The Great Plains Grassland Initiative Protects Kansas Grasslands
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Defending Kansas’ intact grasslands from the threat of woody plant encroachment is the mission of the Great Plains Grassland Initiative (GPGI), a multi-agency initiative offering technical and financial assistance through the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The program is part of the USDA NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife framework, which is called to conserve the remaining grassland regions in the Great Plains biome. The Flint Hills, Gypsum Hills and Smoky Hills regions of Kansas are the targeted areas.
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Healthy, resilient grasslands are extremely valuable to Kansas farmers and ranchers because they supply forage to the state’s top agriculture output sector, beef cattle ranching and farming. Grasslands are also critical for hosting wildlife, supporting recreation, sustaining biodiversity, and providing critical services like water and carbon storage for public benefit.
First launched in 2021, the GPGI is a public-private partnership between ranchers, landowners and the USDA NRCS. The rancher-driven, science-informed and agency-supported effort has resulted in more than 136,000 acres enrolled with the goal of increasing acreage through a formulated plan.
Great Plains Grassland Initiative
“There is a long list of wins for the grasslands project,” explains Doug Spencer, Kansas NRCS state grazing specialist. “Grasslands are often underappreciated, but they’re a vital part of our ecosystem. We have so little grassland left due to many threats, and the Great Plains Grassland Initiative is in place so they don’t disappear.”
Research shows that a mature, seed-producing cedar tree in an encroachment area has a primary seed dispersal area of 200 yards, or a 26-acre zone of influence. With 1.5 million seeds on a mature cedar tree, for example, the spatial presence of just a few trees adds enormous risk to hundreds of acres.
Fire is an ecological driver, and implementing prescribed burns on Kansas grasslands is a large part of the GPGI strategy.
See more: How Prescribed Fires Help Manage Land
“We know prescribed fires work because the Flint Hills still contain intact areas,” says Daniel Mushrush, owner of Mushrush Ranches. “We have a culture in Chase County of working together, and we know that the risk of woody encroachment doesn’t stop at a property line. If my neighbor has trees on their grasslands, I’m at a higher risk of getting trees too. Just like we approach our fires, managing trees at scales beyond fence lines is a big deal because they threaten grasslands at a landscape scale, not just a pasture scale.”
With help from GPGI, Kansas can better defend against woody encroachment and prevent losses in grassland presence and productivity that ranchers, livestock, wildlife and communities depend upon.
Learn more about the initiative by visiting nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/conservation-by-state/kansas/ks-great-plains-grassland-initiative.