<+>=<+>KOLA Newslist<+>=<+>
 

[article provided by Pat Morris. Thanks!]

Mon, 28 Feb 2000
Great Plains
Kansas Refuge is home where buffalo, and others, roam
By Roxana Hegeman - The Associated Press

MAXWELL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Kan. - A chill wind sways the rolling landscape of
native grasses blanketing this prairie at the edge of the Smokey Hills. A herd
of some 60 elk warily wanders out of a thicket of willow and cottonwood trees.
Not far away, a woolly group of nearly 230 bison loiters among the hills. A
young calf runs effortlessly among its lumbering elders, through tall stands
of bluestem, Indian grass and switchgrass.

This was Kansas before the white man came.

For a moment, you can almost forget the 8-foot-high, woven-wire fence you
passed a few miles back. Or the sign proclaiming your arrival at the Maxwell
Wildlife Refuge.

The keeper of this place would probably like you to forget those little
details. Refuge manager Cliff Peterson has spent the past 15 years of his life
working here so visitors can experience the state's natural history.

"The idea is for people to be able to come out and see nature," he says. "They
get a chance to see what Kansas looked like before white settlement."

About 45,000 people a year come to this 2,250-acre refuge, located six miles
north of Canton in south-central Kansas. In the past six years, people from 39
states and 30 foreign countries have come to gaze at one of the last remaining
herds of wild bison still roaming the nation's heartland.

"They are overwhelmed with the wide open spaces and the beauty of the prairie
and the buffalo," says tour guide Della Meier. "A lot of people have never
seen buffalo before, especially the foreign visitors."

At one time, between 60 million and 75 million elk roamed North America. And
elk thrived in Kansas. But by the 1900s, their populations were decimated as
farmers plowed up the prairie and new settlers hunted the native animals.

"Both had to be brought back to Kansas because they were completely shot out,"
Peterson says.

This enclave has survived, thanks to the generosity of Henry Irving Maxwell, a
McPherson businessman. His estate purchased land to create a wildlife refuge,
then in 1944 deeded 2,560 acres to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and
Parks.

In addition to the acres set aside for the refuge, the state also built a
46-acre McPherson State Fishing Lake and set aside 260 acres for a campground
around it.

But it's the return of the once-lost herds of elk and bison that gives Maxwell
Wildlife Refuge its unique character, and makes it one of only two refuges in
Kansas with free-roaming herds. The other refuge is near Garden City.

At the Maxwell site, the refuge's lone overseer has the support of about 600
volunteers, who call themselves the Friends of Maxwell. It is this group that
gives the tours.

"We feel it is important to share the prairie with other people and to educate
visitors about the prairie and animals that live here," Meier says.

The bison which now roam Maxwell came from seven bison cows and three bulls
the state obtained in 1951 from the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge
in Oklahoma. Elk were also introduced in Maxwell the same year.

So many bison now are born at the two refuges annually, the state has been
auctioning them off for the past 22 years.

Last November, 92 animals were sold. The average price was $800 per head, with
the highest price of $1,900 paid for a heifer calf and the lowest of $250 paid
for a bull calf. Most of the buyers are ranchers building or starting their
own commercial bison herds, Peterson says.

The number of bison are controlled on the refuge so that they do not overgraze
the range. The herd is also managed to cut back on the number of bulls and
aging animals, Peterson says. That cuts down on fighting among the bulls, and
maintains a young, healthy herd.

Visitors can often see the herds from a county road that meanders through
parts of the refuge, or they can climb a lofty observation tower to view the
vast expanse of prairie any time of the year.

But one of the best ways to see the animals is by riding the tram. A volunteer
group provides a seasonal tram service, allowing visitors to safely get close
to the wild animals.

-------------------
IF YOU GO - Regular weekend tours begin on Memorial Day and continue through
October, with weekend rides costing $7 for adults and $5 for children under
age 12. Special group tours can also be arranged anytime of the year by
reservation at (316) 628-4455.
<http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsliving/275ld1.htm>

<+>=<+>
Information Pages: http://users.skynet.be/kola/index.htm
Online Petition: http://kola-hq.hypermart.net
Greeting Cards: http://users.skynet.be/kola/cards.htm
<+>=<+>
if you want to be removed from the KOLA
Email Newslist, just send us a message with
"unsub" in the subject or text body
<+>=<+>