University Daily Kansan / Friday, December 8, 1989
11A
Flint
Continued from p. 10A
end," he said. "We don't have the time, or the money to fight this thing. I don't think people realize the jeopardy this puts our lives under. They hassle you to the point they wear you out. I'm tired of it, but we can't quit."
From cattle ranching to conservation
The ranch was assembled by S.F. Jones in the 1870s. Jones was a pioneer cattle king who came to Kansas from the South with "money sticking out of every pocket," written by Charles L. Hall, a former Kansas State University associate professor of architecture.
Jones set out to build one of the finest restaurants in the county. He spent $25,000 on the construction of an 11-room Victorian house and $15,000 to raise the three-story barn, according to the building plans. The house, the barn and a one-room kitchen are listed in the property are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Ownership of the ranch changed hands several times before 1935, when George Davis acquired the land and turned it into the Davis-Noland Merrill Grain Co. The name was later changed to the Z-Bar Cattle Co. and was sold in 1986 to Boatman's
First Bank in Kansas City, Mo.
The National Audubon Society signed the option to buy the ranch from Boatman's in 1983 and worked with Chase County community leaders to prepare a proposal for the establishment of the prairie monument.
Ley Fowler, Strong City city attorney, said some Chase County residents realized a local effort was going to be necessary if any plan of developing a national monument was to proceed.
"In the first part of March, the cities of Strong City and Cottonwood Falls passed a joint resolution creating the Flint Hills National Monument Association," Fowler said.
The committee was formed to identify local concerns about the monument and to draft a bill for the creation of the Flint Hills Prairie National Monument. Fowler was elected chairman of the committee.
The Association now has about 1,000 members in 21 states, said Larry Bayer, Strong City mayor.
Monument could mean economic survival
Ken Harder, Cottonwood Falls mayor, said he supported the proposal because the monument would
be good for local communities
"We've seen a steady decline in population in Chase County," he said. "I feel we're fast getting to the point where we're not going to have the critical mass of people and dollars necessary to keep these communities viable.
"My goal is to get this national monument in because I feel it will bring in enough tourists and dollars to keep stores open and keep the service businesses in for the benefit of the people who live here."
Bayer agreed.
"We're fighting for our survival," he said. "We don't have any option anymore. It has to happen for our sake. We'll just continue on until we have enough support."
The National Audubon Society estimated that the proposed monument would attract from 100,000 to 300,000 visitors and require a staff of 10 to 15 full-time workers.
According to an analysis and projection report prepared by Emporia State University, just 100 visitors a day, 36,000 a year, would bring an additional $1.2 million into the Chase County economy and create 117 new jobs.
"That's why this proposal looks so promising," Bayer said. "Visitors will come and hopefully spend the
day and take back with them the experience of actually going back in these hills. I can see no harm or damage being done to anybody."
Klataske said he was disappointed with the attitudes of the monument's opposition and called their lack of support selfish.
"They need to be interested in more than just cows," he said. "Their position and the tactics that they've used in fighting the monument proposal have really not demonstrated a diverse and thoughtful organization.
"They've just come out of the chute saying, 'We don't want the federal government to own any land.' I think it's very shortsighted because of the fact that a piece of property of this nature, administered for the public trust and for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of all Americans and all Kansans, would greatly enhance the understanding and appreciation of our ranching and farming culture.
Last June, the Kansas Congressional delegation wrote a letter to the director of the National Park Service requesting an evaluation of the Z-Bar Ranch to determine its suitability for
From prairie to politics
induction into the National Park System.
On Sept. 8, U.S. Rep. Dan Glickman, a Kansas Democrat, disclosed a decision by the park service to conduct a study and pay for it with existing funds.
In a letter written by James Ridenour, director of the NPS, to Glickman, Ridenour explained why the study would be conducted.
"Currently, no unit of the System is devoted to managing and interpreting a prairie area for the benefit of the citizens of the country and our foreign visitors," he wrote. "Because the once vast prairie played such an integral role in the history and expansion of the United States, the Service has long sought to fill this gap in the System."
In his letter, Ridenour wrote that it was unusual for the park service to conduct a new area study without authorization and money from Congress. But, he said, the monument proposal would be examined because "we are free to examine the entire range of management alternatives."
Earlier this year, the Kansas delegation asked a House of Representatives committee to provide $50,000 for a feasibility study of the monument proposal. When no money was approved, the delegation elected to
ask the park service to conduct the study.
Because of the opposition to the monument proposal, Ridenour said, the study would "take an unconstrained look at a variety of options including those that would not acquire an NPS presence for management of the area as a park."
Randy Baines, superintendent of the Homestead National Monument in Nebraska, was selected to head the team that will study the Z-Bar Ranch proposal.
"Our mission is to review the Z-Bar site for historical and national significance," he said. "We will also see if it meets the strict criteria of a national park for inclusion in the National Park System.
Baines said that study team members hadn't been selected yet and that he planned to fill team posts with specialists from several Kansas universities, including the University of Kansas.
"My mission will be to see if the Z-Bar fulfills the requirements," he said. "I'd like to have a year to a year and a half to complete the study. I want to see the prairie through one complete growing season. It's important to see the area in different seasons."
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