Public invited to all sessions

The Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission will conduct a public meeting and hearing June 21 in Salina at Kansas Wesleyan University, Room 201, Peters Science Hall. The afternoon session will begin at 1:30 p.m.; the evening public hearing will begin at 7 p.m.

The afternoon meeting will begin with reports from department staff on department-related action by the 2007 Kansas Legislature, status of the fiscal year 2008 department budget, and fiscal year 2009 capital improvement budget.

Other department staff reports to be heard in the afternoon session include the following:

• status of regulations enacted since a state law took effect July 1, 2006, controlling possession of six species of large cats, bears, and non-native venomous snakes;
• a department request to allocate a $700,000 national recreational trails grant to the city of Syracuse for development of a 1,300-acre site south of the community for off-road vehicles, hiking trails, river access, and a fishing area;
• proposals to increase Unit 4 (southwest Kansas) spring turkey permit allocations and to make the spring turkey archery-only and youth/disabled seasons run concurrently;
• an update on the Archery in the Schools program;
• an update on the development of the Hunter Education in the Schools program; and
• a report on the department’s recent emergency management efforts.

The afternoon session will conclude with workshop session discussion, in preparation for potential future regulatory action, of the following:

• proposals to amend boating regulations to conform with federal boating standards and trends;
• a recommendation to add gigging to the list of legal equipment for taking non-sport fish; and
• a proposal to incorporate special conditions in commercial bait dealer permitting to require that all bait fishes coming into Kansas be certified that they are not infected with viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS), a disease that has caused large-scale fish kills in the Great Lakes region; and
• a proposal to amend a regulation governing use of unregistered vehicles on KDWP property, to make department lands more accessible to handicapped individuals.

The afternoon session will recess at 5 p.m., and the commission will reconvene at 7 p.m. at the same location. The evening meeting will begin with workshop session discussion on the following topics:

• a proposal to develop a reference document that defines posted notices in effect for each wildlife area and state fishing lake managed by KDWP; and
• 2007 late migratory bird seasons.

Following workshop session discussion, a public hearing will be conducted on the following regulatory proposals:

• 2007 early migratory bird seasons (rail, snipe, woodcock, and teal);
• establishment of permit fees for new cabins being constructed at Eisenhower State Park and Tuttle Creek State Park, as well as Mined Land Wildlife Area and Ottawa State Fishing Lake; and
• amending deer regulations to allow use of one Antlerless White-tailed deer game tag on Cedar Bluff Wildlife Area and establishing deer seasons for Fort Riley in a separate regulation.

If necessary, the commission will recess on June 21, to reconvene June 22 at 9 a.m. at the same location to complete its business. Time will be made available in all sessions to allow public comment on topics which are not on the agenda.

If notified in advance, the department will have an interpreter available for the hearing impaired. To request an interpreter, call the Kansas Commission of Deaf and Hard of Hearing at 1-800-432-0698. Any individual with a disability may request other accommodations by contacting the commission secretary at 620/672-5911.
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