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Minutes for HB2621 - Committee on Agriculture
Short Title
Authorizing the Kansas department of wildlife, parks and tourism to purchase land in Kingman county.
Minutes Content for Wed, Feb 19, 2020
The Chair opened the Hearing on HB2621 at 3:33pm.
Kyle Hamilton, Assistant Revisor, Office of The Revisor of Statutes, provided an overview of HB2621 and the statutes that it affects. (Attachment 1) There is a Fiscal Note for HB2621.
PROPONENTS
Jack Thimesch, Representative 114th District, Kansas House of Representative, appeared before the Committee in support of HB2621. (Attachment 2) While I have a few minor reservations about how things may play out in this situation, I appreciate the work Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism (KDWPT) has done to reach an agreement with the landowners, and support where things stand today.
KDWPT came to me a couple years ago to talk about this situation, and why they wanted to purchase the property. At the time, I was concerned because two young farmers were leasing the land, and their livelihoods depended on it. However, KDWPT worked with both of them and came to an agreement to trade some land.
I still have some reservations when it comes to the idea of Ducks Unlimited or Quail Unlimited buying property and selling it to the state. Farmers can't get enough out of the land to compete with organizations like that.
I also have some concerns about how the property taxes will be handled because the township doesn't need to be covering the cost of maintaining the road once the farmers aren't paying the property taxes to take care of upkeep. Hunters will be driving the roads so it's important that they be kept up. I don't favor the idea of payment-in-leu-of, but I understand that KDWPT is looking into available options.
Representative Thimesch stood for questions from the Committee.
Brad Loveless, Secretary, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, appeared before the Committee in support of HB2621. (Attachment 3) The Department is proposing to purchase a piece of property owned by Ducks Unlimited in Kingman County. The property is approximately 493 acres and is adjacent to Byron Walker Wildlife Area. The property contains a portion of the South Fork of the Ninnescah River and provides excellent concentrations of overwintering mallards where wintering habitat is rare.
The proposed purchase of this particular piece of property is the result of a long collaborative process resulting in agreement between state and local officials, private individuals and non-governmental stakeholders.
As the committee is aware, less than three percent of the state is publicly owned. Public land is one tool in the toolbox to ensure the long-term health and funding of our native wildlife species by providing access to hunters and anglers as well as professional wildlife management on those properties. The Department is working to be more strategic in both land that we are trying to purchase as well as that which we are relinquishing. Being near Wichita, the Byron Walker Wildlife area is one of our most heavily used properties, averaging over 60,000 use days/year, providing just under $6 million in related revenues to the city of Kingman and surrounding communities.
Mr Loveless stood for questions from the Committee.
Written only testimony in support of HB2621 was received from
- Joe Seiwert, Representative, 101 District, Kansas House of Representatives. (Attachment 4)
- Jeffrey Hancock, BHA Legislative Liaison, Kansas Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (Attachment 5)
- Joe Kramer, Special Projects Manager, Ducks Unlimited (Attachment 6)
There were no Opponent or Neutrals of HB2621.
The Chair closed the Hearing on HB2621 at 3:59pm.
