prairie chickens, and that they were confined to the sandy lands 

 that lie south of the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers (see Figure 2). 



The residents of southwestern Kansas report that these sandy 

 lands supported stands of tall grasses before the drought of the 

 1930-1940 decade. These grasses were ehminated over wide areas 

 in the drought, and were replaced by sagebrush, Artemisia sp.; to 

 date the grasses have not completely recovered. In ungrazed areas, 

 tall grasses are crowding out the sagebrush, but in thousands of 

 acres of rangeland, the sagebrush and short grasses predominate. 

 Unless the native grasses effect a considerable recovery, the lesser 

 prairie chicken may not approach its former abundance. 



Fig. 2. The geographic distribution of prairie chickens in Kansas. 

 (1) Range of the lesser prairie chicken; (2) the chief range of 

 the greater prairie chicken; (3) range wherein scattered flocks 

 of the greater prairie chicken were reported present in 1950. 



A count of lesser prairie chickens on booming grounds on four 

 and one-half square miles of some of the best range on the XI Ranch 

 in the spring of 1951 revealed a total of 40 males on five booming 

 grounds. A count on the same area in the spring of 1952 revealed 

 82 males. This increase in numbers is encouraging, but the Hmited 

 range suitable for the lesser prairie chicken in Kansas should be 

 considered in any plans for its management. 



The Greater Prairie Chicken 

 History 



The distribution and abundance of this species in Kansas before 

 the State was settled by white men, can only be inferred from the 



[9] 



