Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Waterways, woodlands and 80-million-year old rock formations aren’t usually associated with Kansas, but Elizabeth Schultz hopes to change that.
Schultz, professor emerita of English, is one of the contributors for the book “The Nature of Kansas Lands,” which was released today and was sponsored by the Kansas Land Trust.
The book shows Kansas’ biodiversity and landscapes, from Buck Creek Valley in the northeast, to the ancient Monument Rocks in the northwest and the Flint Hills in the east.
“I believe wherever people live, they should become familiar with it and know it deeply,” Schultz said. “They will then take care of it.”
Beverley Worster, editor of the book and president of the Kansas Land Trust Board of Directors, said contrary to stereotypes, Kansas had a variety of landscapes, including cliffs, grasslands and high plains.
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KANSAS
The Monument Rocks, large ancient chalk formations, stand in the northeast of Kansas. "The Nature of Kansas Lands," released today, captures the beauty of Kansas landscapes. "So many people have misconceptions about Kansas because of what they have seen in movies," said Jason Fizell, executive director of the Kansas Land Trust. The book provides photos and facts about the local landscapes from Lawrence locals.
She said pictures and ecological information supplemented the essays to show the diversity.
“It is meant to stimulate people to leave the four-lane, eight-lane highways and rediscover the state,” Worster said.
Worster said many people, even Kansas natives, didn’t learn about Kansas because textbooks in the United States were often geared toward California, New York and Texas.
“You grow up believing that every beautiful place is somewhere else, every famous person lives somewhere else, and every exciting event occurs somewhere else,” Worster said. “When you graduate, you kind of want to go to somewhere else.”
She said she hoped the book would cause readers to reconsider the values of Kansas’ natural landscapes and think about how they could preserve them for future generations.
Profits of the book will support the Kansas Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that protects and preserves lands of ecological and scenic significance in Kansas.
Jason Fizell, executive director of the Kansas Land Trust, said the Land Trust had protected 7,000 acres of land from development in Kansas. He said the organization wanted to double that number in the next five years.
Worster said preserving Kansas’ nature could be beneficial for many reasons. She said some areas were home to endangered species.
She also said preserving native soils could contribute to national security.
“We are making sure that some of the best soils in the United States are going to be there for food production forever,” she said. “This is very important concept that many countries overlook.”
Kelly Kindscher, associate scientist for the Kansas Biological Survey and the Environmental Studies Program at the University, wrote the ecosystem facts for the book.
He said he was surprised to learn about the diversity of animals and plants in Kansas as well as the state’s different landscapes.
He said he encouraged students to take road trips to visit different areas of Kansas during school breaks.
His favorite places in Kansas include Horse Thief Canyon in Hodgeman County in the southwest, the Cheyenne Bottoms in central Kansas and the Flint Hills in southeast Kansas.
“The Nature of Kansas Lands” is published by the University Press of Kansas, and is available for order at its Web site or at the Oread Bookstore in the Kansas Union.
— — Edited by Ramsey Cox
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