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Seeing the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie in a different light

September 14, 2011 by John L. Dengler

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I knew I wasn’t in Missouri anymore when I looked down at the feet of the two other men I was in line with me at the Pizza Hut in Council Grove, Kansas. Sure, all three of us had boots on. I had on what I thought until that moment were pretty manly backpacking boots. The other two gentlemen had me beat; dangling off their cowboy boots were spurs. Welcome to the world of real cowboys and cattle ranchers of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie.

Photo Gallery

Images from the tallgrass prairie

I returned to the Flint Hills region in June to see how the tallgrass prairie was regenerating itself. What was two months ago blackened scorched earth was now an ocean of prairie grasses swaying in the steady wind. Describing the prairie as ocean-like is probably an overused metaphor, but it is accurate. The never ending waves of blowing grass, reminds me of the ocean when sea kayaking in Alaska and Hawaii – an ocean that is always moving, never ending, as far as the eye can see.

The timing of my trip in early June was picked for what I believed would be maximum wildflower opportunities and to beat the hot weather of summer. Unfortunately, I was only right on one those points. On the day I arrived in the Flint Hills it was 104 degrees F. and would stay above 100 for most of the week I was there. It was a cooker. To keep expenses down I car camped at Council Grove Lake, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Neosho River. Camping at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is prohibited, though the preserve is open 24 hours (which, as you shall see, was important).

After only a quarter of a mile of hiking the next morning at the preserve that it was painfully clear that I was going to have to re-think my plans. The heat was just unbearable. Plans for carrying extra equipment to do HD video – scrapped. It’s enough that I carry 30-35 pounds worth of still camera equipment; there was no way I could carry more in the oppressive heat. Oh, and for those who haven’t ridden in my 1991 Honda Civic — I haven’t had working car air conditioning for 15 years.

When faced with an obstacle, I look for an opportunity. In this case, I decided if it was too hot during the day to shoot, how about shooting at night. That got me thinking about all kinds of possibilities — sunsets, twilight, and eventually star-filled skies. My days quickly became a split shift. I’d be up a little before sunrise to mine sunrise opportunities along the The Flint Hills National Scenic Byway (K-177). Head back for a nap and a swim at the lake, hike out on the prairie for several miles around sundown, then returning well after sunset. For part of the trip the moon didn’t set until after 2 a.m. This meant getting up again, every so quietly unlatching the giant squeaky swing gate of the now closed and sound asleep campground and driving the 25 miles or so to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve for shooting the Lower Fox Creek School under the stars.

Some nights afforded views of the stars, others not. There is relatively little light pollution from nearby cities (the only light coming from Emporia 25 miles away), making it possible to see deep into space and peer at the Milky Way. I found the starlight attempts tricky. The main trick is to get your exposure long enough to record as many of the starts without getting the movement. It’s a delicate balance between adjusting your shutter time and the ISO with your lens wide open.

The nights on the prairie were thankfully cool. On one late night/early morning, I swear every coyote in Chase County, must have been howling. What a hair-raising treat! I could just picture the coyotes and other nighttime critters wondering what this crazy person was doing out so late at night.

This was my routine for several days. Towards the end of my trip, the temperature forecast looked like it was going to be more reasonable so I decided to hike the relatively new Bottomland Trail and Fox Creek Trail (approximately 7 miles round trip) that traverses the lowland prairie along Fox Creek. One of my goals for the hike was to climb a high hill that would afford (or at least what I had hoped) a view of the historic Spring Creek mansion and it’s massive barn with a vista of the prairie in the background. Unfortunately, trees obscured most of the home, meaning I’ll need to attempt the shot in the early spring before the trees surrounding the home are leafed out.

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This wasn’t the only reason for hiking these trails. The area along Fox Creek encompasses rare lowland prairie — rare because most lowland prairies have been lost to farming. The National Park Service is in the process of restoring this lowland from crops and cool season grasses planted by farmers as hay to true (warm season) prairie grasses. The restoration will be a process could take decades — a process that will involve invasive plant removal, burning, and reseeding.

I look forward to the day when it’s fully restored. It’s hard to believe that less than four percent of the original 140 million acres of tallgrass prairie remains in North America. Most of the remaining tallgrass prairie is in the Flint Hills in Kansas.


ABOVE: Slideshows above require Adobe Flash.

To license image, click image. To see our collection of fine art prints, click here.

Fire – the life blood of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie

September 3, 2011 by John L. Dengler

Unidentified participants at the

What have I gotten myself into? I’m laying down flat on my back in my tent, not because I’m sleeping but because the tent is literally being flattened nearly to my face by the fierce wind as it blasts incessantly across the tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills of Kansas. I’ve been in high wind situations before, particularly in Alaska, but this time the wind felt different. It was enveloping, feeling like it was a living, breathing being. It was eerie being all alone with this wind creature as it howled through the night.

Photo Gallery

Images of prescribed burning of tallgrass prairie

I was in the Flint Hills to photograph the springtime burning of the prairie. Specifically, I was camped at the Flying W Ranch in Chase County Kansas at what was described as the center of action for the Flying W’s “Flames in the Flint Hills,” an agritourism event. Visitors to the ranch can participate in the prescribed burning of the prairie. That event was 24 hours away, and given the wind and heavy rain; I was having doubts about it actually taking place as I slowly fell asleep.

———

Cattle ranchers and land managers intentionally burn the prairie to mimic the natural wildfires caused by lightning strikes as a way to improve cattle forage. While the burning might appear on the surface to be destructive, fires cause the tallgrass prairie to regenerate itself. It serves as a way to manage vegetation, in particular weeds, woody vegetation, and invasive species while promoting new growth in the process. I was told that without this burning, the prairie would eventually end up looking like the forested hills of the Ozarks. That hasn’t happened in the Flint Hills. The soil in the Flint Hills is incredibly rocky and is the reason the land has never been turned into farmland for crops. That said, less than four percent of the original 140 million acres of tallgrass prairie remains in North America making it one of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet. Most of the remaining tallgrass prairie is in the Flint Hills in Kansas.

The prairie grassland is burned when the soil is moist but grasses are dry. This allows the deep roots of the grasses to survive and the burned grasses on the soil surface return as nutrients to the soil. These nutrients allow for the rapid growth of new grass. After approximately two weeks of burning, new grass emerges. The new grass is prized by cattle ranchers and their cattle; so rich in nutrients a steer can gain almost two pounds a day.

The controlled burning, or as some like to say prescribed burning, since any wildfire can’t be totally “controlled,” isn’t without controversy. Burning huge tracks of land creates huge plumes of smoke — smoke that can cause air quality problems in counties, and even states away. In particular, it is problematic for large cities like Kansas City and Wichita as the smoke adds to their already polluted air.

Another issue is that recent studies have shown that the intentional burning combined with widespread grazing has caused the populations of grassland birds to decrease substantially. Burning every spring eliminates the tallgrass that hides the nests of grassland birds, like the dickcissel, from egg-eating predators like raccoons.

For both issues, land managers are working with national and state government agencies to lessen the impact of burning. In the case of pollution, land mangers are burning pasture lands primarily in the spring, postponing other non-essential burning to other times of the year. To deal with the impact on wildlife, land managers and cattle ranchers are beginning to “patch burn” where one-third of their land is burned every year completing the cycle of burning all their land every three years. So far, the results appear to be promising.

The whole issue is a catch-22. If the prairie doesn’t burn (whether intentionally or naturally) the entire tallgrass prairie ecosystem will cease to exist.  The challenge appears to be getting the right balance in the frequency of burning.

———

Morning greeted me with clear blue skies and bright sunshine. Having oversleep and missed sunrise by only minutes, I quickly made my way out into the dusty unmarked back roads of Chase County. The blackened earth and the smell of smoke make obvious the recent burn. It was also obvious that the prairie was rejuvenating itself and new grass shoots were popping up from the scorched earth. The prairie has been reborn.

The wind and the sun quickly dried off the grass and the planned burn at the Flying W Ranch went off as planned. Eager participants formed long lines across the prairie to light the grass with matches, once during the day, and once in the evening.

In both cases, the fire quickly started, and would race down the hillsides eventually dying out. The evening burn with its red line of flames signifying the leading edge of the fire reminded me of scenes of flowing lava from the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. To ensure that the fire stayed contained in the areas designated for burning, strips of grass were pre-burned and extinguished so the fire would stop upon reaching these areas that no longer had combustible material.

That was comforting to know as I lay in my tent tucked in my sleeping bag, looking out on the hillside next to me as the fire continued to crackle and burn.


ABOVE: Unidentified participants at the “Flames in the Flint Hills” observe the burning prairie at the Flying W Ranch near Clements, Kansas. This agritourism event allows ranch guests to take part in lighting the prescribed burns. Prairie grasses in the Kansas Flint Hills are intentionally burned by land mangers and cattle ranchers in the spring to prepare the land for cattle grazing and help maintain a healthy tallgrass prairie ecosystem. The burning is also an effective way of controlling invasive plants and trees. The prairie grassland is burned when the soil is moist but grasses are dry. This allows the deep roots of the grasses to survive and the burned grasses on the soil surface return as nutrients to the soil. These nutrients allow for the rapid growth of new grass. After approximately two weeks of burning, new grass emerges. Less than four percent of the original 140 million acres of tallgrass prairie remains in North America. Most of the remaining tallgrass prairie is in the Flint Hills in Kansas.

To license image, click image. To see our collection of fine art prints, click here.

`Ama`u fern – a study in showcasing color in a photograph

February 23, 2010 by John L. Dengler

The `ama`uma`u  or `ama`u for short, is a common fern found in the wet forests of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The fern typically has red fronds when young for protection from the sun's ultraviolet rays. The fronds gradually turn green with age. The fern is a member of the Blechnum fern family and is endemic to Hawai`i. Halema`uma`u, the fire pit within Kilauea caldera, means ?the house of  `ama`uma`u fern.?  This fern was photographed on a connector trail between the Byron Ledge and Devastation trails near the Kilauea caldera. (John L. Dengler)

The `ama`uma`u (Sadleria cyatheoides)  or `ama`u for short, is a common fern found in the wet forests and open areas of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The fern typically has red fronds when young for protection from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. The fronds gradually turn green as it matures. These ferns are among the first plants to become established after a lava flow. `Ama`u often are the nurse plants and soil for ‘ohi’a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha). The seeds get lodged in the fern stems where they germinate. Eventually, the `ohi`a lehua takes over the space occupied by the fern.

Photo Gallery

Images from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

The fern is a member of the Blechnum fern family and is endemic to Hawai`i. Halema`uma`u, the fire pit within Kilauea caldera, means “the house of  `ama`uma`u fern.”

This fern was photographed on a connector trail between the Byron Ledge and Devastation trails in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park near the Kilauea caldera and Kilauea Iki crater.


ABOVE: Photographed using a Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200 mm f2.8 lens at 200mm.  Image capture: 1/500 at f4.5, -1 EV, ISO 200

To license image, click image. To see our collection of fine art prints, click here.

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