlife Preserve. On the last day of his visit, Frome and Barbara met with the Director of Konza Prairie Research Natural Area Dr. David Hartnett, and toured the facility. Later that day they visited the new Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University with Museum Director Bill North, artist Patricia Duncan and her husband Herb.

Back to Top

Did you Know?

• 205-290 million years ago Kansas was the bed of a vast shallow sea known as the Permian Sea
• Tallgrass prairie once was the continent’s largest continuous ecosystem. Today only 1-3% of the tallgrass prairie remains
• The roots of some prairie grasses grow 10-12 feet deep into the soil
• The Spring Hill Ranch had a large orchard that contained: 201 apple trees, 60 peach trees, 106 plum trees, 31 cherry trees, and 8 pear trees
• The National Park Trust is the only private owner of a unit in the National Park Service
• The 10,894-acre Z Bar/Spring Hill Ranch was named a National Historical Landmark in June of 1997
• The Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse located on the Preserve operated from 1884 until 1930
• Chase County where the Preserve is located, was named after Salmon P. Chase, who was Secretary of the Treasury under President Lincoln
• NPT has been involved with over 100 projects and completed nearly 35 throughout the U.S.

Back to Top

Rock and Walk on the Tallgrass Prairie

The National Park Trust, National Park Service, Wichita Skywalkers Volkssports Club and the Kansas Geological Survey sponsored an Earth Science Week Celebration at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve on Saturday, October 16, 1999. Earth Science Week is an annual nationwide celebration of the earth sciences, dedicated to helping raise awareness and understanding of geology and the earth sciences. The day's festivities included 6K & 10K (3 ½ & 6 mile) volkswalks (fun walks), talks by Liz Brosius, Rex Buchanan and Jim McCauley, geologists with the Kansas Geological Survey, and exhibits/displays. The walk took the gravel roads and dirt trails through the beautiful Flint Hills near the historic Ranch Headquarters Area of the Preserve.

Earth Science Week was established in 1998. Activities during Earth Science Week take place in every state as well as in Australia, Canada, Germany and India. Earth Science Week gives students and adults new opportunities to discover the earth sciences, publicizes the message that earth science is all around us and encourages stewardship of the earth through an understanding of earth processes.

The Wichita Skywalkers Volkssports Club is an organization that encourages non-competitive walking, biking, swimming and other sports that offer families and individuals friendship, fun, fitness and fellowship as they participate in organized events at their own pace. Volkssports promote family togetherness, enjoyment of the outdoors and positive sense of accomplishment. This was the second year that the Wichita Skywalkers have sponsored a volkswalk at the Preserve. This year’s volkswalk at the Preserve will be on November 11, 2000.

NPT-KS National Park Trust Rt. 1 Box 14 Strong City, KS 66869 Phone: (316) 273-8139 Fax: (316) 273-8247	NPS Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Post Office Box 585 Cottonwood Falls, KS, 66845 Phone: (316) 273-6034 Fax: (316) 273-8659
KGS Robert Sawin 1930 Constant Avenue Lawrence, KS 66047 Phone: (785) 864-3965 Fax: (785) 864-5317	Wichita Skywalkers John Wickham 1101 Briarwood Rd Derby, KS 67037 Phone: (316) 788-6406 E-mail: Jhwickham@juno.com

Back to Top

Holiday Decorating and Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon

The fifth annual holiday decorating and second annual Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve volunteer appreciation luncheon was held on Saturday, November 20, 1999. The historic 1881-limestone mansion was once again trimmed for an old fashioned prairie Christmas. With the hard work of our volunteers and staff, the mansion and its outbuildings were transformed into an 1880's Victorian prairie holiday. During the afternoon, the National Park Trust and the National Park Service held a volunteer appreciation luncheon. At the luncheon, certificates of appreciation were given to the volunteers in recognition of their hard work, dedication and service to the Preserve.

Special awards were given to Edward & Julia Hobbs of Wichita. The Hobbs not only donated the Vaughn-Hill-Hobbs collection of period 1880's furniture and household goods, they have also done extensive research on the early owners of the Z Bar/Spring Hill Ranch. Their research has been invaluable to the Preserve's interpretation program.

A special award of appreciation was also given to Schoolhouse Volunteer Coordinator, Pat Sutton. Pat for the past two years, has organized volunteers to keep the Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse open on weekends during the summer. We, at the Preserve, are indebted to Pat for her dedication and passion in assisting the Preserve's interpretation program. If you are interested in helping out this summer, please contact the NPS Rangers at (316) 273-8494.

The following is a list of volunteers who not only gave of their time but also gave from the heart:

Andy Brooks Evelyn Davis Connie Essington Donald Essington Ann Havenhill Jack Havenhill Edward Hobbs Julia Hobbs Susan Koch Carolyn Kuhn John Kuhn Allison Lehm

Allison Lehmann Barbara MacGregor Al Meinert Rosie Meinert Nancy Myers-Rhoads Mary Peach Nancy Pollock Carrie Riggs Dan Riggs Virginia Roberts Elaine Shea Pat Sutton

Back to Top

New Items for the Z Bar Bookstore

The Z Bar Bookstore is proud to announce the arrival of our newest Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve poster! This poster, by photographer Yvonne O'Brien, features a beautiful view of spring grasses and wildflowers under a dusky sky. Posters retail for just $12.95 plus shipping and handling. Call Peg Bicker at (316) 273-8139/6202 or E-mail her at peg@parktrust.org for more information or to place an order. All profits from bookstore sales support Preserve operations.

We are currently raising funds to purchase a new computer system and Point of Sale software for the bookstore. This system will replace our current computer which is not Y2K compliant and reduce our administrative costs by tracking our sales and inventory electronically. Lower costs will enable the bookstore to contribute more money to the Preserve's operating expenses and allow NPT to continue providing great educational materials to the public at competitive prices. If you are interested in contributing to our computer fund, call (316) 273-8139 or send your contribution to the National Park Trust, Rt. 1, Box 14, Strong City, KS 66869. Your support will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The Z Bar Bookstore currently carries:

• Field Guides
• Books on the Prairie, American Indians, Pioneers and Cowboy Culture
• Educational Children’s Books
• Photographs
• Prints
• Post Cards
• American Indian Jewelry
• Posters
• Educational Toys
• Kansas Crafts
• Hats
• T-shirts

Weekday Hours:
11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Weekend Hours:
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Copyright 2000 National Park Trust
http://www.parktrust.org