Project Location Greenwood County - 5 miles northwest of Madison on the North Branch of the Verdigris River.

Project Description

• Fence 50 acres of quality oak woodland riparian habitat along the North branch of the Verdigris River.

• Build one new pond and repair an existing pond for use as alternative water sources.

• Install a solar-powered floating enclosure on one of the ponds to protect shoreline vegetation by limiting cattle access.

• Monitor water quality prior to fence construction and after the project is complete.

• Project completion is scheduled for spring 1999.

• This project was used in the recent Partners for Fish and Wildlife national video.

Funding Partners

National Cattlemen's Beef Association
American Sportfishing Association
Kansas Livestock Association
Kansas State Conservation Commission
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Butler County Community College
Landowners
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Wildlife

The Verdigris River proper and associated riparian buffer have the following Threatened and Endangered Species that will either directly or indirectly benefit by the project:

American burying beetle (endangered nationally)
Eastern spotted skunk (state threatened)
Common map turtle (state threatened)
Butterfly mussel (state threatened)
Fluted-shell (state threatened)
Quachita kidneyshell (state threatened)
Rabbitsfoot mussel (state endangered)
Western fanshell (state endangered)
Redspot chub (state threatened)

The following are non-game migratory birds that are Species of Concern on a national level which will benefit by this project, either through enhanced migrational or nesting habitat:

Yellow-billed cuckoo
Barn owl
Short-eared owl
Red-headed woodpecker
Northern flicker
Bewick's wren
Veary