GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — A foundation bearing the name of a businessman who helped establish the Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve in central Kansas has donated $100,000 to the state chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

The organization said Thursday the $100,000 gift from the Charles Hulme Foundation will be used to protect and improve wetland habitats throughout Kansas, including Cheyenne Bottoms.

Nature Conservancy officials said the donation is directed to a $5 million capital campaign begun in 2011 to expand conservation efforts around the state.

The 41,000-acre Cheyenne Bottoms complex is considered one of North America’s most important inland marshes, drawing hundreds of thousands of waterfowl each year.

Hulme was a Great Bend businessman born in the 1890s. During the Depression, he helped the state acquire nearly 20,000 acres of the Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve.