KDWPT Small Game Program
New member
I was asked to weigh in on the WIHA program as such I will try to briefly explain the complexity of the program and address the major themes that arose from the original post. Forgive me if I get windy
The Kansas WIHA program provides over 1 million acres and average lease payment is $2.50/ acre but ranges from $0 - $8 depending on access period, cover type, accessability, location etc. we see annually about a 20% turnover in these acres but have so far been able to maitain the >1 million mark.
When evlauating a "bad" property some things to keep in mind
1)Quality is in the EYE of the beholder
The WIHA Program services all hunters not just bird hunters so has all types of cover, we have requests to lease Prairie dog colonies, lease some green wheat for waterfowl lots of deer and turkey, etc.
2) Some WIHA's are free
While rare we do have some properties donated to detour trespassing hunters from driving, reduce number of hunters asking permission etc. These cost us nothing other then time to hang signs. These are hard to turn away. While <25% of our WIHA is cropland acres cropland acres don't offer the same quality every year sometimes we will run a continous lease but pay a severly depressed rate or only pay on years with desirable crops. This saves time and money from removing and reposting signs every year and allows our biologists to invest that time into finding other properties.
3) Some time you have to take the good with the bad
We do negotiate with landowners and sometimes we recieve the all or none ultimatume, if the good is good enough we will include the bad but again normally this impacts their $/acre. Likewise we may maitain a lease on a property where the quality is reduced for 1 year due to drought etc. if it is typically a good property and/or we have a good running relationship with the cooperator.
4) Acres can offer more then just hunting access
Sometime lower quality acres are excepted to allow better access to adjoining properties if access is limited. Also somtimes it helps to be able to provide clear boundaries to hunters to help them find the boundaries and stay where they are suppose to be.
5) Habitat is fluid and landowners have control
Contracts are signed primarily in spring and summer and can be for 1-3 year terms or even up to 10 years with some incentive enrollments. At the time of negotiations habitat may be good but managment that happens prior to the hunting season may change quality without our knowledge. Some of our biologst have over 200,000 acres in their district we address problems as we encouter them but are unable to inspect every acre every year.
Kansas WIHA VS. others
In comparing our programs to other states, there is a long standing debate of low quantity/high quailty vs. high quantity/low quality and Kansas has long been accused of padding our acres with low quality. Several other states pay much higher rates and tie cooperators to managment plans that the state implements on the property. This greatly inflates the $/acre of the program and reduces the amount of acres that can be offered. It is our belief that there is enough quality propeties in Kansas that we are more efficient by seeking addtional properties at the lower rate and affording the landowner complete control so our hunters have lots of area to hunt. This undoubtley means that we have some lower quality acres for reasons mentioned above but overall we feel is the best way to provide hunters with the most quality acres we can.
WIHA stamp
Under the rules of the federal PR grant if we charged a fee to use WIHA or to recieve the atlas it would count as program income toward the grant. The end result is any funds generated would be subtracted off the federal share of the grant so no net gain. If we charged a habitat stamp for all licence holders that is no different then raising the base cost of the licence which we just did last year and as such would not have support for at this time.
Several mapping tools were suggested and we also provide tools on our website to allow you to do some armchair scouting before you hit the field to at least have a relative idea of what the cover type is.
http://ksoutdoors.com/KDWPT-Info/Locations/Hunting-Fishing-Atlas/Fall-Hunting-Atlas
There are a number of additional things I could say about the program but won't for the time being. I hope this helps explain some of the frustration in the field so you can enjoy more of your time knowing our staff is working to make the best use of your money to provide hunting access for all hunters.
The Kansas WIHA program provides over 1 million acres and average lease payment is $2.50/ acre but ranges from $0 - $8 depending on access period, cover type, accessability, location etc. we see annually about a 20% turnover in these acres but have so far been able to maitain the >1 million mark.
When evlauating a "bad" property some things to keep in mind
1)Quality is in the EYE of the beholder
The WIHA Program services all hunters not just bird hunters so has all types of cover, we have requests to lease Prairie dog colonies, lease some green wheat for waterfowl lots of deer and turkey, etc.
2) Some WIHA's are free
While rare we do have some properties donated to detour trespassing hunters from driving, reduce number of hunters asking permission etc. These cost us nothing other then time to hang signs. These are hard to turn away. While <25% of our WIHA is cropland acres cropland acres don't offer the same quality every year sometimes we will run a continous lease but pay a severly depressed rate or only pay on years with desirable crops. This saves time and money from removing and reposting signs every year and allows our biologists to invest that time into finding other properties.
3) Some time you have to take the good with the bad
We do negotiate with landowners and sometimes we recieve the all or none ultimatume, if the good is good enough we will include the bad but again normally this impacts their $/acre. Likewise we may maitain a lease on a property where the quality is reduced for 1 year due to drought etc. if it is typically a good property and/or we have a good running relationship with the cooperator.
4) Acres can offer more then just hunting access
Sometime lower quality acres are excepted to allow better access to adjoining properties if access is limited. Also somtimes it helps to be able to provide clear boundaries to hunters to help them find the boundaries and stay where they are suppose to be.
5) Habitat is fluid and landowners have control
Contracts are signed primarily in spring and summer and can be for 1-3 year terms or even up to 10 years with some incentive enrollments. At the time of negotiations habitat may be good but managment that happens prior to the hunting season may change quality without our knowledge. Some of our biologst have over 200,000 acres in their district we address problems as we encouter them but are unable to inspect every acre every year.
Kansas WIHA VS. others
In comparing our programs to other states, there is a long standing debate of low quantity/high quailty vs. high quantity/low quality and Kansas has long been accused of padding our acres with low quality. Several other states pay much higher rates and tie cooperators to managment plans that the state implements on the property. This greatly inflates the $/acre of the program and reduces the amount of acres that can be offered. It is our belief that there is enough quality propeties in Kansas that we are more efficient by seeking addtional properties at the lower rate and affording the landowner complete control so our hunters have lots of area to hunt. This undoubtley means that we have some lower quality acres for reasons mentioned above but overall we feel is the best way to provide hunters with the most quality acres we can.
WIHA stamp
Under the rules of the federal PR grant if we charged a fee to use WIHA or to recieve the atlas it would count as program income toward the grant. The end result is any funds generated would be subtracted off the federal share of the grant so no net gain. If we charged a habitat stamp for all licence holders that is no different then raising the base cost of the licence which we just did last year and as such would not have support for at this time.
Several mapping tools were suggested and we also provide tools on our website to allow you to do some armchair scouting before you hit the field to at least have a relative idea of what the cover type is.
http://ksoutdoors.com/KDWPT-Info/Locations/Hunting-Fishing-Atlas/Fall-Hunting-Atlas
There are a number of additional things I could say about the program but won't for the time being. I hope this helps explain some of the frustration in the field so you can enjoy more of your time knowing our staff is working to make the best use of your money to provide hunting access for all hunters.
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