Bluegrass: it's not just a type of music anymore

Little Bluestem grass that is (Schizachyrium scoparium). The Governor signed House Bill 2649 this week designating the Little Bluestem as the official Kansas state grass. The bill was sponsored by Representatives Kay Wolf and Sharon Schwartz. It is also the state grass of our neighbor, Nebraska.


Read "Little Blue's Story" at:
http://www.kansasnativeplantsociety.org/littleblue/story.htm


Read basic facts about Little Bluestem:
http://www.kansasnativeplantsociety.org/littleblue/facts.htm and
http://www.kswildflower.org/grass_details.php?grassID=34


Little Bluestem joins our other state symbols which can be found at:

The Kansas Department of Travel and Tourism:
http://www.travelks.com/resources/PDF/183-Kansas%20At%20a%20Glance_web%20ready.pdf

The State Library of Kansas:
http://www.kslib.info/symbols.html

Learn more about the Kansas prairie and grasslands:
Cimmaron National Grassland:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/cim/

Institute for Grassland studies:
http://www.k-state.edu/grasslandstudies/

Kansas Heritage's resources on the prairie:
http://www.kansasheritage.org/prairie/

Learn how you can help preserve our native grasslands:
Natural Resources Conservation Service:
http://www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/grp/2010/index.html

Kansas State University's Extension:
http://www.agronomy.ksu.edu/extension/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=25

Plant this hardy and drought-resistant native species in your landscaping this spring!

Article contact: Kim Harp

The Flint Hills

The Flint Hills in central Kansas are an amazing sight no matter the time of year. It preserves our ranch heritage and tall grass prairies. Learn more about this valuable Kansas resource at the following links.

NEW! National Tallgrass Preserve literature
http://www.nps.gov/tapr/upload/rackCard2.pdf

Tallgrass Prairie Maps
http://www.kansasenergy.org/KEC/FHmaps.html
(Kansas Energy Information Network)

Travel in the Flint Hills
http://kansasflinthills.travel/

Flint Hills as featured in National Geographic:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/04/tallgrass-prairie/klinkenborg-text

Flint Hills as a geologic region
http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Extension/flinthills/flinthills.html and
http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/field/flint/flint.htm

Flint Hills National Scenic Byway:
http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2095/ andhttp://www.ksbyways.org/Pages/Flint/flint1.html

Symphony in the Flint Hills
http://www.symphonyintheflinthills.org/

Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge
http://www.fws.gov/flinthills/

Kaw Mission State Historic Site
http://www.kshs.org/places/kawmission/

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
http://www.nps.gov/archive/tapr/home.htm