9. In eastern Kansas, the greater prairie chicken feeds more on 

 cultivated plants than on uncultivated plants. Of cultivated plant 

 food eaten, most is waste that would not be harvested. 



10. The success of hunters provides a means of comparing 

 density of population in different years and in different areas in the 

 same year. 



11. A management plan is outlined for the greater prairie 

 chicken, and is thought to be applicable to the lesser prairie chicken 

 as well. The plan includes: 



A. Censusing the adult population in the spring and in the fall 

 to ascertain trends in numbers; 



B. Censusing young birds between July 1 and August 15 to 

 ascertain the success of reproduction; 



C. Providing open seasons only in periods of increasing num- 

 bers, as indicated by the spring censuses, and in years of favorable 

 reproduction, as indicated by the summer censuses; 



D. EstabHshing refuges 



(1) One square mile in each township throughout the Blackjack 

 Prairies and Bluestem Hills. Preferably state-owned. 



(2) One section in each nine sections in the eastern parts of the range 

 where hunting pressure is excessive. Could be privately owned. 



E. Encourage the preservation of existing prairies and the re- 

 seeding to native grass of lands proven unsuitable for cultivation. 



[65] 



