Threatened and Endangered Species Mitigation Program

In 2005, a local consulting firm approached the Sunflower Land Trust to help secure a mitigation site for the loss of habitat for the Eastern Spotted Skunk (ESS) in Sedgwick County, Kansas. The firm had been trying to locate suitable habitats for over a year without much success. For the next nine months the SLT searched the critical habitat area of the ESS and after reviewing several for their habitat value decided to work with an absentee landowner to create a suitable mitigation site. For the next few months the SLT and the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism worked out the legal details of a Conservation Easement and the land trust removed five acres from cropland to create desirable habitat for the Eastern Spotted Skunk. 

The following slide show indicates the success of the habitat establishment.  The first photo is after one year’s growth having been planted in a harvested wheat field.  The second photo depicts the third year of established native prairie and the presentation concludes with the field after it has been managed to control invasive plant species.

An old wheat field owned by the Sunflower Land Trust, a Kansas-based land trust. The field has been turned back to a native prairie ecosystem.
The wheat field transitioning to native prairie. This land is protected by the Sunflower Land Trust, a Kansas-based land trust.
The wheat field has transitioned to native prairie after years of stewardship. This land is protected by the Sunflower Land Trust, a Kansas-based land trust.