Oklahoma Wildlife & Prairie Heritage Alliance

Photo Contest
Photos are to be entered between July 1 and August 10, not before nor after.
They will be showcased at Washita National Historic Battlefield (WNHB) in Cheyenne.
To enter applicants must submit a matted photo, digital image, and the entry form.
More details can be found by clicking on "Photo Contest" on the navigation bar above.

Prizes include ribbons for 1st & 2nd Place and a full set of bird biz cards from all 13 loops.
Winning photos will be displayed in a separate booth at Wildlife Expo 2010.

Bird Business Cards
Two more sets of biz cards have been purchased (Bats & Bluffs Loop-Lesser Prairie Chicken and Sand Hills Loop-Cassin Sparrow sponsored by Woodward Tourism & Convention Bureau). This makes 4 loops covered (Great Salt Plains Loop & South Canadian Loop were done for Wildlife Expo 08).

These collectible cards showcase Icon Species for the various loops of the Great Plains Trail. The front of the cards feature a photo of the bird. While the back has information such as size and a short description of the bird; what it eats and when it can be found in Oklahoma. These cards will be handed out at Wildlife Expo and other OWPHA / GPT trail events.

Click here to see the Bird Biz cards

Fence Marking - Lesser Prairie Chicken
OWPHA knows the number one killer of the adult Lesser Prairie Chicken (LPC) is fences. At the Lesser Prairie Chicken - Ranch Conservation III, OWPHA agreed to do fence marking to help lessen the number of LPC killed. Following that meeting, Sutton Avian said if OWPHA would make contact with the producer to get permission to come onto the land to put on the fence markers, Sutton would pay for the materials and would do the physical work of attaching the markers to the fence so long as they have the funds.

The markers are white and made of something like PVC pipe. They are about 2 inches by 3 inches and clamp onto the wire. The research shows two wires need to have markers and there needs to be about 3 markers between each fence post. Whether you do or do not have LPC on your property is immaterial. All fences need to be marked, whether exterior fences or cross fences. Our goal is not to do anything that might identify which property does have LPC or leks.

OWPHA wants to be sure that the producer cannot be held liable if one of Sutton's employees might get hurt, hence the agreement releasing the producer of all liability, no matter in what manner the employee might be injured.

OWPHA Chair,Pauline Fahle, has picked up 2 signed contract agreements from the office in Buffalo. She has sent these to Don Wolfe. These people have signed allowing fence markings on their fences to protect the prairie chicken.

Wildlife Expo
September 24-26, 2010

Friday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sunday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
OWPHA will again be staffing an informational booth at the Wildlife Expo at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie.
The Alliance will be featuring it's Great Plains Safari Scavenger Hunt and Prizes will be awarded.
OWPHA may still have a few of the first printing of the Great Plains Trail map available...
Ask for one of these collectibles before they are gone for good!
The second printing of the GPT map is complete

Burn Meetings
"Learning How to Use Fire Safely" a landowner workshop was held April 4th, 2008 at the South Canadian Neighbors Community Building, Camargo, OK

On November 13, 2007 also at the South Canadian Neighbors Community Center in Camargo, Oklahoma OWPHA cohosted a Burn meeting with the Nature Conservancy. This fall meeting had classroom sessions and was followed by the above "Field Day".

OWPHA and the Nature Conservancy were assisted by resource personnel from:
ODWC - Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
OSU - Oklahoma State University
ODAF&F
NRCS
USFS
Black Kettle Nat. Grasslands
OCES Ellis Co

Click here to go to the Agenda for the Burn meeting

The Great Plains Trail of Oklahoma
OWPHA has had the GPT map reprinted

The Great Plains Trail of Oklahoma is a series of 13 driving loops, each full of nature tourism opportunities and rich in historical and cultural heritage that tells the story of the American Great Plains. From prairie chickens to horny toads, scissor-tail flycatchers to elk, the public and private lands of western Oklahoma are home to a diversity of unique and interesting wildlife species. The Great Plains Trail of Oklahoma showcases the small-town hospitality and rich cultural and environmental heritage of the region.

The trail is a highway-based, wildlife viewing trail that spans the entire western portion of the state while attracting visitors to wildlife destinations within the states of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. From its strong Native American heritage to its natural icons like the Wichita Mountains, Black Kettle National Grasslands, the Black Mesa, Little Sahara, Alabaster Caverns and The Great Salt Plains, western Oklahoma exhibits a sense of American history that has all but vanished elsewhere in the country. (Visit the Great Plains Trail section for more detailed information).

High Plains Rolling Museum: Recycling on Wheels
A 5-ton 6x6 former army vehicle has been converted into an education/outreach on wheels. The Rolling Museum showcases the prairie ecosystems that make the High Plains and the unique wildlife that inhabit them. It is used as a traveling education and outreach tool to reach schools, youth groups, landowner events and the general public.

Email owpha@pldi.net and ask about having the Museum roll in to your event!
(Charge: fuel costs round trip to your event)

Playa Lakes
The hot June breeze waves across the ripened field of wheat. Harvest time is here and a John Deere combine creeps through the bumper wheat crop. As the reel pushes the standing wheat into the header, all comes to a sudden stand still and the combine is quickly reversed. Water is standing in the field.

Spring rains yield bumper crops, but excess water is left standing in low farmland areas. This has been the battle of many farmers in the high plains region. They are fighting against the natural playas and wetlands that are being farmed. The same is true for a handful of Beaver County farmers in the Oklahoma panhandle. “I’ve farmed that bottom for 30 years and can count on one hand the number of years it was productive” says one landowner. “During one wet summer I was able to take the boat out and ski,” says another. “And as a kid I can remember when wildlife and waterfowl would flourish in that Playa”. T his area’s unique nature includes a big basin and several individual playas, all of which work together in the cycle of hydrology and wildlife.

Playa Lakes are shallow, usually round, wetlands with a clay floor that lie in the lowest point which is a generally large, closed watershed and collects rainfall and associated runoff from surrounding uplands. They are vital to recharging the Ogallala Aquifer. Since about 99 percent of playa lakes are located on private land, this information is crucial for farmers, ranchers and natural resource managers who desire to conserve water and maintain agricultural economies of the region.

Conservation practices used to protect playa lakes include establishing native grass buffers around perimeters to filter out soil and agricultural contaminants present in the runoff and filling in man-made pits so water can reach the entire basin and all recharge pores. In rangelands, playas can be fenced off to prevent excess trampling or denuding of vegetation by livestock. Several programs are available to private landowners wanting to protect playa lakes.

The above mentioned landowners near Gate, Oklahoma are working together to do just that. They are restoring important lands in favor of waterfowl, shorebird, numerous other wildlife as well as adding water recharge back into the Ogallala Aquifer. These actions are totally opposite from farming, but hold the satisfaction that future generations will be able to enjoy the same experiences of nature's unique features.

Oklahoma High Plains Outreach Effort
Another major project which is ongoing for the OWPHA is the Oklahoma High Plains Outreach Effort. This project involves a great deal of communication and time on the part of Cody Darbonne and other board members and friends. The objective of this project is to increase the knowledge and awareness of species of special concern within the short and mix-grass prairies of Western Oklahoma. Also, this effort seeks to gain the public trust in the mission of OWPHA, while also enlisting the support of and participation in management strategies which are relevant to these species.

Informational meetings are continually held throughout the region, and material and information is presented about such stewardship programs as the Environmental Quality Improvement Program (EQIP), which is an incentive based program designed to improve the current operations of participating landowners; and the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP), which is a program to aid in habitat improvements for participating landowners. Both of these programs are available through USDA’s NRCS offices.