Courtesy Photo | The 2016 class of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District park rangers....... read more read more
MILFORD, Kan. — Rangers from across the Kansas City District gathered Feb. 22-26 for the Biennial Natural Resource Meeting in Manhattan, Kan.
It is important for rangers to attend such meetings so that they can remain up-to-date on issues they deal with daily, such as keeping the peace at recreation areas, land management, accounting, finance and more.
“When planning these workshops we try to focus on topics that pertain to the group as a whole and bring everybody up to speed on them,” said meeting organizer and Milford Lake Ranger Caleb Snider. “There are also required portions of the workshop such as defensive tactics, and we brought in outside instructors to teach Krav Maga for this portion.”
Some new policies and procedures covered this year included the northern long-eared bat final 4(d) rule, which covers the new rules regarding this recently listed threatened species whose range includes most of Kansas City District projects. The meeting addressed various land management practices and techniques to control invasive species, both in the classroom and on the fieldtrips and a new fee schedule and recreation fee standard of practice that affects all projects.
Northwestern Division Senior Natural Resources Program Manager Kevin Paff presented an overview of the division and district program and discussed some emerging national issues and challenging policy issues.
“I can't understate the value of annual district Natural Resource Management workshops and training sessions,” said Paff. “These annual gatherings provide NRM professionals the latest and greatest information about program accomplishments and direction, provide an opportunity to share successes and learn from each other's challenges, and strengthen the NRM community by fostering communication and team building. The success of the Kansas City District workshops was evident by the diversity of the topics and the positive energy and atmosphere at the meeting.”
For the rangers, having the opportunity to acquire hands on information and hear from subject matter experts in person was valuable.
“My primary duties include handling the Harlan County Project Office’s Agricultural Leasing Program and Natural Resource Program,” said Ranger Thomas Zikmund. “I appreciate presentations that provide hands on information on how to manage our resources effectively. Although we are spread across several states, we all have the same agency goals and missions. I really liked the presentation on summer prescribed fire for control of woody vegetation as a tool in grassland management. Presenter Ryan Williams provided great information, examples, and lessons learned for all of us to take back and apply at our project.”
Many of the presentations highlighted the successes of programs such as controlling eastern red cedar encroachment in a grassland that rangers could directly apply to their own programs.
Additionally, the meeting is a great opportunity for rangers to get together as a group and discuss numerous topics, share lessons learned and take new ideas back to their projects to implement.
“There is an aspect of learning that just comes from visiting with other resource specialists and listening to their successes,” said Zikmund. “It can trigger an idea that you can adapt for your project from something that has been done elsewhere. We are lucky in the Kansas City District to have so many great people who get along and share information so easily. This meeting is always a good opportunity to learn.”
Snider says even though this meeting was a success they are always looking for ways to improve. They are always looking for knowledgeable presenters and collect feedback and comments to consider before the next meeting.
Considering that Kansas City District recreation projects host so many visitors each year, it is imperative that rangers receive this type of training to help them do their job to the best of their ability.
| Date Taken: | 05.05.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.05.2016 12:39 |
| Story ID: | 197400 |
| Location: | KS, US |
| Web Views: | 43 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Natural Resource Meeting offers rangers ‘hands-on’ training, by Sara Goodeyon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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