Establishing Kansas’ Data Acquisition, Management, and Assessment Capacity
Summary
For over 100 years the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) has strived to conserve and enhance Kansas’ natural resources via habitat and population surveys/assessments, funding of applied management research, and the coordination and implementation of various habitat conservation programs on public and private land. KDWP has collected and/or funded the collection of wildlife population and wildlife habitat data for several decades. However, due to the advances in analytical modeling techniques and their requirements for spatially explicit data, much of the information collected over the past 100 years has limited usefulness with respect to current technology. In 2006 KDWP used State Wildlife Grant funds for the development [...]
Summary
For over 100 years the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) has strived to conserve and enhance Kansas’ natural resources via habitat and population surveys/assessments, funding of applied management research, and the coordination and implementation of various habitat conservation programs on public and private land. KDWP has collected and/or funded the collection of wildlife population and wildlife habitat data for several decades. However, due to the advances in analytical modeling techniques and their requirements for spatially explicit data, much of the information collected over the past 100 years has limited usefulness with respect to current technology.
In 2006 KDWP used State Wildlife Grant funds for the development of the Kansas Aquatic GAP fish and mussel species distribution model. More recently we have developed an agreement with the USGS Fort Collins Science Center for the development of additional species distribution models, including a range wide lesser prairie chicken model funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Western Governors Association. As a result of these successful efforts and the continuous need to assess existing and future issues (water use demand, climate change, and energy development’s impact on wildlife resources), KDWP plans to evaluate all existing species occurrence data for resolution limitations and also enhance the data by means of directed surveys for priority species and associated habitats. This endeavor will allow us to use several analytical spatial distribution models to plan and facilitate responsible energy development, priority conservation program initiatives, and assessment of wildlife habitat impacts as a result of climate change.
We propose to hire a fulltime Habitat Conservation Ecologist that will be responsible for the organization, management, and coordination of spatial and certain non-spatial data related to wildlife and habitat conditions throughout the state. This position will provide KDWP the capacity to gather and manage scientific data for ongoing efforts such as the revision and prioritization of Kansas’ State Wildlife Plan, integration of state efforts with those of the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC) and surrounding states, as well as bolster species information needed to complete ongoing modeling efforts.
